Writing VBA procedure/function to an .xlam addin - vba

Question

I have created a VBA project in Excel and within said project is a module that writes code to another module. I eventually password protected the project so as to keep the code hidden (not realizing right away that this would pose some pretty obvious issues).
When the user interacts with the file, the module attempts to run the code but, encounters an error (a password protected project can't modify itself! Hey we all have our duh moments :p).
So, as a way around this, I figured 'why not make the portion that is edited unprotected', whilst keeping the remainder of the file locked. So I figured I would create an unprotected .xlam add-in, then write said code to this portion. I am having some difficulty figuring how to do this though however. Below is the code I have written that writes code to another module:
Public Sub errorWrite()
Dim VBComp As VBIDE.VBComponent
Dim CodeMod As VBIDE.CodeModule
Dim s As String
Dim d As String
Dim lineNumb As Long
With ThisWorkbook.VBProject.VBComponents.item("NewModule")
.CodeModule.InsertLines j, "Public sub newModule()"
j = j + 1
With ThisWorkbook.VBProject.VBComponents.item("NewModule")
.CodeModule.InsertLines j, "(my code etc..)"
j = j + 1
With ThisWorkbook.VBProject.VBComponents.item("NewModule")
.CodeModule.InsertLines j, "end sub"
end sub
While I have found some info on Stack and elsewhere regarding .xlam add-ins (Updating an xlam add-in using VBA) for example, I'd rather just keep it as simple as possible. Suggestions and hints are much appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

Using an unprotected Addin seems like a reasonable approach. But the code you have posted writes to another Module within the Protected addin. You need to reference the other AddIn as a VBProject
Change the name of your Unprotected AddIn to a unique Name (it defaults to VBAProject and does not have to be unique)
Then create a reference to it like this
Dim VBP As VBProject
Set VBP = ThisWorkbook.VBProject.VBE.VBProjects("NameOfYourUnprotectedAddin")
Then all your code uses this reference instead of ThisWorkbook.VBProject
Eg
With VBP.VBComponents.item("NewModule")
.CodeModule.InsertLines j, "Public sub newModule()"
' etc
End With

Answer 2

so I was able to find a way that seems to work, I wrote the code using FSO, then save the file as a .bas module. From there I used the below to have the module imported directly into the .xlam addin as a module:
Public Sub importBas()
Dim VBP As VBProject
Set VBP = Workbooks("example.xlam").VBProject
VBP.VBComponents.Import ("C:\Users\...example.bas")
VBP.VBComponents.Remove
End Sub
Then, in the original module, I deleted procedure within the xlam after execution was finished. Therefore no code can be seen (assuming I remember to use error-handling and disable break mode :p)
I am still curious how to write it 'directly', so I will play around with it more and see if I get it, although this way works
Thank you :)