Excel Macro giving error when pasting - vba

Question

I am trying to create an excel macro which is probably going to end up being quite large, to make things easier I am tackling it a bit at a time. So far I have....
Sub Macro4()
'
' Test Macro
'
'Selects the product_name column by header name
Dim rngAddress As Range
Set rngAddress = Range("A1:Z1").Find("product_name")
If rngAddress Is Nothing Then
MsgBox "The product_name column was not found."
Exit Sub
End If
Range(rngAddress, rngAddress.End(xlDown)).Select
'Inserts new column to the left of the product_name column
Selection.Insert Shift:=xlToRight
'Re-selects the product_name column
Range(rngAddress, rngAddress.End(xlDown)).Select
'Copys the contents of the product_name column
Selection.Copy
Selection.Paste
End Sub
I want it to do the following....
Search the spreadsheet for the header name 'product_name'
Insert a blank column to the left of the 'product_name' column
Copy the contents of the 'product_name' column
Paste them into the newly created blank column
Change the header name in this new column to 'product_name_2'
Currently it works fine up until the pasting into this newly created column, then i get a
'Run-time error '438'; - Object doesn't support this property or method'
Can anyone suggest where i am going wrong?

Answer 1

Your error is:
Range(rngAddress, rngAddress.End(xlDown)).Select
This selects from the top of the column down to just above the first blank cell. The insert shifts this portion of the column right leaving the rest where it is. When you select again you are likely to get a larger range because you have mixed two columns. The copy fails because you are then trying to copy values over the top of values.
If that does not make sense, step through your macro with F8 and see what is happening at each step.
When you understand why your current macro does not work, try this:
Sub Macro5()
Dim rngAddress As Range
Dim ColToBeCopied As Integer
Set rngAddress = Range("A1:Z1").Find("'product_name")
If rngAddress Is Nothing Then
MsgBox "The product_name column was not found."
Exit Sub
End If
ColToBeCopied = rngAddress.Column
Columns(ColToBeCopied).EntireColumn.Insert
Columns(ColToBeCopied + 1).Copy Destination:=Columns(ColToBeCopied)
End Sub
Note:
I did not select anything.
I have left the code operating on the active sheet but it is better to use With Sheets("XXX") ... End With.
Answer to second question
The macro recorder is not good at showing how to address individual cells systematically.
With Sheets("xxxx")
.Cells(RowNum,ColNum).Value = "product_name 1"
End With
The above uses With which I recommend. Notice the dot in front of Cells.
The one below operates on the active sheet.
Cells(RowNum,ColNum).Value = "product_name 1"
RowNum must be a number. ColNum can be a number (say 5) or a letter (say "E").
In your case RowNum is 1 and ColNum is ColToBeCopied and ColToBeCopied + 1.
P.S.
I forgot to mention that to find the botton row of a column use:
RowLast = Range(Rows.Count, ColNum).End(xlUp).Row
That is move up from the bottom not down from the top.
P.S. 2
To specify a range using Cells:
.Range(.Cells(Top,Left),.Cells(Bottom,Right))
The dots must match: all three or none.

Answer 2

I'm not sure where you are trying to copy to,
but when you want to paste you need to make a selection and then
ActiveSheet.Paste
For example:
/your code/
Selection.Copy
Range("O:O").Select
ActiveSheet.Paste

Answer 3

I would avoid copying / pasting altogether, if you only want to transfer values.
For example, instead of:
Range("B1:B100").Copy Destination:=Range("A1")
I would use:
Range("A1:A100").Value = Range("B1:B100").Value
If we were to substitute that into your code, and include some of the comments made by Tony:
Sub Macro4()
Dim colFound As Integer
Dim rowLast As Long
Const rowSearch As Integer = 1
'Find the product_name column
colFound = Rows(rowSearch).Find("product_name").Column
If colFound = 0 Then
MsgBox "The product_name column was not found."
Exit Sub
End If
'Find the last non-empty row
rowLast = Cells(Rows.Count, colFound).End(xlUp).Row
'Inserts new column to the left of the product_name column
Columns(colFound).EntireColumn.Insert
'Transfer the contents of the product_name column to the newly inserted one
Range(Cells(rowSearch, colFound), Cells(rowLast, colFound)).Value = _
Range(Cells(rowSearch, colFound + 1), Cells(rowLast, colFound + 1)).Value
'Rename the new column
Cells(rowSearch, colFound).Value = Cells(rowSearch, colFound).Value & "_2"
End Sub