What is a macro?

A macro is a piece of programming code that runs in Excel environment and helps
automate routine tasks. In a layman's language, a macro is a recording of your
routine steps in Excel that you can replay using a single button.

The importance of macros in Excel

Let's say you work as a cashier for a water utility company. Some of the customers
pay through the bank and at the end of the day, you are required to download the
data from the bank and format it in a format that meets your business requirements.

You can import the data into Excel and format. The following day you will be
required to perform the same ritual. It will soon become boring and tedious. Macros
solve such problems by automating such routine tasks. You can use a macro to
record the steps of

 Importing the data

 Formatting it to meet your business reporting requirements.

What is VBA in a layman's language?

VBA is the acronym for Visual Basic for Applications. It is a programming
language that Excel uses to record your steps as you perform routine tasks. You do
not need to be a programmer or a very technical person to enjoy the benefits of
macros in Excel. Excel has features that automatically generated the source code
for you. Read the article on Vba for more details.

Macro Basics
Macros are one of the developer features. By default, the tab for developers is
not displayed in excel. You will need to display it via customize report

Macros can be used to compromise your system by attackers. By default, they are
disabled in excel. If you need to run macros, you will need to enable running macros
and only run macros that you know come from a trusted source

If you want to save macros, then you must save your workbook in a macro-enabled
format *.xlsm

The macro name should not contain any spaces.

Always fill in the description of the macro when creating one. This will help you and
others to understand what the macro is doing.

Step by step example of recording macros in Excel

We will work with the scenario described in the importance of macros excel. We will
work with the following CSV file.

You can download the above file here

Download the above CSV File & Macros

We will create a macro enabled template that will import the above data and format
it to meet our business reporting requirements.

Enable Developer Option

To execute VBA program, you have to have access to developer option in Excel.
Enable the developer option as shown below and pin it into your main ribbon in
Excel.

Step 1) Go to main menu "FILE" and selection option "Options."

Step 2) Select "Options" from the menu list as shown in screen shot below.

Step 3) Now another window will open, in that window do following things

 Click on Customize Ribbon

 Mark the checker box for Developer option
 Click on OK button
Step 4) You will now be able to see the DEVELOPER tab in the ribbon

First, we will see how we can create a command button on the spreadsheet and
execute the program.

 Create a folder in drive C named Bank Receipts

 Paste the receipts.csv file that you downloaded
 1. Click on the DEVELOPER tab
2. Click on Record Macro as shown in the image below

You will get the following dialogue window

 1. Enter ImportBankReceipts as the macro name.
2. Step two will be there by default
3. Enter the description as shown in the above diagram
4. Click on "OK" tab

 Put the cursor in cell A1

 Click on the DATA tab
 Click on From Text button on the Get External data ribbon bar

You will get the following dialogue window

  Go to the local drive where you have stored the CSV file
 Select the CSV file
 Click on Import button

You will get the following wizard

Click on Next button after following the above steps
Follow the above steps and click on next button
  Click on Finish button
 Your workbook should now look as follows

Make the columns bold, add the grand total and use the SUM function to get the
total amount.
Now that we have finished our routine work, we can click on stop recording macro
button as shown in the image below

Before we save our work book, we will need to delete the imported data. We will do
this to create a template that we will be copying every time we have new receipts
and want to run the ImportBankReceipts macro.

 Highlight all the imported data

 Right click on the highlighted data
 Click on Delete
 Click on save as button
 Save the workbook in a macro enabled format as shown below
  Make a copy of the newly saved template
 Open it
 Click on DEVELOPER tab
 Click on Macros button

You will get the following dialogue window

 1. Select ImportBankReceipts
2. Highlights the description of your macro
3. Click on Run button

You will get the following data

Congratulations, you just created your first macro in excel.

Summary
Macros simplify our work lives by automating most of the routine works that we do.
Macros in Excel are powered by Visual Basic for Applications
What is VBA?
VBA stands for Visual Basic for Applications. Before we go into further details,
let's look at what computer programming is in a layman's language. Assume you
have a maid. If you want the maid to clean the house and do the laundry. You tell
her what to do using let's say English and she does the work for you. As you work
with a computer, you will want to perform certain tasks. Just like you told the maid to
do the house chores, you can also tell the computer to do the tasks for you.

