I'm having some issues with an insheet function that I am writing in VBA for Excel. What I eventually am trying to achieve is an excel function which is called from within a cell on your worksheet, that outputs a range of data points underneath the cell from which it is called (like the excel function =BDP() of financial data provider Bloomberg). I cannot specify the output range beforehand because I don't know how many data points it is going to output.
The issue seems to be that excel does not allow you to edit cells on a sheet from within a function, apart from the cell from which the function is called.
I have created a simple program to isolate the problem, for the sake of this question.
The following function, when called from within an excel sheet via =test(10), should produce a list of integers from 1 to 10 underneath the cell from which it is called.
Function test(number As Integer)
For i = 1 To number
Application.Caller.Offset(i, 0) = i
Next i
End Function
The code is very simple, yet nothing happens on the worksheet from which this formula is called (except a #Value error sometimes). I have tried several other specifications of the code, like for instance:
Function test(number As Integer)
Dim tempRange As Range
Set tempRange = Worksheets("Sheet1").Range(Application.Caller.Address)
For i = 1 To number
tempRange.Offset(i, 0) = i
Next i
End Function
Strangely enough, in this last piece of code, the command "debug.print tempRange.address" does print out the address from which the function is called.
The problem seems to be updating values on the worksheet from within an insheet function. Could anybody please give some guidance as to whether it is possible to achieve this via a different method?
Thanks a lot, J
User defined functions are only allowed to alter the values of the cells they are entered into, because Excel's calculation method is built on that assumption.
Methods of bypassing this limitation usually involve scary things like caching the results and locations you want to change and then rewriting them in an after calculate event, whilst taking care of any possible circularity or infinite loops.
The simplest solution is to enter a multi-cell array formula into more cells than you will ever need.
But if you really need to do this I would recommend looking at Govert's Excel DNA which has some array resizer function.
Resizing Excel UDF results
Consider:
Public Function test(number As Integer)
Dim i As Long, ary()
ReDim ary(1 To number, 1 To 1)
For i = 1 To number
ary(i, 1) = i
Next i
test = ary
End Function
Select a block of cells (in this case from C1 through C10), and array enter:
=test(10)
Array formulas must be entered with Ctrl + Shift + Enter rather than just the Enter key.
Related
I am trying to create a user-defined Excel Function that, in part, counts all non-blank cells above the cell in which the formula is placed (technically from a specific cell that defines the first cell in the range). The trouble I am having is that copying the formula down is causing a circular reference. I don't want other users to encounter this problem. How can I avoid the circular reference?
I have been trying to solve the problem with:
Set CellOne = Range(“A10”)
Set CellTwo = Range(Selection.Address).Offset(-1, 0)
Set MyRange = Application.Range(Cell1:=CellOne.Address, Cell2:=CellTwo.Address)
CountNonBlanks = Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(MyRange)
This code also causes the circular reference when copying down:
Set CellTwo = Range(ActiveCell.Address).Offset(-1, 0)
The problem appears to be caused by the reference being relative to which cell is selected or active. I just want MyRange to end one cell above where the formula is placed irrespective of which cell is active or selected.
FWIW, the ultimate purpose of the user-defined formula is to return the next letter in the alphabet no matter how many rows below the prior letter the formula is placed. This native function works, but I was hoping for a more elegant appearing solution:
=MID("abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz",COUNTA(A$10:A10)+1,1)
Thank you.
You shouldn't be using Selection or Activecell in a worksheet's udf since those are constantly changing. Either pass a range reference into the udf or use application.caller to refer to the cell containing the udf as a range object.
I could edit this response to provide more specific help if you posted the whole udf or at least the declaration. Here's an example.
Public Function nextLetter()
'since no reference is passed in, you might want to make this volatile
Application.Volatile
With Application.Caller.Parent
nextLetter = Chr(97 + Application.CountA(.Range(.Cells(10, "A"), _
.Cells(Application.Caller.Row - 1, "A"))))
End With
End Function
Alternative with starting cell passed in.
