I wrote an excel macro that seems to have broken, unfortunately when I try to edit the macro in the VBA editor, excel itself crashes spectacularly. This seems to happen whether I open the VBA Editor before or after loading the problematic excel file.
Does anyone know of a way of viewing the VBA code that I've written without using excel to get there? Alternatively, can anyone get to the VBA code in (this excel file)(Link Removed) without it crashing their excel?
Unlike "Running Macros without opening excel" I don't need to be able to run the broken code without excel - just copy and paste it somewhere to fix it!
I created a fresh new excel file and open the VBA editor. Then I opened the one you provided, but I had put it in a non-secure folder. Excel prompted me the choice of opening it with macros disabled. I did, and I could see the code in the editor. :)
Related
I’m pretty new to VBA scripting, and I have the following problem.
At work, I have to go through huge Excel sheets containing hyperlinks to external audio files. The hyperlinks are all in the following format:
=HYPERLINK("path_to_file_including_file_name", "file_name")
I’m very tired of clicking the hyperlinks with my mouse, and there is no way to open them with a hotkey, so I decided to create a small macro to solve my problem. The macro is stored in my personal macro workbook (because I want to use it with all of my Excel sheets):
Sub ClickHyperlink()
'
' ClickHyperlink Macro
' Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+O
'
params = Split(ActiveCell.Formula, Chr(34))
ActiveWorkbook.FollowHyperlink Address:=params(1)
End Sub
When I open an Excel sheet, this VBA macro works until I edit the file and save it. After this, it shows the following error message: “No cells were found.” If I close the file and open it again, the macro works again until I edit the file and save it.
It really doesn’t make any sense to me. What am I doing wrong?
I would be very grateful for any help.
Update. Added the screenshot of the error message and of the IDE.
I also noticed something quite strange: even when the script stops working when called from the Excel file I’m working on, it still works perfectly if run from the IDE.
I have an xltx that clearly contains macros when i open it, based on the error "ThisWorkbook.RefreshAll err..etc .etc., due to invalid sql connection".
(whether i open the xltx as New or Open).
Once I go to vba project, there is ZERO code of any kind.
I consider myself a VBA expert, but have to confess, I've never worked at ALL with template files. (they seem like a completely unnecessary thing to me).
is there some magic that makes vba code invisible in xltx ?
You need to use XLTM (Excel Macro-Enabled Template)- the difference is the same as between XLSX and XLSM - you can write whatever code you like, but if you don't save it in the macro-enabled format, it won't still be there when you re-open the workbook/create a new spreadsheet based on the template.
You should have had this error message when you saved (although if you just clicked "Yes" it'll have saved anyway, just without the macro code)
If you haven't closed down the template file you're working on, you should still be able to save it as XLTM and retain the code - otherwise it's gone, unless it can be recovered from an autosave:
There will not be any macros in an .XLTX. You can try renaming the file as .XLSM or .XLTM in file explorer to get them back. The message "ThisWorkbook.RefreshAll err..etc .etc., due to invalid sql connection"." also looks like a broken link to a datasource rather than a macro.
Can VBA code be written to perform actions on any Excel file?
When I create a project in Visual Studio, it asks for an Excel file to be linked to it. All the code that I write is in ThisWorkbook.vb and hence acts only on the Excel file linked to the project.
Ideally, I want a script that:
When the user double-clicks, he/she should be allowed to select an Excel file of choice for the actions to be performed on that file.
If the above is not possible, I'd at least like to invoke the VBA script from within an Excel file.
Basically, the VBA code should be independent of any Excel file.
I looked at VBScript, but the syntax for it seems to differ slightly.
You've mentioned Visual Studio, VBA, and VBScript. The solution I'm outlining works directly with VBA rather than Visual Studio or VBScript. (However, you might adapt Visual Studio (C# or VB) along the lines of what I'm outlining below.) Hope it's helpful, so here goes:
Here's what I do, and, it ultimately results in an .xlam Excel AddIn as #chris above has commented.
Overview
I start with ordinary .xslx workbook, to which I add a VBA project, making it an .xlsm. Then create some VBA Subs (macros). Then create some Excel QAT (Quick Access Toolbar) buttons for the workbook, which are bound to (i.e. they invoke) the VBA subs/macros. Then convert the workbook (with VBA in it) to an .xlam, which is an Excel AddIn. When you're all done, the buttons are accessible from any workbook (and the VBA code has access to any user workbooks as well as those originally in your .xlsm). Further, the workbook associated with the .xlam is invisible. So it just looks like you've added some buttons to the QAT that appear on all users .xlsx windows. The .xlam is pretty easy for users to install (though I provide a buttons to uninstall/reinstall/check version). You can upgrade an .xlam independently of users' workbooks; users' workbooks can thus be data only (.xlsx, no VBA).
