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VBA Visual Basic for

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Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a macro language available in most
USU Directories
Microsoft Office applications and in other non-Microsoft software (e.g., ArcInfo).
USU Calendar
USU Libraries VBA follows the syntax of Visual Basic, and a Integrated Development
QUAD Environment (IDE) is available in the different applications that offer VBA. In
USU Webmail this page you will find some basic information on how to get started with VBA
Engineering Mail within the Microsoft Excel environment.
USU Webcams
Giving to USU

Links in this page

HP 50G
TI 89
Scilab
Maple
Mathcad Beginners: Visit my Excel page
Matlab
R Introduction to VBA with Excel
OpenOffice.org More examples on VBA and
Excel
Excel
Books on Visual Basic for
Applications
VBA internet links
My Visual Basic 6.0 page
Excel & Excel/VBA examples
for download

Introduction to the use of Visual Basic for

Applications with MS Excel
(From the Monday, March 18, 2002 lecture for my Graduate-level VB/VBA
course)

Click here to download a zip file containing instructions and

examples. - Read the instructions document and try the examples
included to get you started in using VBA with Excel.
Here is a summary of the topics presented in this class:

1. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a dialect of Visual Basic

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available in all Microsoft Office applications as well as in other

MS software (e.g., Visio) or non-MS software (e.g., AutoCAD,
ArcINFO).
2. To access the VBA IDE (Integrated Development Enviroment)
find the Visual Basic toolbar by doing a right-click on any empty
space of the Excel top tool bar and selecting the corresponding
toolbar. Click on the first button in the VB toolbar to get you to

the VB IDE.
3. The VBA IDE provides a project navigation tree window (labeled
Project - VBA Project) that lists all Excel/VBA projects currently
open. This window may include a number of
password-protected files which are VBA projects loaded with
Excel -- e.g., Adobe Acrobat writer -- and which cannot be
modified by the user. Your current project will be listed, by
default, as VBA Project(Book1). If you save it with other name,
the change will be reflected in the navigation tree window.
[VBA IDE Figure].
4. Under your current project (i.e., your current Excel workbook),
you will find a list of worksheets (by default there will be three
worksheets named Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3) followed by the
workbook itself (default name, This Workbook). Also, a branch
of the file tree may link to a Modules folder with at least one
module (default name, Module1). If no Modules folder is
available, and you want to add a module to your project
(workbook), use the Insert>Module option in the VBA IDE.
[Module Added Figure].
5. A Macro is a VBA program that can be either recorded by the
user or typed as VB code.
6. To record a macro use the option Tools>Macro>Record new
macro... Any action you take between pressing the OK button
and stopping the recording will be sent to a VBA program within
the first VB Module in your project. If no modules are available
at this point, Module1 will be added to the project.
7. To see the macros available in your current project (workbook),
use the option Tools>Macro>Macros. This will produce a form
listing all macros (if any) available to your workbook. [Macros
window].
8. To run a macro, after opening the form listing the available
macros, click on the macro name and press the Run button.
9. To edit a macro, after opening the form listing the available
macros, click on the Edit button. This will take you to the
location of the macro within the VB IDE. The object to which
the macro is attached (i.e., workbook, worksheet, form, or
module) will be highlighted in the VB IDE's navigation tree
window.
10. The Excel control toolbox is useful for adding command buttons
and other VB controls to your spreadsheet. Do a right click on
any empty space on the Excel top tool bar and select the Control
Toolbox. [Excel control toolbox].
11. The Control Toolbox contains a Design Mode toggle button, a
Properties button, and a Code button, as well as a number of
controls (check button, command button, list box, combo box,

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toggle button, spin button, scroll bar, label, image, and

additional controls).
12. Command buttons can be used to start a program from a
worksheet. Place a command button by clicking on the
command button icon in the Excel control toolbox. Place and
dimension the command button within the worksheet of
interest.
13. To modify the properties of the control button do a right-click on
the button and select the Properties option. A properties
window appears where you can modify the button's properties
such as the name, caption, font, etc. [Command button
properties window]
14. To add code to the control button double-click on the button.
This will send you to the code area for the current worksheet in
the VBA IDE. Type your code using Visual Basic.
15. If you want to assign a macro to a button, add the code Call
Macro_name() to the button code.
16. To get numerical data from the worksheet into your VBA code
use functions Range or Cells. For example, to get the value of
cell "B2" into variable a in your VBA code use:

a = Range("B2").Value

Alternatively, you could use

a = Cells(2,2).Value

to load your data value.

