Excel VBA - City University Continuing Education
Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Excel
Please note the interface Excel 2007 is radically different to that of previous
versions. However I do not expect much, if any, difference within the
programming code.
File types
1
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1
2
The Developer tab .................................................................................................. 2
3
Running and recording a macro .......................................................................... 2
3.1
Recording a macro ............................................................................................. 2
3.2
Running a macro ................................................................................................ 4
3.3
A more direct way to record and run macros ................................................ 5
Defining a shortcut once the macro has recorded ...................................................... 5
4
Recording a macro with relative references ....................................................... 6
4.1
What absolute references look like .................................................................. 6
4.2
Relative references ............................................................................................. 6
4.3
Turning relative references on ......................................................................... 6
4.4
The code looks like … ....................................................................................... 6
5
Using the Visual Basic Editor ............................................................................... 7
5.1
Editing a macro .................................................................................................. 7
5.2
Writing a macro from scratch .......................................................................... 7
5.3
Running a macro from VB editor .................................................................... 8
5.4
Stepping through a macro ................................................................................ 8
6
VBA macro language ............................................................................................. 8
6.1
Analysis of a macro ........................................................................................... 8
7
Two inbuilt functions: MsgBox and InputBox ................................................... 8
7.1
MsgBox - the basic function ............................................................................. 8
7.2
InputBox.............................................................................................................. 9
1
Introduction
This course is designed for people with a sound knowledge of Excel, who
wish to use its Visual Basic for Applications language to create macros. It is
aimed particularly at non-programmers, who are prepared to learn and apply
programming concepts.
A macro is a sequence of mouse- or key-strokes saved under one command.
They allow users to automate time-consuming or difficult tasks, so that the
user can work more efficiently and with fewer errors. A macro could be used,
for example, to format and print a spreadsheet, or to copy and paste blocks of
text. One created or recorded, they can be run with one command.
Visual Basic for Applications, or VBA, is similar to Visual Basic, which was
itself derived from the BASIC programming language. In the early nineties,
Microsoft introduced Visual Basic for Windows, which provided tools for
creating and controlling elements of the Windows environment. At this time,
applications like Word, Excel and Access has their own macro languages,
which meant that people had to learn a different language every time they
used one of these programs. VBA was introduced first for Excel 5, and then
for the other applications in Office 95. Nowadays Word, Access, PowerPoint
and Excel all use VBA, making it easier to program in all applications at once.
VBA is very similar to Visual Basic in its grammar, except that VBA files are
stored in the file format of the application where they were created: for
example Excel VBA files are stored in Excel workbooks. The advantage of
Excel VBA is that you can directly manipulate the Excel environment, unlike a
program that is external.
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2
The Developer tab
You can add custom controls to a worksheet – the main advantage is that you
can make your sheet easier to use by giving it the feel of a finished package
In order to get started you must have the Developer tab on your Ribbon, by
following these steps:
1.
click the icon to display the Office toolbar
2.
choose Excel options at the bottom of the display
3.
in the window that appears ensure that Popular is highlighted
3
Running and recording a macro
There are two steps to using a macro: recording (defining) it and running it
(playing it back)
3.1 Recording a macro
When you record the macro, you enact the keystrokes or mousestrokes while
the recorder stores them in a Visual Basic Module sheet. Macros vary greatly
in size and complexity but the recording process follows the same structure:
 Start recording;
 Perform the actions to be recorded;
 Stop the macro.
Absolute and relative references in macros – the importance of selecting a
block of text before recording the macro
If you start recording, then select cells while the recorder is on, the act of
selection is also recorded. This means that the macro always runs using this
original selection, regardless of what is actually selected at run time.
This is because the macro recorder uses absolute referencing by default.
However, using relative references can also give unexpected results, so leave
this option for now. More on this topic in coming weeks.
For the moment, always select a cell before starting the macro recorder!
The following example changing the number format of a range of cells:
4.
put a tick in the checkbox that says Put the Developer Tag in the
Ribbon
The Developer tab displays the options to run or record a macro, and to
switch to the VB Editor.
1.
Open week1.xls
2.
Highlight range C6:E9
3.
Click the View ribbon
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4.
On the right there is an icon labelled Macros; click this icon and a menu
appears. Click Record Macro.
6.
Optionally, you can choose a character for a shortcut key – hold Shift
and type I The keyboard shortcut is therefore Shift + i
7.
You can optionally type a short description of what the macro does, for
later reference
8.