Details
Write some Excel Subs you want to use later
You need to be aware that the buttons can only invoke macros (VBA Subs) without parameters, so the macros will have to check things like ActiveSheet and ActiveWorkbook and Selection to figure on what sheet the button was pressed, hence what user data to really operate on. (If you need to refer to your workbook with the VBA code in it, use “ThisWorkbook”). You should be aware that there can be naming conflicts, so try to name the parameterless subs with rather long names, such as MySomewhatUniqueProjectName_button1, etc…
Add Buttons to your .xlsm
Using Excel 2010 (I think this works with 2007 or later), I put workbook-specific buttons on the QAT part of the ribbon, which connect to macros (VBA subs) in the VBA code.
To do this, you from the Quick Access Toolbar customization drop down (the tiny down arrow at the very top row of the Excel window, the last icon from left to right) choose "More Commands…". When the “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” dialog box comes up, from the (2nd) "Customize Quick Access Toolbar:" heading (top to the right), choose "For XYZ.xlsm" from the dropdown instead of the "For all documents (default)". And from under "Choose Commands From:", use "Macros" (instead of “Popular Commands”) from the dropdown. Once you have those two things selected, you can move VBA subs from the left box to the right box using “Add >>”. Each so moved will become buttons visible in your QAT. As you’re doing this you can also edit the icon and text for the buttons, add a separator as needed (I always end with a separator in case other .xlam’s use the QAT). (Now is a good time to save this .xlsm.)
Convert the .xlsm into a .xlam
Then I convert the .xlsm to an Excel add-in, by merely saving it as an .xlam file. This will end up (1) hiding the workbook associated with the code you have (though it is still accessible to itself.). Further, now, (2) the (invisible, as now it's an .xlam) workbook will load whenever Excel is loaded. (To keep this fast for when users use Excel but don’t run my VBA code, I don't run any code when the .xlam is loaded, I only run code when a button is pushed.)
You can manage the AddIn using Excel’s AddIn manager. To update the AddIn, you have to use some trickery. While you can copy over it when Excel is not running, on the other hand, you cannot directly uninstall the AddIn, you can only disable it from Excel. But once disabled, you can delete the .xlam, and relaunch Excel, go to the AddIn manager to try to work with the (now gone) AddIn and you’ll get Excel saying it can’t find it, so do you want to delete it. Say yes, and it will be uninstalled.
FYI, Notes
I keep the .xlsm to edit later, but you can actually debug and edit the .xlam and later convert it back to an .xlsm with a minor bit of trickery: find its "ThisWorkbook" entry in VBA, and then the "IsAddIn" property, set to false, its workbook will suddenly appear and you can save as .xlsm, or edit its workbook and set the property back to true to resave as .xlam directly.)
Answer 1
You can do that in VB.Net too. Just make a regular project. (comment by #SLaks)
This worked for me very well and was exactly what I was looking for.
Answer 2
The very descriptive answer posted by #ErikEidt
I haven't tried this, but it seems like a good and alternative way of getting macros to work.
I have added a toolbar menu for my macro, so I can just press the button and it runs my macro from any excel document. Every time I run the macro though, it opens the source file containing the macro. Is there a way that it won't open the source file and just run the macro? (even opening and closing wouldn't too much of an issue, but I'd prefer not opening it at all)
I haven't been able to find any information about this, so all help to get me started is appreciated.
You can't pull code out of the air to run it; Excel's going to have to open the file the code's stored in to run the code.
If I understand it correctly, you can create an Excel add-in from your code and have the add-in load automatically when Excel starts. Your code will always be available in that case.
This seems like a good place to start:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa140990(v=office.10).aspx
USE YOUR PERSONAL MACRO WORKBOOK
Open the VBEditor and find the module containing your macro.
Copy that code.
Now in the VBProject Panel on the left, locate your PERSONAL.XLS or PERSONAL.XLSB project. This is the project where you store macros you want available at all times. Add a module to that project and put your code into it.
Now update your "button" so that it points to the macro in that workbook and you're good to go.
On the off chance your PERSONAL.XLS project does not exist, use the macro recorder to record a "junk" macro and be sure to set it to "Store Macro In: Personal Macro Workbook"... that will create it for you the first time.
I created a VBA userform with some functions and running it with a macro and saved it as a .docm file. But the problem is when I am trying to run that docm file from another computer, nothing is working. And later when I checked the VBA code, I saw my userForm1 was not there. I have no idea what is going on there. How to solve this issue, so that I can run my VBA form into another computer ?
Though I got a solution. But I dont think this is ultimate one. Solution is load those forms and macro into a dotm file by clicking Macros Menu>Organizer>Transfers all forms and macros into that dotm file >save the dotm file. And when you need to restore it into another computer, just reverse the process and store those into the Normal.dotm file.