The process of telling the computer what you want it to do for you is what is known
as computer programming. Just as you used English to tell the maid what to do, you
can also use English like statements to tell the computer what to do. The English like
statements fall in the category of high level languages. VBA is a high level language
that you can use to bend excel to your all powerful will.

VBA is actually a sub set of Visual Basic 6.0 BASIC stands for Beginners All-
Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.

Why VBA?
 It uses English like statements to write instructions
 Creating the user interface is like using a paint program. You just have to
drag, drop and align the graphical user interface controls.
 Short learning curve. From day one that you start learning, you can
immediately start writing simple programs.
 Enhances the functionality of excel by allowing you to make excel behave the
way you want it to

Personal & business applications of VBA in excel

For personal use, you can use it for simple macros that will automate most of your
routine tasks. Read the article on Macros for more information on how you can
achieve this.

For business use, you can create complete powerful programs powered by excel
and VBA. The advantage of this approach is you can leverage the powerful features
of excel in your own custom programs.

Visual Basic for Applications VBA basics

Before we can write any code, we need to know the basics first. The following basics
will help you get started.
  Variable – in high school we learnt about algebra. Find (x + 2y) where x = 1
and y = 3. In this expression, x and y are variables. They can be assigned any
numbers i.e. 1 and 3 respective as in this example. They can also be changed
to say 4 and 2 respectively. Variables in short are memory locations. As you
work with VBA, you will be required to declare variables too just like in algebra
classes
 Rules for creating variables
o Don't use reserved words – if you work as a student, you cannot use
the title lecturer or principal. These titles are reserved for the lecturers
and the school authority. Reserved words are those words that have
special meaning in Vba and as such, you cannot use them as variable
names.
o Variable names cannot contain spaces – you cannot define a variable
named first number. You can use firstNumber or first_number.
o Use descriptive names – it's very tempting to name a variable after
yourself but avoid this. Use descriptive names i.e. quantity, price,
subtotal etc. this will make your VBA code easy to read
 Arithmetic operators - The rules of Brackets of Division Multiplication Addition
and Subtraction (BODMAS) apply so remember to apply them when working
with expressions that use multiple different arithmetic operators. Just like in
excel, you can use
o + for addition
o - for subtraction
o * for multiplication
o / for division.
 Logical operators - The concept of logical operators covered in the earlier
tutorials also apply when working with VBA. These include
o If statements
o OR
o NOT
o AND
o TRUE
o FALSE

Enable Developer Option

 Create a new workbook
 Click on the ribbon start button
 Select options
 Click on customize ribbon
 Select the developer checkbox as shown in the image below
 Click OK
You will now be able to see the DEVELOPER tab in the ribbon

VBA Hello world

Now we will demonstrate how to program in VBA. All program in VBA has to start
with "Sub" and end with "End sub". Here the name is the name you want to assign
to your program. While sub stands for a subroutine which we will learn in the later
part of the tutorial.

Sub name()

. End Sub
We will create a basic VBA program that displays an input box to ask for the user's
name then display a greeting message

This tutorial assumes you have completed the tutorial on Macros in excel and have
enabled the DEVELOPER tab in excel.

 Create a new work book

 Save it in an excel macro enabled worksheet format *.xlsm
 Click on the DEVELOPER tab
 Click on INSERT drop down box under controls ribbon bar
 Select a command button as shown in the image below

Draw the command button anywhere on the worksheet

You will get the following dialogue window

 Rename the macro name to btnHelloWorld_Click
 Click on new button
 You will get the following code window
Enter the following instruction codes

Dim name As String

name = InputBox("Enter your name")

MsgBox "Hello " + name

HERE,

 "Dim name as String" creates a variable called name. The variable will
accept text, numeric and other characters because we defined it as a string
 "name = InputBox("Enter your name")" calls the built in function InputBox
that displays a window with the caption Enter your name. The entered name
is then stored in the name variable.
 "MsgBox "Hello " + name" calls the built in function MsgBox that display
Hello and the entered name.
Your complete code window should now look as follows

 Close the code window

 Right click on button 1 and select edit text
 Enter Say hello

 Click on Say Hello

 You will get the following input box
  Enter your name i.e. Jordan
 You will get the following message box

Congratulations, you just created your first VBA program in excel

Step by step example of creating a simple EMI calculator

in Excel
In this tutorial exercise, we are going to create a simple program that calculates the
EMI. EMI is the acronym for Equated Monthly Instalment. It's the monthly amount
that you repay when you get a loan. The following image shows the formula for
calculating EMI.
The above formula is complex and can be written in excel. The good news is excel
already took care of the above problem. You can use the PMT function to compute
the above.

