Excel allows us to manipulate and automate the program itself in many ways.
Those tools come in the form of an interface to the programming environment, and allow us to run our own code to have Excel perform unimaginable tasks.
Lesson objectives:
Learn the difference between the Excel environment and the Visual Basic for Applications environment. Learn the definition of some key terms used in the VBA environment. Learn the components of the Visual Basic Editor window. Learn the components of the Visual Basic Editor Toolbar. Learn the options available for customization in the Visual Basic Environment. Learn the components of the Project Explorer window, and how to navigate it. Learn the components of the Properties window and how to navigate it. Learn how to use a very simple macro.
Add-ins
When Excel opens, it also opens any installed Add-Ins, which are special programs that extend the built-in features of the program in some way.
The Programming Environment
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA): The programming language used to write programs in Excel and other applications. Visual Basic Editor (VBE): The environment (or window) in which VBA code is written. Procedures: Entities that perform a task and in which the code is written. Think of them as containers for code, if you will. Modules: A Container for procedures. A module can hold many procedures or just one. Projects: A Container for Modules. All of the VBA code in any workbook is called a Project.