Well I was wondering whether we can somehow create custom looking text boxes that act as an input box and is linked to VBA.
As far as I am aware the standard procedure would entail adding an ActiveX Textbox Control and then using the TextBox1_Change event to add the code as to what needs to happen when the user enters something in to.
Sadly the look of the default textbox isn't matching the way I want by spreadsheet to look. So is there any way to change how it looks or have something replace it while serving the same purpose?
One thing I could think of and have tried is inserting a shape (blue):
Shape http://im52.gulfup.com/qD2F0B.png
I can get the text that is in the shape using VBA by:
InputText = Shapes("Rounded Rectangle 1").TextFrame.Characters.Text
But I don't suppose there is a way to detect a change of shape text event?
Suggestions / Workarounds are welcome!
Thanks
There are limitations on what you can change on an ActiveX TextBox, such as Font/Color/Border/SpecialEffects, but the basic rectangle shape cannot be changed.
However you can make the TextBox transparent by BackStyle property and group it to a shape (bring the TB forward) and still use the TextBox1_Change method for changes.
If you need to access the value in the TextBox somewhere else, a quick way is to use TextBox1.LinkedCell and below to set the value to a cell, or a Named Range.
Private Sub TextBox1_Change()
' Same Sheet as TextBox1
ActiveSheet.Range(TextBox1.LinkedCell).Value = TextBox1.Value
' Or Below for Named Range
ThisWorkbook.Names(TextBox1.LinkedCell).RefersToRange.Value = TextBox1.Value
End Sub
Related
How can I get an Excel Form Control Label which is on a worksheet to change it's length to match the length of the sting of characters in it's caption. Importantly it must work irrispective of what screen the file is viewed on or what the zoom setting is on the sheet.
So far I've got:
Sub LabelLength()
Dim XYLabel As Shape
Dim XYDataSheet As Worksheet
Set XYDataSheet = ThisWorkbook.Sheets(1)
Set XYLabel = XYDataSheet.Shapes(1) 'This is the Forms Label
XYLabel.OLEFormat.Object.Caption = Trim(XYDataSheet.Cells(1, 1).Value)
XYLabel.Width = Len(Trim(XYDataSheet.Cells(1, 1).Value)) * 7.5
End Sub
Which works, but does leave quite a lot of space after some captions.
I don't think this can be done with a Form control, at least not directly. If you want to stick with a Form control, I think you're on the right track with scaling its .width property based on the text size. To do it better than that, you'd probably have to build a dictionary object or something and sum the width of all characters in the string based on the width you had listed in the dictionary object.
However, if you can switch your label to an ActiveX control, then you can solve this by using:
.WordWrap = False
.AutoSize = True
I think people in general prefer to use Form controls because they're a bit more simple. But I also think, in general, ActiveX controls have more flexibility and you can customize them to your needs more. You can read a bit more on Form controls vs. ActiveX controls here.
I am trying to create a path selection user interface for an extensive VBA program I've been working on, but I can't seem to get the ellipsis textbox that I'd like. This is a very common feature, especially in option tables. This is an example of what I'd like to get, straight from the VBA Options panel:
I would LOVE to find a way to get the same functionality in a Userform. The only solution that I've found thus far is to use a combo box with the ellipsis arrow option enabled. However, there doesn't seem to be an apparent way to use the activation of the combo box arrow to run a dialog box, nor does there seem to be a way to make it look UNLIKE a combo box. Last resort I use a button below the text box, but I'd really prefer a less-bulky way of doing this.
Any solution would be greatly appreciated.
The only solution that I've found thus far is to use a combo box with
the ellipsis arrow option enabled. However, there doesn't seem to be
an apparent way to use the activation of the combo box arrow to run a
dialog box, nor does there seem to be a way to make it look UNLIKE a
combo box
Your suggestion does work, and it is surely less complex and more elegant than having two controls work together, Button + Textbox.
A Combo can achieve perfectly the desired feature, in the following way.
1) In design mode, set the button style to Ellipsis
DropButtonStyle = fmDropButtonStyleEllipsis
And eventually, make the ellipsis show up only when the combo is entered, by setting the design-time property:
ShowDropButtonWhen = ShowDropButtonWhenFocus
2) If needed, you can set other design-time properties to have some look and feel. The defaults look pretty good however.
3) Add the following handler to the parent userform. The snippet simulates the launching of a dialog and getting a new value or cancelling. It does not show any dropdown window. (but you still have control over that: if you want to show it according to some condition, you still can call the method ComboBox1.DropDown)
Private Sub ComboBox1_DropButtonClick()
' The following two lines avoid to call the routine twice, at entry and at exit
Static i As Integer
i = (i + 1) Mod 2: If i = 0 Then Exit Sub
With ComboBox1
s = InputBox("enter some text", , .Value) '<~~ simulates any dialog
If s <> "" Then .Value = s
SendKeys ("{Enter}") '<~~ to close immediately the dropdown window
End With
End Sub
Try it ;)
Not only do ComboBoxes have Drop Buttons, so do TextBoxes (as do Excel's RefEdit controls). Even though you can't access the Textbox's Drop Button at design time, you can do so at runtime. Using a textbox avoids having to deal with the dropped down list of a combobox.
Given a textbox named TextBox1, the following code will provide the desired ellipsis drop button:
Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
With Me.TextBox1
.DropButtonStyle = fmDropButtonStyleEllipsis
.ShowDropButtonWhen = fmShowDropButtonWhenAlways
End With
End Sub
Then use the DropButtonClick event of the textbox to perform whatever action you want:
Private Sub TextBox1_DropButtonClick()
'' Code here to do what you need
End Sub
I have an extensive example at Alternative to Excel’s Flaky RefEdit Control that uses a textbox with a "Reduce" drop button to replicate the functionality of Excel's unreliable RefEdit controls.
