Excel to create task in Outlook - vba

Question

I am relatively new to VBA and so I'm sure this is a basic mistake that I am making!
A1 contains valid date, A2 contains task information, A3 contains number of days before A1 date to trigger task reminder.
The problem is when I put =addtotasks(A1,A2,A3)
It just comes up with #NAME?
I have enabled the Microsoft Outlook 14.0 Object Library in the references.
I am based in the UK telling you for dates purposes.
This is the following code. I have included some extra code for setting a remainder only on a business day.
'Function NextBusinessDay(dateFrom As Date, _
Optional daysAhead As Long = 1) As Date
Dim currentDate As Date
Dim nextDate As Date
' convert neg to pos
If daysAhead < 0 Then
daysAhead = Abs(daysAhead)
End If
' determine next date
currentDate = dateFrom
nextDate = DateAdd("d", daysAhead, currentDate)
' is next date a weekend day?
Select Case Weekday(nextDate, vbUseSystemDayOfWeek)
Case vbSunday
nextDate = DateAdd("d", 1, nextDate)
Case vbSaturday
nextDate = DateAdd("d", 2, nextDate)
End Select
NextBusinessDay = CDate(Int(nextDate))
End Function
Dim bWeStartedOutlook As Boolean
Function AddToTasks(strDate As String, strText As String, DaysOut As Integer) As Boolean
' Adds a task reminder to Outlook Tasks a specific number of days before the date specified
' Returns TRUE if successful ' Will not trigger OMG because no protected properties are accessed
'
' Usage:
' =AddToTasks("12/31/2008", "Something to remember", 30)
' or:
' =AddToTasks(A1, A2, A3)
' where A1 contains valid date, A2 contains task information, A3 contains number of days before A1 date to trigger task reminder '
' can also be used in VBA :
'If AddToTasks("12/31/2008", "Christmas shopping", 30) Then
' MsgBox "ok!"
'End If
Dim intDaysBack As Integer
Dim dteDate As Date
Dim olApp As Object 'Outlook.Application
Dim objTask As Object ' Outlook.TaskItem
' make sure all fields were filled in
If (Not IsDate(strDate)) Or (strText = "") Or (DaysOut <= 0) Then
AddToTasks = False
GoTo ExitProc
End If
' We want the task reminder a certain number of days BEFORE the due date
' ex: if DaysOut = 120, then we want the due date to be -120 before the date specified
' we need to pass -120 to the NextBusinessDay function, so to go from 120 to -120,
' we subtract double the number (240) from the number provided (120).
' 120 - (120 * 2); 120 - 240 = -120
intDaysBack = DaysOut - (DaysOut * 2)
dteDate = NextBusinessDay(CDate(strDate), intDaysBack)
On Error Resume Next
Set olApp = GetOutlookApp
On Error GoTo 0
If Not olApp Is Nothing Then
Set objTask = olApp.CreateItem(3) ' task item
With objTask
.StartDate = dteDate
.Subject = strText & ", due on: " & strDate
.ReminderSet = True
.Save
End With
Else
AddToTasks = False
GoTo ExitProc
End If
' if we got this far, it must have worked
AddToTasks = True
ExitProc:
If bWeStartedOutlook Then
olApp.Quit
End If
Set olApp = Nothing
Set objTask = Nothing
End Function
Function GetOutlookApp() As Object
On Error Resume Next
Set GetOutlookApp = GetObject(, "Outlook.Application")
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
Set GetOutlookApp = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
bWeStartedOutlook = True
End If
On Error GoTo 0
End Function
I have taken this code from this website, by the way:
http://www.jpsoftwaretech.com/get-previous-business-day-in-vba/

Answer 1

The #Name? error happens when you reference a function or variable unknown to the program. It's not sure where this function resides. Try using the "fx" button next to the formula bar and selecting user defined functions, it should be listed there.
My guess is you created this function in a different work book probably the personal.xlsb.
In order to use user defined functions you have to reference the full path to them. Try reading the last paragraph here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/creating-custom-functions-HA001111701.aspx