The PMT function works as follows

=PMT(rate,nper,pv)

HERE,

 "rate" this is the monthly rate. It's the interest rate divided by the number of
payments per year
 "nper" it is the total number of payments. It's the loan term multiplied by
number of payments per year
 "pv" present value. It's the actual loan amount

Create the GUI using excel cells as shown below

Add a command button between rows 7 and 8

Give the button macro name btnCalculateEMI_Click

Click on edit button

Enter the following code

Dim monthly_rate As Single, loan_amount As Double, number_of_periods As Single, emi A

s Double
monthly_rate = Range("B6").Value / Range("B5").Value
loan_amount = Range("B3").Value
number_of_periods = Range("B4").Value * Range("B5").Value
emi = WorksheetFunction.Pmt(monthly_rate, number_of_periods, -loan_amount)
Range("B9").Value = emi

HERE,

 "Dim monthly_rate As Single,…" Dim is the keyword that is used to define

variables in VBA, monthly_rate is the variable name, Single is the data type
that means the variable will accept number.
 "monthly_rate = Range("B6").Value / Range("B5").Value" Range is the
function used to access excel cells from VBA, Range("B6").Value makes
reference to the value in B6
 "WorksheetFunction.Pmt(…)" WorksheetFunction is the function used to
access all the functions in excel

The following image shows the complete source code

 Click on save and close the code window

 Test your program as shown in the animated image below
Example 2
Step 1) Under Developer tab from the main menu, click on "Visual Basic" icon it will
open your VBA editor.

Step 2) It will open a VBA editor, from where you can select the Excel sheet where
you want to run the code. To open VBA editor double click on the worksheet.

It will open a VBA editor on the right-hand side of the folder. It will appear like a
white space.
Step 3) In this step we going to see our fist VBA program. To read and display our
program we need an object. In VBA that object or medium in a MsgBox.

 First, write "Sub" and then your "program name" (Guru99)

 Write anything you want to display in the MsgBox (guru99-learning is fun)
 End the program by End Sub

Step 4) In next step you have to run this code by clicking on the green run button on
top of the editor menu.
Step 5) When you run the code, another window will pops out. Here you have to
select the sheet where you want to display the program and click on "Run" button

Step 6) When you click on Run button, the program will get executed. It will display
the msg in MsgBox.
 Download the above Excel Code

Summary
VBA stands for Visual Basic for Application. It's a sub component of visual basic
programming language that you can use to create applications in excel. With VBA,
you can still take advantage of the powerful features of excel and use them in VBA.

VBA Variables
Variables are specific values that are stored in a computer memory or storage
system. Later, you can use that value in code and execute. The computer will fetch
that value from the system and show in the output. Each variable must be given a
name.

To name the variable in VBA, you need to follow the following rules.

 It must be less than 255 characters

 No spacing is allowed
 It must not begin with a number
 Period is not permitted

Here are some example for Valid and Invalid names for variables in VBA.

Valid Names Invalid Names

 My_Watch My.Watch

NewCar1 1_NewCar (not begin with number)

EmployeeID Employee ID ( Space not allowed)

In VBA, we need to declare the variables before using them by assigning names and
data type.

In VBA, Variables are either declared Implicitly or Explicitly.

 Implicitly: Below is an example of a variable declared Implicitly.

o label=guru99
o volume=4
 Explicitly: Below is an example of variable declared Explicitly. You can use
"Dim" keyword in syntax
o Dim Num As Integer
o Dim password As String

VBA variable is no different than other programming languages. To declare a

variable in VBA you use the keyword "Dim."

Syntax for VBA Variable,

To declare a variable in VBA, type Dim followed by a name:

Sub Exercise ()
Dim <name>
End Sub

Before we execute the variables we have to record a macro in Excel. To record a

macro do the following -

Step 1): Record the Macro 1

Step 2) : Stop Macro 1

Step 3): Open the Macro editor, enter the code for variable in the Macro1

Step 4): Execute the code for Macro 1

Example, for VBA Variable

Sub Macro1()
 Dim Num As Integer
Num = 99
MsgBox " Guru " & Num
End Sub

When you run this code, you will get the following output in your sheet.