I have a set of linked subs which work like this:
A user types into an ActiveX TextBox
A Change Event in that TextBox calls a sub in a Module
That Module sub drives updating a named range in a sheet
The range value drives updating a table of Excel cells that uses lookup functions based on the range value
The table values are copied and pasted to a another range (to eliminate links to formulas)
That pasted range is put into a ListBox using this (props to Rory for his patience):
ActiveSheet.ListBox1.List = Sheets("Search Criteria Control").Range("G1:G21").Value
The result is that for every character the user types in the TextBox the ListBox is updated.
The problem I have is that the ListBox shrinks a bit with every keystroke in the TextBox referred to in #1 above. Is this normal behavior and I'm misusing ListBoxes, am I doing something wrong or do I need to respecify the dimensions of the ListBox every time it is updated with something like this?
ActiveSheet.OLEObjects("ListBox1").Top = 35
ActiveSheet.OLEObjects("ListBox1").Left = 650
ActiveSheet.OLEObjects("ListBox1").Width = 550
ActiveSheet.OLEObjects("ListBox1").Height = 610
Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.
I was having trouble with the same thing. My ActiveX listbox would move around on the sheet and change size for no reason that I could see.
While I did go ahead and develop some code to reset size and coordinates, that wasn't satisfactory since there had to be a mechanism to trigger that code - something I didn't want to burden end-users with.
I found a better answer in another user forum. There's a Listbox Property called IntegralHeight whose default property is True - something to do with screen resolution and optimal display of listbox contents. Simply set that to False. I did that with some ActiveX boxes that were giving me fits, and I was able to disable the "adjustment" code and, so far, so good!
First and foremost, my due diligence rounded up a ton of answers regarding ActiveX Text Boxes, but nothing really about Object Text Boxes. For my project, I cannot use any ActiveX.
OK, so when a Sheet is Unprotected, an Object Text Box (from Insert > Shapes) works pretty much the way I want it to: the most important thing being that I can hit the Enter key and get a carriage return. Then, I go into the Shape Properties, and uncheck Lock Text, and protect the sheet.
Once the sheet is protected, though, the ability to do carriage returns (type Enter, and go down one line) goes away. Shift+Enter and Alt+Enter are no-goes as well.
Is it just not possible to have this functionality available? Are there any workarounds? Why does Excel hate me? Here are some of my ideas:
Unprotect Sheet when Text Box is clicked/activated, Protect when not
(couldn't figure out the syntax in VBA for this. "If Intersect..." is what I'm thinking)
Insert Word Doc Object (don't like this because one-click enters the
formula bar editing, and I can't get the font to stay)
Just use a merged cell and instruct users to double-click to enter
and use Alt+Enter for a new line.
The winning option for now is using a merged cell, but I may just have to see if ActiveX will work on our network. I really want to stick to the KISS principle here if at all possible for the end user...I don't mind coding in the backend to make it work, though.
Thank you for your thoughts!
EDIT: Here's some images to help...
Here's the functionality that I would like to have when my Sheet is protected:
Next, this is an ActiveX text box with it's properties window displayed (Developer > Design Mode > Properties). The properties that make it somewhat usable when the Sheet is protected are circled in red, the Multiline and Enter Key Behavior. But again, I'd prefer to not have to use ActiveX...plus, the user cannot change font color by line.
Finally, I found this interesting: There is another Text box under Form Control that is grayed out. From a search, it looks like this was taken away in favor of the drawing objects version of the text box...or maybe it's the same? The left is the drawing objects one, the middle is the grayed out Form Control, and the right is the ActiveX.
In sum, I would just like to see if there is a way to have the functionality of an unprotected Sheet's Shapes Text Box when the sheet is protected.
Assuming you are working with a TextBox shape, inserted from the ribbon, here:
Then you can use the optional parameter in the Protect method:
Sheet1.Protect DrawingObjects:=False
This will allow the user to edit text boxes on the worksheet, but the sheet itself will remain protected.
If you are using a Form Control (inserted from the Develper/Design ribbon) then you can set the .MultiLine property by accessing the shape's OLEFormat.Object:
Sub test()
Dim tb As Shape
Dim x As Object
'Get a handle on the SHAPE
Set tb = ActiveSheet.Shapes(2)
'You have to access its properties from the OLEFormat.Object:
tb.OLEFormat.Object.Object.MultiLine = True
End Sub
In my test, even on a Protected worksheet this allows the user to Shift + Enter to insert carriage returns:
Ctrl + Shift + Enter seems to work on a protected sheet.
Longtime viewer, first time question asker.
I'm currently working with UserForms within MS Word and have a particular form that can have up to 20 different labels and accompanying textboxes with varying texts. I have all but the first hidden while not in use, however I would like the next label and text box to become visible following input in the previous textbox. So if you enter data (anything) in the first textbox, the next label and text box will become visible. Does this make sense? I've seen other responses here suggest using AfterUpdate() rather than Change() or Click() but can't figure out how to use any of them. I would share my code but at this point I don't have any code to share, other than my labels and textboxes are lblField1 txtField1, lblField2 txtField2...
Any suggestions?
I would suggest using Change event, when using AfterUpdate you need to leave you TextBox for a while to fire the event. If you have only one TextBox visible there is nothing to move to. If you have more TextBoxes you would need to move back to fire AfterEvent and I don't think this is what you expect.
So, double click wherever on your userform and add the following code in code area:
Private Sub txtField1_Change()
txtField2.Visible = True
lblField2.Visible = True
End Sub
Next, add next portion for next textbox:
Private Sub txtField2_Change()
txtField3.Visible = True
lblField3.Visible = True
End Sub
And so on, if only you have an order in controls name you just need to change numbers in the end of control names.