Accessing Hyperlink file explorer using VBA - vba

I am creating a spreadsheet to act as a central point of all the documentation relevant to a project, so that all the quotes, drawings etc will all be in a single excel document with hyperlinks to the files along with information about them. (e.g. for a drawing, the drawing name and number will be requested)
I want to do this through a userform in order to ensure sufficient information is supplied as this will be referenced during audits.
But I am having difficulty with the hyperlink part as there may not be a known address/name that allows me to use the hyperlinks.add method.
What would be optimal is the ability to click the Hyperlink button on the ribbon from inside the userform.
This is my first time asking a question, been trawling through stack overflow for a while now though. But I am open to suggestions about asking better questions etc.
Cheers.

Append Hyperlink to list using the Insert Hyperlink Dialog
Private Sub btnInsertHyperlink_Click()
Range("A" & Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Offset(1).Select
Application.Dialogs(xlDialogInsertHyperlink).Show
End Sub

Related

Copying the content of multiple UserForm textboxes to clipboard

I built a Microsoft Word template with a userform containing textboxes. I want to copy the data of two textboxes into the clipboard separately upon submitting the completed userform. Just to clarify I want each textbox to have its own entry into the clipboard for easy access in the future.
Below is the code I'm using but when I repeat the procedure it replaces the first textbox in the clipboard with the second. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sub ComandButton_click()
Dim clipboard As MSForms.DataObject
Set clipboard = New MSForms.DataObject
clipboard.SetText Me.TextBox1.value
clipboard.PutInClipboard
End Sub
EDIT (additional background):
For accessing the information put on the Clipboard I created a custom QAT. One of the buttons on the toolbar opens the clipboard so they can easily begin to paste the name they need at any one time. Most reports involve two people so I want to send the value of two textboxes into the clipboard as if you individually selected and copied each name. My first idea was to assign a keyboard shortcut to the value of the two textboxes but I settled on utilizing the clipboard tab.
Given what you've told us, I'm guessing you're calling up the Office Clipboard. This is different from the Windows Clipboard, which is what your code is using. The Office Clipboard is not exposed to the developer (for internal, MS use only). There is a way to put information on it, but I'm uncertain how reliable it is; YMMV (your mileage may vary).
The code for your UserForm to call a procedure responsible for writing the information:
PutContentOnOfficeClipboard Me.[textBoxName].Value
PutContentOnOfficeClipboard Me.[textBoxName].Value
The procedure writes the text to the end of the document, copies it, then deletes again. In my tests, this all shows up on the Office Clipboard:
Sub PutContentOnOfficeClipboard(s As String)
Dim rng As word.Range
Set rng = ActiveDocument.Content
rng.Collapse wdCollapseEnd
rng.Text = s
rng.Copy
rng.Delete
End Sub
If it turns out to be unreliable, then you need a different approach. Here are some thoughts on alternative methods...
A taskpane is optimal as it makes the information visibly available users. Unfortunately, task panes aren't available to the VBA Developer. They can be used from a VSTO solution or an Office-JS solution, but that may be more effort than you're willing/able to put into the project (steep learning curve, enterprise deployment requirement, etc.)
Besides keyboard shortcuts (which aren't a bad idea to have in addition to any visible interface):
A dropdown list on the QAT or the Ribbon
Two buttons on the QAT or the Ribbon
Modify the Right-click (context) menu with two controls to which you can write the names as needed. (Requires call-back macros to make the dynamic update)
Save the entries as AutoText/Building Blocks, possibly to use in conjunction
with a BuildingBlock content control (which can be filtered to show only your entries; AutoText can also be used selectively from the keyboard).
Make a small, non-modal UserForm with buttons. You could optionally use the Windows API to make it "always on-top".