Excel VBA Data-Types

Computer cannot differentiate between the numbers (1,2,3..) and strings (a,b,c,..).
To make this differentiation, we use Data Types.

VBA data types can be segregated into two types

 Numeric Data Types

Type Storage Range of Values

Byte 1 byte 0 to 255

Integer 2 bytes -32,768 to 32,767

Long 4 bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,648

Single 4 bytes -3.402823E+38 to -1.401298E-45 for negative values 1.401298E-45 to

3.402823E+38 for positive values.
 Double 8 bytes -1.79769313486232e+308 to -4.94065645841247E-324 for negative
values 4.94065645841247E-324 to 1.79769313486232e+308 for
positive values.

Currency 8 bytes -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to 922,337,203,685,477.5807

Decimal 12 +/- 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 if no decimal is use +/-

bytes 7.9228162514264337593543950335 (28 decimal places)

 Non-numeric Data Types

Data Type Bytes Used Range of Values

String (fixed Length) Length of string 1 to 65,400 characters

String (Variable Length) Length + 10 bytes 0 to 2 billion characters

Boolean 2 bytes True or False

Date 8 bytes January 1, 100 to December 31, 9999

Object 4 bytes Any embedded object

Variant(numeric) 16 bytes Any value as large as Double

Variant(text) Length+22 bytes Same as variable-length string

In VBA, if the data type is not specified, it will automatically declare the variable
as a Variant.

Let see an example, on how to declare variables in VBA. In this example, we will
declare three types of variables string, joining date and currency.
Step 1) Like, in the previous tutorial, we will insert the commandButton1 in our Excel
sheet.

Step 2) In next step, right-click on the button and select View code. It will open the
code window as shown below.

Step 3) In this step,

 Save your file by clicking on save button

 Then click on Excel icon in the same window to return the Excel sheet.
 You can see the design mode is "on" highlighted in green
Step 4) Turn off design mode, before clicking on command button
Step 5) After turning off the design mode, you will click on commandButton1. It will
show the following variable as an output for the range we declared in code.

 Name
 Joining Date
 Income in curreny
Constant in VBA
Constant is like a variable, but you cannot modify it. To declare a constant in VBA
you use keyword Const.

There are two types of constant,

 Built-in or intrinsic provided by the application.

 Symbolic or user defined

You can either specify the scope as private by default or public. For example,

Public Const DaysInYear=365

Private Const Workdays=250

Download Excel containing above code

Download the above Excel Code

Summary:
  Variables are specific values that are stored in a computer memory or storage
system.
 You can use "Dim" keyword in syntax to declare variable explicitly
 VBA data types can be segregated into two types
o Numeric Data Types
o Non-numeric Data Types
 In VBA, if the data type is not specified. It will automatically declare the
variable as a Variant
 Constant is like a variable, but you cannot modify it. To declare a constant in
VBA you use keyword Const.

What is an Array?
An array is a memory location capable of storing more than one value. The values
must all be of the same data type. Let's say you want to store a list of your favourite
beverages in a single variable, you can use an array to do that.

By using an array, you can refer to the related values by the same name. You can
use an index or subscript to tell them apart. The individual values are referred as the
elements of the array. They are contiguous from index 0 through the highest index
value.

This tutorial assumes you are using Microsoft Excel version 2013. The knowledge
still applies to other versions of Microsoft Excel as well.

In this tutorial, you will learn-

 What are Advantages of arrays?

 Types of arrays
 VBA Array Demonstrated with Example
 Testing our application

What are Advantages of arrays?

The following are some of the benefits offered by arrays

1. Group logically related data together – let's say you want to store a list of
students. You can use a single array variable that has separate locations for
student categories i.e. kinder garden, primary, secondary, high school, etc.
 2. Arrays make it easy to write maintainable code. For the same logically related
data, it allows you to define a single variable, instead of defining more than
one variable.
3. Better performance – once an array has been defined, it is faster to retrieve,
sort, and modify data.

