Definitive Guide to Excel VBA

Book excerpt: In this book, Michael Kofler provides definitive coverage of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for Excel by showing how it can be used to implement real-world business solutions. Designed to be useful to programmers who have never used VBA before, it also covers advanced topics needed for users already familiar with VBA. First, Kofler introduces VBA and gives examples of the kinds of tasks that it can perform. He then introduces the Excel object model, focusing on the unique characteristics of programming and debugging code that are associated with spreadsheets. The next few chapters cover menus, toolbars, forms, and templatesthe tools for creating customized user interfaces and full-featured applications. Kofler then moves on to a broad range of advanced topics, including automating graphs and diagrams, accessing external databases from Excel, and analyzing data using grouping and pivot tables. He even covers Excel-related features of Office Developer, such as the development of COM Add-Ins. Throughout the book, the author never loses sight of the real-world problems faced by Excel programmers. The book also explores ways to avoid undocumented problems that may arise when programming Excel VBA practical knowldege that was gained through years of hard experience.