Book description
This book is aimed squarely at Excel users who want to harness the
power of the VBA language in their Excel applications. At all times, the
VBA language is presented in the context of Excel, not just as a general
application programming language.
The book is loosely divided into three sections:
- Primer (Chapter 1)
- Working with Specific Objects (Chapters 2-27)
- Object Model References (Appendices A-C)
The Primer has been written for those who are new to VBA programming
and the Excel object model. It introduces the VBA language and the
features of the language that are common to all VBA applications. It
explains the relationship between collections, objects, properties,
methods, and events and shows how to relate these concepts to Excel
through its object model. It also shows how to use the Visual Basic
Editor and its multitude of tools, including how to obtain help.
The middle section of the book takes the key objects in Excel and
shows, through many practical examples, how to go about working with
those objects. The techniques presented have been developed through
the exchange of ideas of many talented Excel VBA programmers over many
years and show the best way to gain access to workbooks, worksheets,
charts, ranges, and so on. The emphasis is on efficiency-that is, how
to write code that is readable and easy to maintain and that runs at
maximum speed. In addition, the chapters devoted to accessing external
databases detail techniques for accessing data in a range of formats.
The final four chapters of the book address the following advanced
issues: linking Excel to the Internet, writing code for international
compatibility, programming the Visual Basic Editor, and how to use the
functions in the Win32 API (Windows 32-bit Application Programming Interface).
Finally, the appendices are a comprehensive reference to the Excel
2007 object model, as well as the Visual Basic Editor and Office
object models. All the objects in the models are presented together
with all their properties, methods, and events.
John Green
lives and works in Sydney, Australia, as an independent computer
consultant, specializing in Excel and Access. He has 35 years of
computing experience, a Chemical Engineering degree, and an MBA.
He wrote his first programs in FORTRAN, took a part in the evolution of
specialized planning languages on mainframes and, in the early '80s,
became interested in spreadsheet systems, including 1-2-3 and Excel.
John established his company, Execuplan Consulting, in 1980,
specializing in developing computerbased planning applications and in
training. He has led training seminars for software applications and
operating systems both in Australia and overseas.
John has had regular columns in a number of Australian magazines and has
contributed chapters to a number of books including
Excel Expert Solutions
and
Using Visual Basic for Applications 5
. He also co-authored
Professional Excel Development
with Stephen Bullen and Rob Bovey.
From 1995 to 2005 he was accorded the status of MVP (Most Valuable
Professional) by Microsoft for his contributions to the CompuServe Excel
forum and MS Internet newsgroups.
John Green contributed the Introduction, Chapters 1-11, 13, 15-17,
and 19 to this book.
Stephen Bullen lives in Woodford Green, London, England, with
his partner Clare, daughter Becky, and their dogs, Fluffy and Charlie.
He has two other daughters, Jane and Katie, from his first
marriage.
A graduate of Oxford University, Stephen has an MA in
Engineering, Economics, and Management, providing a unique blend of
both business and technical skills. He has been providing Excel
consulting and application development services since 1994, originally
as an employee of Price Waterhouse Management Consultants and later as
an independent consultant trading under the names of Business
Modelling Solutions Limited and Office Automation Limited. Stephen now
works for Barclays Capital in London, developing trading systems for
complex exotic derivative products.
The Office Automation web
site, www. oaltd. co. uk, provides a number of helpful and interesting
utilities, examples, tips and techniques to help in your use of Excel
and development of Excel applications.
As well as co-authoring
previous editions of the Excel VBA Programmer's Reference,
Stephen co-authored Professional Excel Development.
In
addition to his consulting and writing assignments, Stephen actively
supports the Excel user community in Microsoft's peer-to-peer support
newsgroups and the Daily Dose of Excel blog. In recognition of his
knowledge, skills and contributions, Microsoft has awarded him the
title of Most Valuable Professional each year since 1996.
Stephen Bullen contributed Chapters 14, 18, 24-27, and Appendix B
to this book.
Rob Bovey is president of Application Professionals, a software
development company specializing in Microsoft Office, Visual Basic,
and SQL Server applications. He brings many years' experience creating
financial, accounting, and executive information systems for corporate
users to Application Professionals. You can visit the Application
Professionals web site at www. appspro. com.
Rob developed
several add-ins shipped by Microsoft for Microsoft Excel and
co-authored the Microsoft Excel 97 Developers Kit and
Professional Excel Development. He earned his Bachelor of
Science degree from The Rochester Institute of Technology and his MBA
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and a Microsoft Certified
Solution Developer (MCSD). Microsoft has awarded him the title of Most
Valuable Professional each year since 1995.
Rob Bovey contributed Chapters 20-22 to this book.
Michael Alexander is a Microsoft Certified Application
Developer (MCAD) with more than 14 years' experience consulting and
developing office solutions. He parlayed his experience with VBA and
VB into a successful consulting practice in the private sector,
developing middleware and reporting solutions for a wide variety of
industries. He currently lives in Frisco, Texas, where he serves as a
Senior Program Manager for a top technology firm. Michael is the
author of several books on Microsoft Access and Excel, and is the
principle behind DataPig Technologies, where he shares Access and
Excel knowledge with the Office community.
Michael Alexander contributed Chapters 12 and 23 and Appendices A
and C to this book.
