Introduction to VBA
http://www.dssbooks.com/excel/chapterFiles.html
Position (123) 456-7890
University Name
Overview
11.1 Introduction
11.2 The Visual Basic Editor
11.3 The Object Browser
11.4 Summary
2
Introduction
The basics of the Visual Basic Editor environment.
The components of the Project Explorer, Properties, and Code Windows.
The difference between a property, method, and event.
The Object Browser.
3
The Visual Basic Editor
Project Explorer
Properties Window
Code Window
Immediate and Watch Windows
VBE Toolbars
4
Objects
Objects in Excel include
– Workbooks and worksheets
– Cells and ranges of cells
– Charts
There is an object hierarchy which orders these objects
– Workbooks contain worksheets
– Worksheets contain ranges
– Ranges contain cells
Objects are manipulated in VBA by
– Properties = value is given to describe or format the object
– Methods = arguments are used to perform an action on the object
5
Visual Basic Editor
The Visual Basic Editor (VBE) is the environment in which you work
with VBA programming code.
– Tools > Macro > Visual Basic Editor
– VBE icon from VBE Toolbar
– ALT + F11
Three main windows in the VBE
– Project Explorer
– Properties
– Code
Two other windows in VBE, used for debugging
– Immediate
– Watch
6
Visual Basic Editor (cont)
The Visual Basic Editor windows
Code
Project Window
Explorer
Properties
Window
Watch
Window
Immediate
Window
7
Project Explorer
Lists all projects in any open workbook.
Each workbook has a project, and each
project can have several parts
– Workbook and worksheets
– Modules
– Forms
Use Insert > Module or Insert > User Form
to add a new module or form to the current
project; can also use icon from standard
toolbar.
8
Properties Window
Contains detailed information about any
selected part of a project in the Project
Explorer.
Some basic naming and formatting
properties can be modified for worksheets
and workbooks.
Properties are very important for user
forms
– Formatting
– Position
– Picture
– Scrolling
– Behavior
9
Code Window
Displays the VBA code for the highlighted part of a project in the Project
Explorer.
When macros are recorded they are simultaneously created as VBA
code in the Visual Basic Editor.
There are three types of macros or procedures
– Sub procedures
– Function procedures
– Event procedures
10
Immediate and Watch Windows
Both of these windows are used for debugging.
Immediate Window executes whatever is entered immediately.
Watch Window displays values of inserted variables.
Use the View menu option to view or hide any window.
11
The Object Browser
Properties and Methods
Libraries, Classes, and Members
12
Object Browser
Provides a list of properties and methods of all Excel objects which
may be manipulated in VBA.
There are larger categories into which various objects are grouped
– Classes = groups of related objects
– Libraries = collections of VBA and Excel object classes
– Members = properties, methods, and constants of a selected class of
objects
View > Object Browser or icon from standard toolbar.
13
Object Browser (cont’d)
All classes containing the searched object are shown in the top window.
All members of a selected class are shown below.
14
Summary
The Visual Basic Editor (VBE) is the environment in which you work with
VBA programming code.
There are three main windows in VBE: the Code Window, the Project
Explorer, and the Properties Window.
The Object Browser provides a list of properties and methods of all Excel
objects that may be manipulated in VBA.
Properties are the physical descriptions of all Excel objects, and the
description of the particular property is called the value of the property.
Methods are the actions that can be performed on the object. The
elements of a method statement are called the arguments of the method.
15
Additional Links
(place links here)
16
