Microsoft
Excel 2013
Chapter 10
Using Macros, Controls
and Visual Basic for
Applications (VBA) with
Excel
Objectives
• Use passwords to assign protected and
unprotected status to a worksheet
• Use the macro recorder to create a macro
• Execute a macro and view and print code for a
macro
• Customize the Quick Access Toolbar by adding a
button
• Use a Data Form to add data to a Worksheet
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Objectives
• Understand Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
code and explain event-driven programs
• Add controls such as command buttons, option
buttons, and check boxes to a worksheet
• Assign properties to controls
• Review a digital signature on a workbook
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Project – Waterfront Studios
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Writing a Procedure
• Before a computer can take an action and
produce a desired result, it must have a step-bystep description of the task to be accomplished
• The step-by-step description is a series of precise
instructions called a procedure
• Program and code are other names for a
procedure
• The process of writing a procedure is called
computer programming
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Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)
• Because Excel does not have a command or
button for every possible worksheet task,
Microsoft has included a powerful programming
language called Visual Basic for Applications
• Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a
programming language that allows you to
customize and extend the capabilities of Excel
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Macros
• A macro is a procedure composed of VBA code
• It is called a macro rather than a procedure
because it is created using the macro recorder
• You can create a macro to group together
commonly used combinations of tasks, which
then can be reused later
• Use macros to ensure consistency in calculations,
formatting, and manipulation of nonnumeric data
• Macros save time and automate repetitive tasks
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Recording a Macro
• Excel includes a macro recorder that can record a
series of actions and save them as a macro
• The macro recorder can be turned on, during
which time it records your activities, and then
turned off to stop the recording
• After recording a macro, you can play it back, or
execute it, as often as you want to repeat the
steps you recorded with the macro recorder
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Working with Macros
• Three steps must be taken in preparation for
working with macros in Excel
– The DEVELOPER tab, which be default does not
appear on the ribbon, must be made available by
changing an Excel option
– Second, a security setting in Excel must be modified to
enable macros whenever you use Excel
– Finally, Excel requires a workbook that includes
macros to be saved as an Excel Macro-Enabled
Workbook file type
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Displaying the DEVELOPER Tab
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Naming and Executing a Macro
• A macro is created by performing a set of steps and
recording the steps as they are performed
• The steps and their order should be determined and
rehearsed before creating the macro
• When you create a macro, you assign a name to it
• A macro name can be up to 255 characters long; it can
contain numbers, letters, and underscores, but it cannot
contain spaces or other punctuation
• The name is used later to identify the macro when you
want to execute it
• Executing a macro causes Excel to step through all of the
recorded steps just as they were recorded
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Recording a Macro
• Once you start recording a macro, any task you
perform in Excel will be part of the macro
• If you make a mistake while recording a macro,
delete the macro and record it again
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Setting a Keyboard Shortcut in a Macro
• You can set a keyboard shortcut key combination
for executing a macro with an option in the
Record Macro dialog box
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Recording a Macro to Reformat the Artist
Data Where First Name Appears First
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Macros and Viruses
• Macros provide you with an opportunity to make
certain tasks much more efficient and accurate
• However, macros introduce an element of risk to
your work in the form of computer viruses
• Macros are known carriers of viruses because of
the ease with which a person can add
programming code to macros
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Setting the Macro Security Level
• Excel provides four levels of protection from
macro viruses: Disable all macros without
notification, Disable all macros with notification,
Disable all macros except digitally signed macros,
and Enable all macros
• By default, the macro security level is set to
Disable all macros with notification, meaning that
only macros from trusted sources can be used
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Setting the Macro Security Level
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Enabling/Disabling Macros
• Excel remembers your decision about enabling macros
• If you have enabled macros in a worksheet, Excel will not
ask you about enabling them the next time you open the
worksheet, but will open the worksheet with macros
enabled
• If you are uncertain about the reliability of the source of a
workbook and its macros, you can work with the macros
disabled, which means that the code is not executable
• If you are confident of the source of a workbook and its
macros, click the Enable Content button on the SECURITY
WARNING bar
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Working with a Workbook Created by
Someone Else
• When you work with a workbook created by someone else,
you should review the content and structure of the
workbook before you make changes to it
• You can learn more about a workbook by doing as much of
the following as possible to the worksheet:
– Display any formulas to gain an understanding of what formulas
and functions are used in the worksheet and which cells are
referenced by the formulas and functions
– Use Range Finder or the auditing commands to show which
cells are referenced in formulas and functions
– Check which cells are locked and which cells are unlocked
– Enter sample data and verify the results
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Creating a Password