Auto-updatable links

Is there a way to apply "auto-updatable" style for hyperlink?
I believe, this question is not trivial.
When you normally click on hyperlink, it will change it's color to violet. Next, if you save, close, and then reopen the document, the link will be updated back to blue. This is default behaviour of Word, and there is no need to use any macros for it.
I'm trying to replicate this behaviour with VBA. Here is the code:
Sub Test1()
Selection.Range.Hyperlinks(1).Range.Fields(1).Result.Style = Word.WdBuiltinStyle.wdStyleHyperlinkFollowed
End Sub
To make it work, simply put caret into the link, run macro, and see the results:
This works fine, except such visited links will not be auto-updated after you save, close, and then reopen the document. See the difference in the picture below. The link "Google" was opened normally, using the mouse Ctrl-click; the link "StackOverflow" was opened using the macro:
As I already said, I want to make my VBA-opened links (StackOverflow) auto-updatable as well (as Google).
Yes, I understand, there is a workaround - simply create another macro, which will be started every time the document opened and change all violet hyperlinks back to blue. However, this is just workaround, and I don't like it. Using it, we use conversion from "permanent violet" to "permanent blue", instead of using "temporary violet" (that's mean, auto-updatable without any additional efforts).
Hope everything is clear. Thanks in advance.
Update (was added after several answers were already posted).
Yes, I understand, this will work:
Sub Test1()
On Error Resume Next 'To avoid an error in case if the link isn't reachable
Selection.Hyperlinks(1).Follow
End Sub
But I want just simulate following, without really opening the link in the browser. That's why, I can't use Selection.Hyperlinks(1).Follow.
you need to remove the line, the link will change once followed and change back once the doc is reopened.
Selection.Range.Hyperlinks(1).Range.Fields(1).Result.Style = Word.WdBuiltinStyle.wdStyleHyperlinkFollowed
this does it for me
Sub resetHyperlinks()
Dim hLink As Hyperlink
For Each hLink In ActiveDocument.Hyperlinks
hLink.Address = hLink.Address ' this works
' hLink.ScreenTip = hLink.ScreenTip ' this works also
Next hLink
End Sub
You don't need to change the style with code to make the link purple. Just use the Follow method. This will click the link and turn it purple and then it will be reset to blue upon opening the document again.
Sub Test1()
Selection.Range.Hyperlinks(1).Follow
End Sub
You can reset link styles with VBA code that runs at startup, i.e. is a part of Document_Open() routine in ThisDocument VBA module.
The Hyperlink class doesn't have any .Visited property or anything relevant (i.e. you cannot even see if it was visited), so there's no other way beside .Follow() that also opens the link as it should.
You're basically trying to falsify the information that the document provides about its state: make a link appear visited when it actually wasn't.
The fact that the class doesn't even provide a property means that Word's designers do not consider the visited status a part of the editor's functionality (i.e. it effectively doesn't exist as far as the program's job is concerned).
This evidence suggests that Word doesn't, and is not designed to, have any specialized facility to switch link status other than .Follow(). Which means, any way that you find that happens to have the desired effect in bound to be what you're calling a "workaround".
The "temporary" color of a followed hyperlink is an embedded (and not directly accessible) feature of the built-in Hyperlink character style. It is not exposed through the normal UI's Style tools, nor through the object model.
You can readily compare all formatting between two selections using the Reveal Formatting pane (Shift+F1) in the document window in Word.
If you compare a normally followed hyperlink with a hyperlink affected by your snippet, you'll see that the followed hyperlink still has the Hyperlink style, while your simulated follow has changed the style of the second hyperlink.
If you compare a never-followed hyperlink and a normally followed hyperink, Word identifies their formatting as exactly the same. Word does not acknowledge that any aspect of formatting (style, font color, etc.) has changed.
It seems likely that the Word.WdBuiltinStyle.wdStyleHyperlinkFollowed you are using exists explicitly to address this gap (which is somewhat disappointing).
I recommend using your existing approach, and then reverting the style in a procedure triggered by the Before Save and Before Close events of the document. Using those events will prevent the followed style from saving at all, and so avoid issues caused by someone opening the document without enabling macros.
Option Explicit
Sub test()
Dim HL As Hyperlink
For Each HL In Sheet1.Hyperlinks
HL.Range.Style.Font.Color = vbBlue
Next
End Sub
Can't you simply make it any colour you want without invoking it. As others have stated above whatever you you I think will be a work around as it's not an intended function.

Control Button to initiate the writing of a new VBA macro

Would it be possible to have a control button (or any mechanism) that once clicked on, a textbox would appear with fields like macro name Sub "NewMacroTitle"(), a field for the date, a field for reference sources ("Getting Links/URL from a webpage-Excel VBA"found this here"), a brief description of what the macro is to do. All of these fields, except Sub "NewMacroTitle"(), would start with a ' to show a comment and all of this would be inserted into the VBA editor, or enter it into cells on a spreadsheet that could then be copied and pasted into the VBA editor.
My problem is this. I'm new to VBA. I'm also the world's worst at documenting macros. I get an idea for a macro, I'm off into the VBA editor writing away, maybe even get the macro complete. A week later I'm reviewing the macro and the first thing is "what the heck does this thing do?"
I hope you see what I'm trying to do, essentially some way to force me to document the macro before even starting the actual code.
There are tools that will add pre-defined text to the header and/or footer of a sub. I use the one from MZ Tools for error handling code and adding my name and date to the header of each proc. It is worth a look.