Types of arrays
VBA supports two types of arrays namely;

 Static – These types of arrays have a fixed pre-determined number of

elements that can be stored. One cannot change the size of the data type of a
Static Array. These are useful when you want to work with known entities
such as the number of days in a week, gender, etc.

For Example: Dim ArrayMonth(12) As String

 Dynamic – These types of arrays do not have a fixed pre-determined number

of elements that can be stored. These are useful when working with entities
that you cannot predetermine the number.

For Example: Dim ArrayMonth(12) As Variant

Syntax for declaring arrays

Static arrays

The syntax for declaring STATIC arrays is as follows:

Dim arrayName (n) as datatype

HERE,

Code Action

Dim arrayName 1. It declares an array variable called arrayName with a size of n

(n) datatype and datatype. Size refers to the number of elements that the
array can store.

Dynamic arrays
The syntax for declaring DYNAMIC arrays is as follows:

Dim arrayName() as datatype

ReDim arrayName(4)

HERE,

Code Action

Dim arrayName () 1. It declares an array variable called arrayName without

datatype specifying the number of elements

ReDim arrayName(4) 2. It specifies the array size after the array has been defined.

Array Dimensions

An array can be one dimension, two dimensions or multidimensional.

 One dimension: In this dimension, the array uses only one index. For
example, a number of people of each age.
 Two dimensions: In this dimension, the array uses two indexes. For
example, a number of students in each class. It requires number of classes
and student number in each class
 Multi-dimension: In this dimension, the array uses more than two indexes.
For example, temperatures during the daytime. ( 30, 40, 20).

VBA Array Demonstrated with Example

We will create a simple application. This application populates an Excel sheet with
data from an array variable. In this example, we are going to do following things.

 Create a new Microsoft Excel workbook and save it as Excel Macro-Enabled

Workbook (*.xlsm)
 Add a command button to the workbook
 Set the name and caption properties of the command button
 Write the code that populates the Excel sheet

Let do this exercise step by step,

Step 1 – Create a new workbook

 1. Open Microsoft Excel
2. Save the new workbook as VBA Arrays.xlsm

Step 2 – Add a command button

Note: This section assumes you are familiar with the process of creating an
interface in excel. If you are not familiar, read the tutorial VBA Subroutines and
Functions. It will show you how to create the interface

1. Add a command button to the sheet

2. Set the name property to cmdLoadBeverages

3. Set the caption property to Load Beverages

Your GUI should now be as follows

Step 3 – Save the file

1. Click on save as button

2. Choose Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm) as shown in the image
below

Step 4 – Write the code

We will now write the code for our application

1. Right click on Load Beverages button and select view code

2. Add the following code to the click event of cmdLoadBeverages

Private Sub cmdLoadBeverages_Click()

Dim Drinks(1 To 4) As String

Drinks(1) = "Pepsi"
Drinks(2) = "Coke"
Drinks(3) = "Fanta"
Drinks(4) = "Juice"

Sheet1.Cells(1, 1).Value = "My Favorite Beverages"

 Sheet1.Cells(2, 1).Value = Drinks(1)
Sheet1.Cells(3, 1).Value = Drinks(2)
Sheet1.Cells(4, 1).Value = Drinks(3)
Sheet1.Cells(5, 1).Value = Drinks(4)
End Sub

HERE,

Code Action

Dim Drinks(1 To 4) As  It declares an array variable called Drinks. The first array
String index is 1 and the last array index is 4.

Drinks(1) = "Pepsi"  Assigns the value Pepsi to the first array element. The
other similar code does the same for the other elements
in the array.

Sheet1.Cells(1, 1).Value =  Writes the value My Favorite Beverages in cell address

"My Favorite Beverages." A1. Sheet1 makes reference to the sheet, and Cells(1,1)
makes reference to row number 1 and column 1 (B)

Sheet1.Cells(2, 1).Value =  Writes the value of the array element with index 1 to row
Drinks(1) number two of column 1

Testing our application

Select the developer tab and ensure that the Design mode button is "off." The
indicator is, it will have a white background and not a coloured (greenish)
background. (See image below)
Click on Load Beverages button

You will get the following results

Download Excel containing above code

Download the above Excel Code

Summary

1. An array is a variable capable of storing more than one value

2. VBA supports static and dynamic arrays
 3. Arrays make it easy to write maintainable code compared to declaring a lot of
variables for data that is logically related.