17. To place data from your VBA code to the worksheet use the
same functions Range and Cells, e.g.,

Range("C2").Value = r1

Cells(3,2).Value = r1

18. To place string data from your VBA code to the worksheet use,
for example:

Range("M2") = "Int. = "

Cells(15,2) = "Int. = "

19. Notice that function Range takes as argument a string referring

to the cell of interest, e.g., Range("F15"), while the function
Cells takes two arguments, namely, the indices for the row and
column of the cell of interest, e.g., Cells(25,31).
20. You can use functions MsgBox and InputBox for output and
input, respectively, into your VBA program.
21. Excel provides a number of functions that are not available in

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Visual Basic, e.g., ACOS, ASIN, BESSELI, etc. You can use the
cells in the worksheet to evaluate formulas that use these
functions and then bring those values into your VBA code.
22. To see a list of the functions available in Excel, click on a cell in
a worksheet, place and equal sign in it and then click on the
button labeled fx in the Excel toolbar. A listing of the functions
by categories will be provided. The categories include All, Date
& Time, Math & Trig, Statistical, etc. Click on any category to
get a listing of functions available. [Functions list window]
23. There is a category of functions referred to as Engineering
functions that include advanced engineering mathematical
functions, e.g., Bessel functions, complex number conversion,
error function, etc. If that category is not available in your
Excel functions, use the option Tools>Add Ins... and mark the
boxes Analysis Toolpack and Analysis Toolpack - VBA to add the
engineering functions. Press OK to load the functions.
24. To label Excel cells with variable names, use the option Insert >
Name > Define after selecting the cell (or cells) of interest.
Type a name for the cell and that name will serve as the cell
identifier. This identifiers are only available for operations
within Excel (e.g., formulas defined in cells). The identifier's
names are not passed on to VBA code.
25. Advantages and disadvantages of using Excel-VBA over Visual
Basic:
The spreadsheet is the interface itself, you don't need to
design and create an input form -- although you can
create one within Excel.
Many mathematical and non-mathematical functions are
accessible through the spreadsheet (see items 22 and 23
above) which are not available in Visual Basic.
Excel provides graphics which are relatively easy to
manipulate compared with graphics within Visual Basic.
Main disadvantage: cannot create stand-alone program
with Excel/VBA. The user need to have Excel in his or her
computer to be able to use your Excel/VBA programs.

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More examples on Visual Basic for Applications and

Excel
(From the Monday, April 15, 2002 lecture for my Graduate-level VB/VBA course)

A number of examples were presented on Visual Basic for Applications with

Excel. Click here to download the examples. The examples included the
following subjects:

1. Examples of numerical methods in Excel spreadsheets.

2. Use of the Range function for manipulating data in the Excel spreadsheet.
3. Use of the method

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Evaluate(Application.WorksheetFunction.Substitute(expression, "x",
variable)) for evaluating expressions in worksheet cells.
4. Use of user forms for input/output in Excel/VBA.
5. Use of the VBA Object Browser to identify Excel objects, their properties
and methods.
6. Manipulation of Chart object properties.

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Books on Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)

1. Walkenbach, J., 1999, EXCEL 2000 PROGRAMMING FOR DUMMIES(R),
IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., Foster City, CA 94404, ISBN 0-7645-0566-1
[Reference for Visual Basic for Applications with MS Excel - Link above links
to the Excel 97 version of the book, I couldn't find the listing for the Excel
2000 version of the book].
2. Roman, Steven, 1999, Writing Excel Macros, O'REILLY, Sebastopol, CA
95472, ISBN 1-56592-587-4
3. Walkenbach, J., 1999, Microsoft Excel 2000 Power Programming with
VBA, Hungry Minds Inc., New York, N.Y., ISBN 0-7645-3263-4 (Click here
for author's webpage)

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VBA Internet links

1. A directory of Excel/VBA-related pages\
2. Anthony's Excel VBA web page - lots of information in this one!
3. OzGrid's VBA/Excel page
4. XLStatistics - an Excel statistics workbook
5. The Spreadsheet page (see reference 3 in books)
6. Tommy Flynn's VBA/Excel page
7. VBA 101 by MicroSoft
8. VBA Online book by MicroSoft

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