Excel VBA Retrieve Constant from Worksheet Code Fails When New Code is Written - vba

Question

In an attempt to retrieve constants from each worksheet in some reporting workbooks I use, three years ago I wrote some code that gets included in each worksheet. Here's an example of the code:
Option Explicit
' Determine the type of worksheet
Private Const shtType As String = "CR"
Public Function GetShtType()
GetShtType = shtType
End Function
In other code that gets the values from the worksheets for processing, the following section of code is used, where 'wksToCheck' is the worksheet in question. This code is stored in a personal macro workbook, not in the workbook with the worksheet code:
' Get the sheet 'type' if it has one
On Error Resume Next
shtType = wksToCheck.GetShtType()
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
' We do not have a type
shtType = "Unknown"
Err.Clear
End If ' Err.Number...
On Error GoTo Error_BuildTemplateWbk
My problem is, I use the code above to process workbooks several times a week, and I have for the past three years. Now, I am trying to write some new code with the above block to process the report workbooks in a different way. However, when I run code with the above block now, I get a 'Method or Data Member Not Found' error on the '.GetShtType()' portion of the code. I cannot compile the code and of course, consequently, the code doesn't work. I have tried adding the worksheet code to a worksheet in the macro workbook to see if that would fix the problem. It hasn't. Does anyone have any ideas? I am running Excel 2013 on a Windows 7 PC. Any ideas?
Brian

Answer 1

Using late-binding, should avoid the error, Dim wksToCheck As Object, but you'll lose the intellisense.
If you're open to alternatives, you may have better luck simply using the CallByName function, or using worksheet's CustomProperties.
Using CallByName preserves backwards compatibility with your older workbooks if needed:
shtType = CallByName(wksToCheck, "GetShtType", VbMethod)
Or, using CustomProperties instead of a custom method, in your worksheets:
Private Sub Worksheet_Activate()
Const PropName$ = "ShtType"
Const ShtType$ = "CR"
On Error Resume Next
Me.CustomProperties(PropName) = ShtType$
If Err.Number = 13 Then
Me.CustomProperties.Add "PropName", ShtType
End If
End Sub
Then,
' Get the sheet 'type' if it has one
On Error Resume Next
shtType = wksToCheck.CustomProperties("ShtType")
If Err.Number = 13 Then
' We do not have a type
shtType = "Unknown"
Err.Clear
End If ' Err.Number...
On Error GoTo Error_BuildTemplateWbk