VBA Excel Form Control & ActiveX Control

Creating VBA Form/GUI controls in Excel
GUI is the acronym for Graphical User Interface. The GUI is the part of the program
that the user interacts with. A GUI is made up of controls. These controls can be
used in a Form. The following table shows some of the most commonly used GUI
controls in VBA.

S/N Control Description

1 Command Used to execute code

2 Combo Box Used to present a drop down list to the users

3 CheckBox Used for true or false values. Multiple check boxes can have true value at the same
time.

4 List Box Used to present a simple list to the users

5 Text Box Used to accept user input

6 Scroll Bar Used for to provide a scrollbar for navigation purposes.

7 Spin Button Used to increment or decrease numeric values by clicking on up or down arrows
that appear in the spin button
 8 Option Used for true or false values. Only one option button can have a true value at a time.
Button

9 Label Used to display static text to the user

10 Image Used to display images

11 Toggle Button that has pressed and un-pressed states.

Button

In the GUI control,

1. Click on the developer tab

2. Click on Insert Drop down button

You will get the following drop down panel

If you hover the mouse over control, the name of the control will appear as shown
below
Adding GUI controls to a spreadsheet
We will now add a command button to our workbook, for that we have to

 Click on Insert drop down

 Click on Command Button (ActiveX Control) as shown in the image above
 Drag and draw the button on the sheet

Setting GUI control properties

We will now set the caption of the button to something more descriptive
1. Right click on the equal button that we have just created
2. Select properties menu
3. You will get the following properties window
  Set the name property to btnButton. The name property is used to identify the
control in the code window. btn is the prefix for the button.
 Set the Caption property to Click Me. The text in the caption property is what
the users will see on the button.

Close the window when you are done.

You will get the following results.

How to use ActiveX control in VBA

In this section, we will see how to incorporate 'commandclick' button in VBA and
execute a program using the button.

Step 1) In this step, click the option "insert button" from the Active X Control. Then
select the command button option from it.

Step 2) To insert "clickcommandbutton1" drag the mouse cursor to Excel sheet.

Step 3) Then right click on the command button and select option "View Code".

Step 4) Check you are on the right sheet. A code editor will open. Enter your code.

 In code, we defined range A1 to A10.

 This range defines the cell number in the Excel sheet from "A1 to A10."
 Next, we define the string "Guru99 VBA Tutorial" in code
 So, when you click on "command button" in excel. It should print "Guru99
VBA Tutorial" in the cell range "A1 to A10."
Step 5) In next step, save code file and then exit the editor. To return to the Excel
file click the Excel sheet icon on the extreme left.

Step 6) In Excel sheet, you will see Design Mode tab is on. Make sure it is "OFF" or
else your code will not work.
Step 7) When design mode is off, there will be no green highlight on it. Now you can
Click on the command button.
Step 8) Click on "CommandButton1". It will print "Guru99 VBA Tutorial" in the cell
range "A1 to A10".

Download the above Excel Code

Prerequisite
Configure Microsoft Excel

As we see in previous tutorial, make sure your ribbon will have "Developer" icon as
shown here.
Now, rename sheet1 to "VBA Operator" as shown in screen-shot below. Save the
workbook in an Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm) file extension. (see the
image below).

After that, click on Save button.

VBA Arithmetic Operators: Modulus,

Multiplication, Division, Addition
VBA Arithmetic Operators are used to perform arithmetic operations such as adding,
subtracting, dividing or multiplying numbers.

The following table shows the arithmetic operators in VBA

S/N Operator Description Example Output

 1 + Addition: This operator is used to add up numbers 2+2 4

2 - Subtraction: This operator is used to subtract numbers 5-3 2

3 * Multiplication: This operator is used to multiply numbers 3*2 6

4 / Division: This operator is used to divide numbers 9/3 3

5 ^ Exponentiation: This operator is used to raise a number to the 2^3 8

power of another number

6 mod Modulus Operator: Divides a number and returns the reminder 10 mod 3 1

VBA Arithmetic Operators: Modulus, Multiplication, Division, Addition

VBA Arithmetic Operators Example

Add a button to the Excel sheet as we show earlier, and then follow the following
points
 Change the name property to btnAdd
 Change the caption property to Add Operator
 Right click on the button
 Select view code
 You will get the following code window
Enter the following code in between Private Sub btnAdd_Click() and End Sub

 Dim x As Integer, z As Integer

o x=2
o z=3
 MsgBox x + z, vbOKOnly, "Addition Operator"
 Click on save button
 Close the code editor window

Let's now execute our code

On the ribbon bar, look for the button Design Mode

If the button is in active state (green background colour), then it's in design mode.
You cannot execute code in this state. If it is not in the active state (white
background color), then it allows you to run the code.