• A password ensures that users cannot unprotect a
worksheet simply by clicking the Unprotect button
• Passwords in Excel can contain, in any combination,
letters, numbers, spaces, and symbols and can be up
to 15 characters long
• Passwords are case sensitive
• If you decide to password-protect a worksheet, make
sure you write down the password and keep it in a
secure place
• If you lose the password, you cannot open or gain
access to the password-protected worksheet
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Unprotecting a Password-Protected
Worksheet
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Restricting Users
• With the worksheet unprotected, you can modify
the contents of the cells
• Cells must both be locked and the worksheet
protected to restrict what users can do to cell
contents
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Converting Names to Proper Case
• Use the PROPER function to convert names
entered in all uppercase to mixed case
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Pasting Values
• Use the Paste Values command when you want to
replace a formula with a text value
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Using the LEN Function
• Use the LEN function to determine the total
number of characters in a name
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Viewing a Macro’s VBA Code
• A macro is composed of VBA code, which is
created automatically by the macro recorder
• The Visual Basic Editor is used by all Office
applications to enter, modify, and view Visual
Basic for Application code
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Using a Data Form to Enter Additional
Records
• Excel provides a feature for entering data when
the content is straightforward text or numbers
• A data form is created from a range of cells, and
uses the column headings from that range to
create the fields on the form
• Data forms are particularly helpful when working
with a series of columns that would otherwise
require you to scroll horizontally, or when
entering a large number of entries into a
worksheet
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Using a Data Form to Enter Additional
Records
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Form Controls and ActiveX Controls
• Two types of controls are used to create the user
interface: form controls and ActiveX controls
• Form controls and ActiveX controls look identical
in the gallery
• They do have function differences, however, that
can help determine which one is the best choice
for an object
• Form controls require no knowledge of VBA to use
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Adding Form Controls to a Worksheet
• You can assign an Excel macro directly to a form
control, allowing the macro to be run with a
simple click
• Form controls also allow you to reference cells
easily and use Excel functions and expressions to
manipulate data
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Adding Form Controls to a Worksheet
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ActiveX Controls
• ActiveX controls provide great flexibility in terms
of their design
• They have extensive properties that can be used
to customize their appearance
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Grouping Option Buttons in a User
Interface
• With form controls, only one of the option
buttons on the form can be selected unless the
option buttons are grouped
• Use the group box form control to group one set
of the option buttons together
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Grouping Option Buttons in a User
Interface
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Adding a Command Button Control to
the Worksheet
• A command button control can have Visual Basic code
associated with it that accomplishes more complex
actions than a macro or a form button can accommodate
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Formatting the Controls
• Each form control and ActiveX control available in
the Controls gallery has many properties, or
characteristics, that can be set to determine the
control’s appearance and behavior
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Formatting the Controls
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Writing VBA Code
• Using the Controls gallery to insert a command
button control into a worksheet inserts an object
only
• To have the button take action when a user clicks
it, you must write VBA code that directs the
events in the worksheet after the command
button is clicked
• The next step is to write and enter the procedure
that will execute when the user clicks the button
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Using the Visual Basic Editor
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Desk Checking
• After you determine what you want the
procedure to do, write the VBA code on paper
• Test the code before you enter it in the Visual
Basic Editor, by stepping through the instructions
one at a time yourself
• As you do so, think about how the procedure
affects the worksheet
• This process is called desk checking, and it is an
important part of the development process
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Using Comments to Document a
Procedure
• Comments are used to document each procedure
• This will help you remember its purpose at a later
date or help somebody else understand its
purpose
• Comments begin with the word Rem (short for
Remark) or an apostrophe
• Comments have no effect on the execution of a
procedure; they simply provide information about
the procedure, such as name, creation date, and
function
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Using Comments to Document a
Procedure
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Attaching a Digital Signature
• Some users prefer to attach a digital signature to verify
the authenticity of a document
• A digital signature is an electronic, encrypted, and secure
stamp of authentication on a document
• This signature confirms that the file originated from the
signer and that it has not been altered
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Digital Certificates
• The digital signature references a digital
certificate
• A digital certificate is an attachment to a file or
email message that vouches for its authenticity,
provides secure encryption, or supplies a
verifiable signature
• Many users who receive files enable the macros
based on whether they are digitally signed by a
developer on the user’s list of trusted sources
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