I search ed through google, tech forums, etc.... but I couldn't find a good tutorial/guide that answer my question:
I have a Cell in Excel with Text, and a Cell with a Key(both text), is there a way to have an HMAC for EXCEL function that get both cell as input and return the hmac text ?
thanks in advance
A quick search on Google revealed a HMAC-SHA256 class written in VB6, located here: http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?635398-VB6-HMAC-SHA-256-HMAC-SHA-1-Using-Crypto-API
Whilst this is for VB6 (and is native code), it should be straightforward to adapt for use with VBA. As it sounds that you need a worksheet function (i.e. UDF) then you will also need to write this, using the above class.
If you're happy to call .NET assemblies from VBA, then you can simplify your code as most of the calculation work is already done for you (see System.Security.Cryptography, more specifically HMACSHA256). An example (for HMACSHA1, but the principle is the same) is given here: Does VBA have a Hash_HMAC.
Related
Chip Pearson RIP documented a feature in Excel Application.ExecuteExcel4Macro(HiddenName).
This feature provides a nicely hidden application level space for addins to store information... have a look: http://www.cpearson.com/Excel/hidden.htm
Is there something similar available for MS Word?
I tried intellisense but there is nothing that starts with Application.Ex
It would seem that the answer is No
Thank you cyboashu and Cindy Meister for your comments. The nice thing about ExecuteExcel4Macro is that it allows developers to place content in a very private space; apparently it is not possible (or extremely difficult) to read from this hidden space unless you know exactly what you're looking for, and it persists until all documents are closed.
There are various workarounds for MS Word:
ini file (system.PrivateProfileString) (not private, file persists when application closes)
customXML parts (tied to an instance of a document, dies with document)
document variables (tied to an instance of a document, dies with document)
Good as they are, these approaches are not quite what I was after (my question was more out of interest than actual need).
I had also thought of:
Creating an Excel object in Word and using the feature that way, but I think the same issue remains if things End suddenly. Similarly, I think a purpose built DLL would also fall victim to End.
I am currently working on a VBA project in Excel where I need to unlock a VBProject and also lock another VBProject. So far, I have been doing this with SendKeys, but I keep reading that it is not a good method, and that API is better? (For example in this thread: Unprotect VBProject from VB code)
However, I could not find any detailed information as to why during my research.
Could someone please tell me why exactly SendKeys is bad? What are the things that could go wrong? (Please note that my SendKeys sequence is only 1.5 seconds long at most.)
Also, why is API the better approach?
Thanks! :)
WinAPI uses things like window handles (you may have seen hWnd in code before?) to target a specific window. Once you have this you can send and receive messages to that window regardless of it's window state (active/inactive) etc.
You are working directly with the object, which is the way programming should be.
The SendKeys() method just emulates a user hitting keys on a keyboard, irrespective of what window is open and where - so it naturally sends the output to whatever object is active and able to receive it.
Another way to think about it
If you're coding to place a value in a cell on a certain sheet in VBA you can do the following:
Range("A1").Value = "Foo"
This is all well and good, but it assumes that the sheet we want is the active sheet at that moment in time. If it isn't, the wrong cell on the wrong sheet will be populated instead. This is effectively what you are doing with SendKeys()
This on the other hand:
Workbooks("Target Workbook.xlsx").Sheets("Target Sheet").Range("A1").Value = "Foo"
Specifies the exact cell, in the exact sheet, in the exact workbook that we want to target - so if that sheet isn't active at that point in time then no worries! It will still go to the right place (this is kind of what you're doing with API)
A WORD OF CAUTION
Playing with WinAPI in VBA can be risky if you don't know what you're doing - the code for these methods is pre-compiled in an external library which means your VBE error handler isn't going to be of any use. If you make a mistake with API you run the risk of corrupting your workbook (or worse depending on what you're actually doing).
You also need to look at conditional compilation in VBA, because you have to declare functions and parameters differently depending on whether you're using a 32-bit or 64-bit version.
I have been searching this for a while without any positives . We can create new modules, form ,report, but macros .Can we at all do this? This post asks the same question but answers another one.
"Create a macro for Microsoft Access via Interop "
here VBA module is being added not macro.
Theoretically it seems feasible as macro is an access object so why we cant do it ?
I dont think you can create macros via vba.
There is an object AllMacros (Application.currentproject.allmacros) and its members are representations of the individual macros in your project - but they are of the type Object, thus there doesn't seem to be any vba representation of the macro object.
You also can't import macros, autogenerate them or convert from vba to macros... So it seems pretty obvious ms isnt encouraging using them and hasn't done anything for us to create them
I'm currently in the process of rewriting some old AutoCAD plugins from VBA to VB.NET. As it turns out, a (rather large) part of said plugin is implemented in LISP, and I've been told to leave that be. So the problem became running LISP-code in AutoCAD from .NET. Now, there are a few resources online who explain the process necessary to do so (like this one), but all of them takes for granted that the lisp-files/functions are already loaded. The VBA-function I'm currently scratching my head trying to figure out how to convert does a "(LOAD ""<file>"")", and the script is built in such a way that it auto-executes on load (it's a simple script, doesn't register functions, just runs from start to end and does it's thing).
So my question is. How can I load (and thus execute) a lisp-file in autocad from a .NET plugin?
Ok, there are two ways to sendcommand via .NET.
The first thing you need to understand is that ThisDocument doesn't exist in .NET.
ThisDocument is the document where the VBA code is written, but since your addin is document undependant, it stands alone and you must take the documents from the Application object.
You access the application with:
Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Application
If you want to transform it to the same Application object as in VBA, with same methods and functions
using Autodesk.Autocad.Interop;
using Autodesk.Autocad.Interop.Common;
AcadApplication App = (AcadApplication)Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Application.AcadApplication;
The first application has MdiActiveDocument, from where you can call the Editor and send written commands, or call the SendStringToExecute as said in other answer.
The AcadApplication has ActiveDocument (an AcadDocument object that behaves exactly as in VBA).
This document will have the same SendCommand your VBA has, use it the same way it's done in VBA.
If you can explain better the autoexecute part, I can help with that too.
I would like to execute a macro (VBA Code for formatting the sheet) in an excel sheet that i create from code. The approach I use right now is put the macro in the workbook_open
event and open the Excel sheet from code. That applies the formatting and I save it later. But this slows down the process a lot.
I would like to know if there is way I can execute a macro using the DocumentFormat.OpenXml SDK or some other .net class without actually opening the excel file thus improving performance.
I have gone through a lot of internet material , but all in vain. Maybe I am just too much into it that I am just overlooking a very simple solution.
Kindly advise.
Thanks
I would like to just point out for reference. The comment from Tim is the answer to this, for anyone looking for an answer. I cannot mark a comment as answer so just re writing it. Will mark it as answer until I find some better way to do it.
You'll have to open the file if you want to format it... – Tim Williams