Click on Design Mode button

The button should now appear as follows

Click on Add operator

You will get the following results

Download the above Excel Code

Arithmetic Operators Tutorial exercise

The best way to learn is by practicing. Follow the above steps to create buttons for
subtraction, division, multiplication and exponentiation.

Write the code for the buttons and test them to see if the code executes.

VBA String Operators

VBA String Operators
String data is used to hold data that is made up of numbers, characters, and
symbols. "Jul-2015" is an example of a string data. It is made up of

 Characters (Jul)
  Symbol (-)
 Numbers (2015)

String operators are used to manipulate string data. For example, you can
concatenate the value of July-2015 from the first 3 letters of the month and the year
like "Jul-2015".

The following table shows the concatenation string operator.

S/N Operator Description Example Output

1 & Concatenate: This operator is used to concatenate strings "John " & John
together "Doe" Doe

Example Source Code

MsgBox "John " & "Doe", vbOKOnly, "Concatenate Operator"

Executing the above code produces the following result

VBA Comparison Operators: Not equal to, Less
than or equal to, Greater than
VBA Comparison operators
These are operators that are used to compare values. Comparison operators
include equal to, less than, greater than and not equal to

The following table shows VBA Comparison Operators.

Comparison operators are used to compare values for validation purposes. Let's say
you are developing a simple point of sale application. In this application, you want to
validate the values entered before you post. In such cases, you can use comparison
operators. This operator will check against the negative numbers or to ensure that
the amount paid does not exceed the billed amount. Comparison operators come in
handy in such situations.

S/N Operator Description Example Output

1 = Equal: checks if two values are equal. It If x = z Returns true if they are equal,
is also used as an assignment operator Then else it returns false

2 < Less than: This operator is used to If x < z Returns true if x is less than z,
subtract numbers Then else it returns false

3 > Greater than: This operator is used to If x > z Returns true if x is greater
multiply numbers Then than z, else it returns false

4 <> Not equal to: This operator is used to If x <> z Returns true if they are not
divide numbers Then equal, else it returns false

5 <= Less than or equal to: If x <= z Returns true if x is less than or
Then equal to z, else it returns false
 6 >= Greater than or equal to: If x >= Returns true if x is greater
Then than z, else it returns false

Example source code

Equal Comparison Operator

If 2 = 1 Then
MsgBox "True", vbOKOnly, "Equal Operator"
Else
MsgBox "False", vbOKOnly, "Equal Operator"
End If

HERE,

 "If 2 = 1 Then… Else… End If" uses the if statement to evaluate the
condition "2 = 1"
 "MsgBox…" Is a built-in function that displays a message box.
o The first parameter "True" or "False" is what will be displayed in the
message box. In our example, 2 is not equal to 1, therefore, it will show
"false" in the msg box.
o The second parameter "vbOKOnly" is the button that is displayed in the
message box
o The third parameter "Equal Operator" is the title of the message box.

Executing the above code gives the following results

VBA Logical Operators: AND, OR, NOT
VBA Logical Operators: AND, OR, NOT

Logical Operators
Let's say you want to process a customer order. For that, you want to first check to
see if the ordered product exists or not. If it does, you also want to check if the
quantity on hand is enough. Logical operators come in handy in such cases. Logical
operators are used to evaluate more than one condition.

S/N Operator Description Example Output

1 AND AND: This is used to combine more than one condition. If true = true false
If all the conditions are true, AND evaluates to true. If AND false = true
any of the condition is false, AND evaluates to false THEN

2 OR OR: This is used to combine more than one condition. If If true = true OR true
any of the conditions evaluate to true, OR returns true. If true = false
all of them are false, OR returns false THEN

3 NOT NOT: This one works like an inverse function. If the If NOT (true) false
condition is true, it returns false, and if a condition is Then
false, it returns true.