Public Function nextLetter2(startRng As Range)
'since only a single cell reference is passed in, you might want to make this volatile
Application.Volatile
With Application.Caller.Parent
nextLetter2 = Chr(97 + Application.CountA(.Range(startRng, _
.Cells(Application.Caller.Row-1, startRng.Column))))
End With
End Function
Use like =nextLetter2(A$10)
First, I would like to apologize for my bad language, I hope you'll understand my problem.
I looked after a way to get generic function in Excel and I found the add-in method. So I tried to use it in developping custom functions whitch may help me in my everyday work. I developed a first function which work. So I thought that my add-in programmation and installation was good. But when I try to implement worksheet interractions nothing appened.
My code has to delete rows identified by a special code in a cell of those ones. I get no error message and the code seems to be totally executed. I tried other methods like Cells.delete, Cells.select, worksheet.activate or range.delete but I encounter the same issue.
This is my function's code :
Public Function NotBin1Cleaning(rSCell As Range) As Integer
Dim sht As Worksheet
Dim aLine As New ArrayList
Dim iLine As Integer
Dim iCpt As Integer
Dim iFail As Integer
Dim i As Integer
Dim oRange As Object
Set sht = rSCell.Parent
iLine = sht.Cells.Find("*PID*").Row
For Each rCell In Range(sht.Cells(iLine, 1), sht.Cells(sht.Cells(iLine, 1).End(xlDown).Row, 1))
If sht.Cells(rCell.Row, 2) > 1 Then
iLine = rCell.Row
iCpt = iLine + 1
Do Until sht.Cells(iCpt, 2) = 1
If Not sht.Cells(iCpt, 1) = rCell Then Exit Do
iCpt = iCpt + 1
Loop
If sht.Cells(iCpt, 1) = rCell Then
sht.Range(sht.Cells(iLine, 1), sht.Cells(iCpt - 1, sht.Cells(iCpt, 1).End(xlToRight).Column)).Delete xlUp
iFail = iFail + 1
End If
End If
Next
NotBin1Cleaning = iFail
End Function
it's the line:
sht.Range(sht.Cells(iLine, 1), sht.Cells(iCpt - 1, sht.Cells(iCpt, 1).End(xlToRight).Column)).Delete xlUp
which isn't producing any effect.
I would be really thankful for your help.
This issue is described on the Microsoft support site as part of the intentional design
section below, more detail here (emphasis mine)
A user-defined function called by a formula in a worksheet cell cannot change the environment of Microsoft Excel. This means that such
a function cannot do any of the following:
Insert, delete, or format cells on the spreadsheet.
Change another cell's value.
Move, rename, delete, or add sheets to a workbook.
Change any of the environment options, such as calculation mode or screen views.
Add names to a workbook.
Set properties or execute most methods.
The purpose of user-defined functions is to allow the user to create a
custom function that is not included in the functions that ship with
Microsoft Excel. The functions included in Microsoft Excel also cannot
change the environment. Functions can perform a calculation that
returns either a value or text to the cell that they are entered in.
Any environmental changes should be made through the use of a Visual
Basic subroutine.
Essentially, this means that what you're trying to do won't work in such a concise manner. The limitation, as I understand from further reading, is because Excel runs through cell equation/functions several times to determine dependencies. This would lead to your function being called two or more times. If you could delete rows, there is the potential of accidentally deleting more then twice the numbers of rows intended, due to the excess number of runs.
However, an alternative could be to have the function output a unique string result that shouldn't be found anywhere else in your workbook (maybe something like [#]><).
Then you can have a sub, ran manually, which finds all instances of that unique string, and deletes those rows. (Note: if you included any of the typical wildcard symbols in your string, you will have to precede them with a ~ to find them with the .Find method.) You can even set up the sub/macro with a shortcut key. Caution: if you duplicate a shortcut key Excel already uses, it will run the macro instead of the default. If there will be other users using this workbook, they could experience some unexpected results.
If you decide to go this route, I would recommend using this line:
Public Const dummy_str = "[#]><" ' whatever string you decided on.
in your module with your code. It goes outside any functions or subs, so it'll be global, and then you can refer to the const just as you would any other string variable.