How do you persistently format a TextBox to display a numeric value?

I'm sure this is a simple question, with a simple answer, but I can't find it.
I've inherited a spreadsheet that I have to fix. Whoever wrote it made extensive use of VBA and VBA UserForms for inputting data. On one form, textual and numeric information is entered and then saved to a record on a specific worksheet. This spreadsheet is used to log project information. It gets copied, and re-copied again and again. With each re-copy, it is cleared and used for the next project.
A user has sent me a spreadsheet of one of these major projects. The VBA, data-entry UserForm has a problem. One TextBox, which accepts either text or numbers, is always reformatting the numbers as dates when you exit the field!? I've tripled-checked the VBA code. There is no special OnEnter or OnExit code related to this field that reformats the data. Furthermore, I can't find a Format property that is associated with the TextBox from within the designer.
I'm a C/C# developer, not a VBA developer. Still, this "simple" IDE has me stumped. I can't find the property that re-formats the TextBox display value.
How can I fix the TextBox so that it persistently interprets numbers as numbers and not as dates?
FURTHER NOTE
It is worth mentioning two things. First, user's can't modify these forms or VBA code. The underlying modules are password protected and only myself and a couple managers know the password. Furthermore, no one touches the code because I'm the only developer within the company and everyone is a bit scare that they might break something.
Second, something in the file may have been corrupt. When this file was sent to me, the user also mentioned that the worksheet that he was working on was renamed. It appears that something didn't save properly because the WorkSheet tab was renamed a random hex string value.
Everything appears to be functioning as normal on this form, other than these two issues. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
You can force the proper format by using cLng:
First enter =TODAY() in cell A1 and then run:
Sub TextBoxIssue()
With ActiveSheet.Shapes("TextBox 1").TextFrame.Characters
.Text = Range("A1").Value
End With
MsgBox "However when we use cLng......"
With ActiveSheet.Shapes("TextBox 1").TextFrame.Characters
.Text = CLng(Range("A1").Value)
End With
End Sub
There is most certainly code that is formatting that text on exiting the textbox. You just haven't found it yet. If you go into the Userforms class module and select the textbox from the left dropdown, you can see all of the events in the right dropdown. The bolded events are in use. I assume you've already checked all those, but that's the place to start.
Next, look for custom class modules that use the WithEvents keyword. They can trigger events outside of the userform's class module.
Finally, search the code for all instances of =Format(tbxName.Text,"mm/dd/yyy") or some such code. Somewhere the code is probably using the Format function to fill that textbox.

Word add-in, custom layout

Is it possible to create a custom layout, existing ones are:
Print layout
Full Screen reading
Web layout
Outline
Draft
These can be found in the View Ribbon under the group Document Views.
My aim is to get my own layout button in either the existing View Ribbon (if it is possible to modify it) or add a new layout to my custom Ribbon.
Thanks in advance!
This answer is going to provide information on how to change standard settings of any view type control and associate these changes with certain document. This will not work with all documents and will not change the control action for whole Word Application but for one document. Operation could be repeated for few document and almost all Word button.
Important! I'm not using English version of Office application therefore some description will not match exactly to what you have. Tried and tested for Word 2010.
There are following steps to go:
Open new document- one where control should work according to your private expectations.
Go to View >> Macros >> Show list of macros
In the combo-box below middle of the Macro window choose something like Word application commands (or Word macros or similar). As a result you get list of lots of macros names.
You need to guess which of the macro is associated with ribbon control you are going to change. Use common sense and logic to find it. Sometimes two or three seems to match and possibly you will need to make a try.
A) let's try to change behaviour of draft/pending/working view ribbon control. one rounded red below:
B) find macro ViewNormal (but not ViewDraft)
C) select this macro on the list
Change back on the combo-box list to your document (while keeping your chosen macro selected)
Press Create button on the right in the macro window. You will be moved to VBA Editor to the following code:
Sub ViewNormal()
'
' ViewNormal Makro
' Zmienia widok edycji na normalny
'
If ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial = wdPaneNone Then
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdNormalView
Else
ActiveWindow.View.Type = wdNormalView
End If
End Sub
This code is responsible for working of chosen ribbon control.
First, let's check if we can take control of ribbon button- add MsgBox "Control taken" at the end of the code, before End sub. Back to Word App and press button on the ribbon which result should be- setting of chosen view and our message box.
Now you need to change your code accordingly to set your view as you need. Use VBA for that.
Save document as .Docm and all the changes will be applied to the document each time you press chosen ribbon button.