Choose OK to close the dialog and return to the spreadsheet. The macro is
now recording.
9.
You will now perform the actions to format the currency of the selection.
10. From the Home ribbon, click the little icon labelled Number. Hopefully
you will recognise the Format Cells window.
5.
The Record Macro window appears. The default macro name is Macro1 type the name you want to call the macro, in this case call it CurFormat.
(spaces are not allowed in the macro name).
11. Choose Currency in the list box and Kr. Icelandic from the dropdown
labelled Symbol
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3.2 Running a macro
Select a range of cells that you want to apply the new currency format to, e.g.,
C15:D17
Choose the Macros option (View ribbon, Macros then View Macros) or
Developer ribbon, Macros
Highlight the macro name and choose Run.
12. Choose OK to return to the spreadsheet. You will see that the numbers
have been formatted
13. To stop recording click the View ribbon, click Macro and click Stop
Recording from the menu.
It’s easy for beginners to forget to stop recording – if so the macro will
include lots of unintended actions and you will probably crash Excel and
lose your work.
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The formatting will be applied to the new selection.
Select another range of numeric cells, and test your macro by using the
shortcut key you defined.
Defining a shortcut once the macro has recorded
You can do this from the Macros dialog box. It is not possible from the Visual
Basic Editor.
1.
Choose the Macros option (View ribbon, Macros then View Macros) or
Developer ribbon, Macros
2.
Choose Options
3.
Add/edit the Shortcut key description and choose OK
4.
Close the Macro dialog box
3.3 A more direct way to record and run macros
At the bottom left of the Excel window there is a scarcely noticeable icon near
the word ‘Ready’. This button is record macro.
To stop recording you will find the Stop recording button in the same place.
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4
Recording a macro with relative references
4.1 What absolute references look like
If you have been following the course as taught in class, you will have been
recording macros using absolute references such as
4.2 Relative references
However, the Macro Recorder can also store a cell select statement relatively
in terms of how many cells above/below and to the left/right of the
previously selected cell. This involves using something called the Offset
property, which looks like this:
Range(“H9”).select
Rangeobject.Offset(rowoffset,columnoffset)
Not to be confused with absolute references in Excel formulas, which involve
the $ sign, Range(“H9”) is absolute in the sense that it is not clear which cell
has been selected previously: it could have been A1, H8, J9 etc. H9 is H9 is H9.
Activecell.Offset(2,3) would be two rows down and three columns to
The code might look like this:
the right of cell H9
Sub with_absolute_refs()
Range(“G10”).Offset(0,-5) would be the same row as G10 and five
the right of the active cell
Range(“H9”).Offset(-4,3) would be four rows up and three columns to
columns to its left
'
' with absolute references
- i.e., with
' relative addressing turned off
'
' Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+q
Range("H9").Select
4.3 Turning relative references on
Underneath Record macro on the Developer ribbon is Use Relative
References.
By ensuring that this option is turned on before recording a macro, you
change the way the Macro Recorder writes code when selecting or activating
cells. The code this time looks different, with lots of statements such as
Activecell.offset(x,y) where x is the row offset and y the column offset.
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "Hello"
Range("K11").Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "some text"
Range("H13").Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "Goodbye"
Range("E15").Select
4.4
The code looks like …
Sub with_relative_refs()
'
' with_relative_refs Macro
' with relative referencing turned on
'
End Sub
' Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+r
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'
ActiveCell.Offset(8, 7).Range("A1").Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "Hello"
ActiveCell.Offset(2, 3).Range("A1").Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "some text"
ActiveCell.Offset(2, -3).Range("A1").Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "Goodbye"
ActiveCell.Offset(2, -3).Range("A1").Select
End Sub
5
Using the Visual Basic Editor
5.1 Editing a macro
You can look at the VBA source code for a macro.
5.
Choose the View ribbon, click the Macros icon and choose View Macros
1.
Select the macro and choose Edit
2.
This opens the Visual Basic Editor as a separate window and brings you
to the macro source code, which you can edit. Fortunately the VB Editor
hasn’t changed appearance from the previous version
3.
You can return to Excel in various ways: click the View Microsoft Excel
button, use the taskbar at the bottom, but best of all is keyboard shortcut
Alt + F11
The recorded macro is in a text window called a module. The macro is
enclosed in between the line beginning Sub and the line End Sub. The green
lines that start with a single quote are comments, they are not code, and they
don’t have to be there. Therefore the macro code contains only one line.
5.2 Writing a macro from scratch
Many times you will want to type a macro from scratch. Insert a new module
from the Insert menu, or click in an existing model.
Type the key word Sub, followed by a space, then the name of the macro
(remember no spaces in the macro name) then an opening and closing
bracket.
Press return and the line End Sub appears automatically
Type your code! 
But what do you type? You will have to study hard over the next 10 weeks to
find out!
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5.3 Running a macro from VB editor
It can be time saving to run a macro directly from VBE
1.
You can run a macro even from the Editor
2.
While the cursor is within a macro subroutine, press F5
This runs macro and is very convenient for testing
5.4 Stepping through a macro
You can step through a macro to trace the consequence of each line of code
1.
Position the Excel and Visual Basic window so each takes up half of the
screen.
2.
Put you cursor on a line of macro code then press F8
3.
A yellow highlight appears, the yellow line is the next line to be executed
4.
Keep pressing F8 to step through the code and observe the Excel window
to see the effect
6

