Book Image

VBA Automation for Excel 2019 Cookbook

By : Mike Van Niekerk
Book Image

VBA Automation for Excel 2019 Cookbook

By: Mike Van Niekerk

Overview of this book

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a programming language developed by Microsoft to automate tasks in MS Office applications. This book will help you to focus on the essential aspects of your role by automating mundane tasks in Excel and other Office applications. With comprehensive coverage of VBA delivered in the form of practice problems and bite-sized recipes, this book will help you to hit the ground running. Unlike most books that assume prior programming experience, this book starts with the fundamentals and gradually progresses to solving bigger problems. You’ll start by becoming familiar with VBA so that you can start recording macros right away. With this foundation in place, you’ll advance to using the full capabilities of the language as you apply loops, functions, and custom dialog boxes to design your own automation programs. You'll also get to grips with embedded macros and other advanced tools to enhance productivity and explore topics relating to app performance and security. Throughout this VBA book, you’ll cover multiple practice projects in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint while exploring tips and best practices to hone your skills. By the end of this book, you’ll have developed the skills you need to use VBA to create your own programs that control MS Office applications.
Table of Contents (20 chapters)

Testing to find errors

Errors that occur while Excel executes your code – the typical runtime errors – do not always reveal themselves immediately. It is quite possible to work with a specific Sub procedure for a while before a dialog box will pop up and spoil your fun. "How's that possible?", you may ask.

The simple answer is that users often use a procedure without making any so-called mistakes. However, being human, we sometimes use text instead of numerical values. That's just one example. The point is, these errors are not always predictable, and it happens all the time, especially if you are new to programming. Programming is not only about knowing syntax, but also about being able to think logically.

A good understanding of math will also come in handy. For instance, dividing by zero, or trying to calculate the square root of a negative number, is guaranteed to invoke a runtime error.

Add to this other mistakes, such as typing text...