VBA stands for Visual Basic Analysis. Excel VBA is Microsoft’s programming language for Office applications such as MS-Excel, MS-Word, and MS-Access. Macros are what most people who write VBA code use.
What Is VBA?
Visual Basic for Application is a human-readable and editable programming code that gets generated when you record a macro. Today, it is widely-used with other Microsoft Office applications such as MS-Word, MS-Excel, and MS-Access.
Enable Developer Option in Excel
It hides the Developer tab on the ribbon by default. To customize the ribbon, follow the steps mentioned below:
- Right-click on the ribbon (anywhere) click on the Customize the Ribbon option.
- Go to Customize the Ribbon and select the Developer checkbox.
VBA Editor Interface
You can open the VBA interface by using the ALT + F11 keyboard shortcut, or you can go to the Developer tab and click on Visual Basic.
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Create an Excel Macro using a Command Button
Create a Command Button
Now that you have enabled the developer tab and have some familiarity with the VBA editor, let’s start creating a macro by using a command button.
To place a command button on your worksheet, follow these steps:
- Go the Developer tab > Insert > ActiveX Controls > Command button.
- Drag the command button on your worksheet.
Assigning a Macro to a Command Button
To assign a macro to the command button, follow these steps:
- Right-click on the command buttons and select View Code.
- Add the following lines of code shown below.
- Close the VBA editor and click on the command button on the worksheet. Make sure to deselect the design mode.
Create a Message Box
The MsgBox is a dialog box in Excel that will prompt a message on your worksheet. To create a MsgBox, add the following lines of code to the command button.
Now, when you click on the button, you will get the following message.
Create an Input Box
The InputBox function prompts the user to enter the values and returns the information entered in the dialog box.
Syntax:
InputBox(prompt[,title][,default][,xpos][,ypos][,helpfile,context])
To add the InputBox to your command button, execute the following steps:
- Declare the variable name and keep the type variant. A variant variable can hold any type of value.
- Add the following code to show the input box.
- Now when you click on the command button, you will get a prompt asking for a value.
- Enter your input and click OK. It will enter your input on cell A1.
Variables, Constant and Operators in VBA
Variables
Variables are the data types that are used to hold a value. We can change the variables during the execution of the program.
Syntax: Dim <<variable_name>> As <<variable_type>>
We can divide the VBA data types into two categories:
- Numeric Data Types: Numeric data types consist of byte, integer, long, single, double, currency, and decimal.
- Non-Numeric Data Types: Non-numeric data types consist of string, date, boolean, object, and variant.
Constants
Constants are the fixed value that cannot be changed during the execution of the program.
Syntax:
Const <<constant_name>> As <<constant_type>> = <<constant_value>>
Example:
When you click on the command button, you will get the following output:
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String Manipulation
String manipulation refers to the process of analyzing, manipulating, and effectively handling string values.
Join Strings
You can join the two strings by using & operator. This is also known as concatenation.
Click on the command button to get the following result.
Left
The left keyword will extract the characters from the leftmost side of the string.
If, If-Else, For and While Loop
If statement
The ‘If statement’ is a conditional statement that consists of an expression followed by another expression. If the condition is true, the lines of code under the If statement are executed.
Syntax:
If(boolean_expression) Then
Statement 1
.....
.....
Statement n
End If
Example:
Enter the marks in cell A1 and click on the command button to get the result.
If-Else
The ‘If statement’ is a conditional statement that consists of an expression followed by another expression. If the condition is true, the lines under the body of the If statement are executed. If it says the condition to be False, it executes the statements under the Else Part.
For Loop
For loop is a control flow statement that allows the user to write a loop that can be executed repeatedly.
Example:
The following code will prompt the message box showing the value from 0 to 6 with the gap of 2.
While Loop
In a while loop, if the statements are true, they are executed till they encounter the Wend keyword. If the statement is false, the loop is exited, and it jumps to the next statement.
Syntax:
While condition(s)
[statements 1]
[statements 2]
...
[statements n]
Wend
Example:
Functions and Sub Procedures
Functions
Functions are the reusable code that can be called anywhere in the program. You can use the code over and over again in your program. To create the function in the VBA window, go to Insert > Module and it will create a new module.
The following code shows an example of a simple VBA function procedure that receives two arguments.
The below-given code calls the function that was defined above:
Result:
Sub-Procedure
Sub procedures are similar to functions with some minor differences. The sub-procedure does not return a value and can be called without a call keyword.
The following code shows an example of a simple VBA Sub procedure that will calculate the area.
The above example illustrates how sub procedures perform actions but do not return values.
Result:
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Conclusion
With this, you have made it to the end of this Excel VBA tutorial for beginners. In this tutorial, we have covered several topics ranging from VBA editor to functions and sub-procedures.
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