Sub means start a subroutine. Next comes the name of the macro followed by
brackets, which contain arguments. Arguments are data passed to the
program; at the moment, your programs have no arguments, but the brackets
must still be inserted

The macro finishes with End Sub, which simply means the current
subroutine is at an end.
Both Sub and End are keywords - they have a special meaning for Visual Basic
and cannot be used by the programmer in other contexts. You can’t name a
macro as “sub” or “end”.
7
Two inbuilt functions: MsgBox and InputBox
MsgBox is a function that communicates information to the user while the
macro runs. The function takes at least one argument, namely the message
(formally, known as the Prompt). You can embellish the box with other
information such as a Title or different types of buttons.
7.1
MsgBox - the basic function
sub HelloWorld()
MsgBox "Hello World"
End Sub
VBA macro language
6.1 Analysis of a macro
All macro code is part of a subroutine. In the VB editor, you will see at the
very least these lines in every macro
Sub
MacroName ()
End Sub
Text after an ' (apostrophe) on the same line is a comment, useful for the
writer of the programmer to explain aspects of the code to future readers. The
apostrophe stops the text being interpreted as instructions to the program.
7.1.1
MsgBox - with more options
The Message Box above is a little stark. You can embellish the box with other
information such as a Title or different types of buttons. If so, you can supply
more arguments to the MsgBox function. Arguments are separated by a
comma
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sub HelloWorld2()
MsgBox "Hello World", vbOKCancel, "Greeting Box"
End Sub
The second argument determines what button appears in the box. By default
it is the OK button., but after you type the first argument to MsgBox and have
typed the comma s, a list of possible values for the Button argument appears.
7.2 InputBox
An Input box prompts the user to enter some information, which can then be
manipulated by your Visual Basic program. A very simple example, would be
a box that asks the user to type in their name, so that the program could greet
the user.
The Syntax for InputBox is as follows:
InputBox Prompt, [Title, Default, XPos, YPos,HelpFile, Context]
Use Ctrl-Spacebar to bring up this box if it doesn't appear automatically
Only the Prompt is obligatory:
InputBox "Please enter your name”
The third argument is "title", which is the text to appear in the Title bar. It
makes the box look more finished, but isn't absolutely necessary. No list of
possible values appear when you type this because the text is completely
arbitrary as far as VBA is concerned - you choose what the title should be.
However, there is little point in providing OK and Cancel buttons unless you
know how to program the alternatives, so an OK button is all we need for
now.
The OKbutton is the default for the second argument, so if you leave it blank,
and put two commas between the first and third arguments, the OK button
will appear automatically.
MsgBox "Hello World",, "Greeting Box"
You can also specify:

A title – to appear in the title bar of the Input box.

A default entry (e.g., for the City where you live, you might put
London), which the user can leave or replace

X and Y co-ordinates – in pixels - to position the box on screen. 0,0 is
the top left of the computer screen.
Input box “Please enter your name”, “Name”,”Smith”,5000,4000
You can leave options blank by simply writing a comma to go to the next
argument:
Input box “Please enter your name”, ,5000, 4000
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7.2.1
For later …
Getting the user to type in information is not particularly useful in itself
unless you use the information later. This brings us onto variables, which are
needed to store data supplied to the macro such as names, addresses and
other information.
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