When you write:
sht.Range(sht.Cells(iLine, 1),....
This first parameter should be the row number, but you're refering to a Cell instead. You should change sht.Cells(iLine, 1) for iLine.
BUT
Instead of all this, its easier to use the method Row.Delete:
Rows(iLine).EntireRow.Delete
After several hours of research, I still can't solve what seems to be a pretty simple issue. I'm new to VBA, so I will be as specific as possible in my question.
I'm working with a DDE link to get stock quotes. I have managed to work out most of the table, but I need a VBA to create a finished formula (i.e., without cell referencing) in order to the DDE link to work properly.
My first code is as follows:
Sub Create_Formulas()
Range("J1").Formula = "=Trade|Strike!" & Range("A1").Value
End Sub
Where J2 is the blank cell and A2 contains the stock ticker. It works fine, but when I try to fill out the rows 2 and bellow, it still uses A1 as a static value.
Sub Create_Formulas()
Dim test As Variant
ticker = Range("A1").Value
'Test to make variable change with each row
'Range("J1:J35").Formula = "=Trade|Strike!" & Range("A1:A35").Value
'not working
Range("J1:J35").Formula = "=Trade|Strike!" & ticker
'not working
End Sub
I couldn't find a way to solve that, and now I'm out of search queries to use, so I'm only opening a new topic after running out of ways to sort it by myself. Sorry if it is too simple.
You are referencing absolute cell adresses here. Like you would do when using $A$1 in a normal excel formula.
What you want to do is:
Dim row as Integer
For row = 1 to 35
Cells(row,10).Formula = "=Trade|Strike!" & Cells(row,1).Value
Next row
This will fill the range J1 to J35 with the formula. Since (row,10) indicates the intersection of row and column 10 (J)
Firstly, in your second set of code, you define a variable "test", but never give it a value.
You assign a value to the variable "ticker", and then never reference it.
Secondly, the value you have assigned to ticker is a static value, and will not change when it is entered in a different row.
Thirdly, I think your issue could be solved with a formula in Excel rather than VBA.
The "INDIRECT" function can be quite useful in situations like this.
Try inserting the formula
=INDIRECT("'Trade|Strike'!"&A1)
into cell A1, then copy down.
Note the ' ' marks around "Trade|Strike". This is Excels syntax for referencing other sheets.
I have 2 sheets with 3 UDF's in the first and 2 in the second.
sheet 1 is a monthly matrix with 1 column for each day where people put in their hours on the rows beneath. On 3 specific rows there are UDF's that consolidate the data in the column above, referencing the row as an argument. I do the function call like below to avoid having to make the UDF volatile (which prolongs calculation time greatly if I do), so the UDF's result updates when anything changes in column R:
calculateOvertime(R:R)
On sheet 2, the days of the month are in rows (not columns) where one can put in details about their day IF they did overtime. This is detected by one of the UDF's in sheet 1, so the 2 UDF's here require data calculated by a UDF in sheet 1
I have some strange issues with this setup:
For some reason, when I switch tabs, all cells containing any of these functions show up as #VALUE!. I have to add "Application.CalculateFull" to an event handler that fires whenever the tab is activated:
Private Sub Worksheet_activate()
Application.CalculateFull
End Sub
The UDF's that reference a cell containing another UDF on the other tab, will always get '2015!' as a value, referring to error 2015 (a Value error, because the cell contains #VALUE! when the sheet is not active)
Obviously these 2 issues are connected because when I shift sheets, the UDF-calculated values in the non-active sheet are somehow lost.
My method of getting a value from a cell is as follows. I figure out on which row the label in column A is by using the Find() function
Dim compensationRowIndex As Integer
compensationRowIndex = CInt(othersheet.Range("A1:A250").Find("COMPENSATION").Row)
then I get the value and cast it to a Single
Dim compensation As Single
compensation = CSng(othersheet.Cells(compensationRowIndex , columnIndex).Value)
the variable 'compensation' holds the value 2015 always.
Is there any way around this? Also when I want to print the sheets, all cells containing UDF's are filled with #VALUE!. My guess is : If I can make issue 1 go away, so will issue 2.
ANY help on this is much appreciated. I've been troubleshooting this for almost a whole day now and haven't found a solution googling the symptoms.
Problem Solved!
"ActiveSheet" inside a UDF doesn't mean "The Sheet the UDF-containing cell is on" It literally means "the sheet that's active".
When referencing a UDF on anoter sheet, things go horribly wrong. It was all a matter of replacing ActiveSheet with a variable that's set in an If statement that decides from where the UDF is called.
In my case the second sheet always has the word "Info" in it. When on that sheet, you should go one sheet to the left:
Dim ws As Worksheet
If InStr(ActiveSheet.Name, "Info") = 0 Then
Set ws = ActiveSheet
Else
Set ws = Worksheets(ActiveSheet.Index - 1)
End If
Not a 100% waterproof solution (e.g. what if someone reorders the sheets), but for my purposes it's close enough.
The following code snippet (used within a UDF) should do what you want:
Dim ws As Worksheet
If TypeOf Application.Caller Is Range Then
Set ws = Application.Caller.Parent
End If
The Caller property of the Application object points to the Range covering the cell(s) where the UDF was called from. ws will point to the containing worksheet then.
The If TypeOf clause avoids errors in case the function has been called by something else than a UDF (for instance, another VBA procedure), where Caller might not point to a Range object. In such a case, ws remains unassigned (Nothing).
Hi I'm using VBA in Excel and need to pass in the values from two ranges into a custom function from within a cell's formula. The function looks like this:
Public Function multByElement(range1 As String, range2 As String) As Variant
Dim arr1() As Variant, arr2() As Variant
arr1 = Range(range1).value
arr2 = Range(range2).value
If UBound(arr1) = UBound(arr2) Then
Dim arrayA() As Variant
ReDim arrayA(LBound(arr1) To UBound(arr1))
For i = LBound(arr1) To UBound(arr1)
arrayA(i) = arr1(i) * arr2(i)
Next i
multByElement = arrayA
End If
End Function
As you can see, I'm trying to pass the string representation of the ranges. In the debugger I can see that they are properly passed in and the first visible problem occurs when it tries to read arr1(i) and shows as "subscript out of range". I have also tried passing in the range itself (ie range1 as Range...) but with no success.
My best suspicion was that it has to do with the Active Sheet since it was called from a different sheet from the one with the formula (the sheet name is part of the string) but that was dispelled since I tried it both from within the same sheet and by specifying the sheet in the code.
BTW, the formula in the cell looks like this:
=AVERAGE(multByElement("A1:A3","B1:B3"))
or
=AVERAGE(multByElement("My Sheet1!A1:A3","My Sheet1!B1:B3"))
for when I call it from a different sheet.
First, see the comment Remou left, since that's really what you should be doing here. You shouldn't need VBA at all to get an element-wise multiplication of two arrays.
Second, if you want to work with Ranges, you can do that by declaring your function arguments to be of type Range. So you could have
Public Function multByElement(range1 As Range, range2 As Range)
and not need to resolve strings to range references yourself. Using strings prevents Excel from updating references as things get moved around in your worksheet.
Finally, the reason why your function fails the way it does is because the array you get from taking the 'Value' of a multi-cell Range is two-dimensional, and you'd need to acces its elements with two indices. Since it looks like you're intending to (element-wise) multiply two vectors, you would do either
arrayA(i) = arr1(i,1) * arr2(i,1)
or
arrayA(i) = arr1(1,i) * arr2(1,i)
depending on what orientation you expected from your input. (Note that if you do this with VBA, orientation of what is conceptually a 1-D array matters, but if you follow Remou's advice above, Excel will do the right thing regardless of whether you pass in rows or columns, or range references or array literals.)
As an epilogue, it also looks like you're not using 'Option Explicit'. Google around for some rants on why you probably always want to do this.