Example Source Code

For the sake of simplicity, we will be comparing hard coded numbers.

Add ActiveX buttons to the sheet from the "Insert option."

Set the properties as shown in the image below

The following table shows the properties that you need to change and the values
that you need to update too.

S/N Control Property Value

1 CommandButton1 Name btnAND

Caption AND Operator (0 = 0)

2 CommandButton2 Name btnOR

Caption OR Operator (1 = 1) Or (5 = 0)

3 CommandButton3 Name btnNOT

Caption NOT Operator Not (0 = )

Add the following code to btnAND_Click

Private Sub btnAND_Click()

If (1 = 1) And (0 = 0) Then
MsgBox "AND evaluated to TRUE", vbOKOnly, "AND operator"
Else
MsgBox "AND evaluated to FALSE", vbOKOnly, "AND operator"
 End If
End Sub

HERE,

 "If (1 = 1) And (0 = 0) Then" the if statement uses the AND logical operator
to combine two conditions (1 = 1) And (0 = 0). If both conditions are true, the
code above 'Else' keyword is executed. If both conditions are not true, the
code below 'Else' keyword is executed.

Add the following code to btnOR_Click

Private Sub btnOR_Click()

If (1 = 1) Or (5 = 0) Then
MsgBox "OR evaluated to TRUE", vbOKOnly, "OR operator"
Else
MsgBox "OR evaluated to FALSE", vbOKOnly, "OR operator"
End If
End Sub

HERE,

 "If (1 = 1) Or (5 = 0) Then" the if statement uses the OR logical operator to

combine two conditions (1 = 1) And (5 = 0). If any of the conditions is true, the
code above Else keyword is executed. If both conditions are false, the code
below Else keyword is executed.

Add the following code to btnNOT_Click

Private Sub btnNOT_Click()

If Not (0 = 0) Then
MsgBox "NOT evaluated to TRUE", vbOKOnly, "NOT operator"
Else
MsgBox "NOT evaluated to FALSE", vbOKOnly, "NOT operator"
End If
End Sub

HERE,

 "If Not (0 = 0) Then" the if statement uses the NOT logical operator to negate
the result of the condition. If the conditions is true, the code below 'Else'
keyword is executed. If the condition is true, the code above Else keyword is
executed.
Excel VBA: Call a Subroutine
What is Subroutine?
A subroutine is a piece of code that performs a specific task and does not return a
result. Subroutines are used to break down large pieces code into small
manageable parts.

Let's say you have created a user interface with text boxes for accepting user input
data. You can create a subroutine that clears the contents of the text boxes. A
subroutine is appropriate in such a scenario because you do not want to return any
results.

In this tutorial, you will learn-

 Why use subroutines

 Rules of naming subroutines and functions
 Subroutine practical example
 Syntax for declaring subroutines

Why use subroutines

 Break code into small manageable code: An average computer program
has thousands and thousands of source code lines. This introduces
complexity. Subroutines help solve this problem by breaking down the
program into small manageable chunks of code.
 Code reusability. Let's say you have a program that needs to access the
database, almost all of the windows in the program will need to interact with
the database. Instead of writing separate code for these windows, you can
create a function that handles all database interactions. You can then call it
from whichever window you want.
 Subroutines and functions are self-documenting. Let's say you have a
function calculateLoanInterest and another that says connectToDatabase. By
just looking at the name of the subroutine/function, the programmer will be
able to tell what the program does.

Rules of naming subroutines and functions

To use subroutines and functions, there are set of rules that one has to follow.

 A subroutine or function name cannot contain space

  A subroutine or function name should start with a letter or an underscore. It
cannot start with a number or a special character
 A subroutine or function name cannot be a keyword. A keyword is a word that
has special meaning in VBA. Words like Private, Sub, Function, and End, etc.
are all examples of keywords. The compiler uses them for specific tasks.

Subroutine practical example

In this section, we are going to;

1. Look at the syntax of subroutines in VBA

2. Create a simple program that uses a subroutine. It should display a message
box when a user clicks on a command button.

You will need to enable the Developer tab in Excel to follow along with this example.
If you do not know how to enable the Developer tab then read the tutorial on VBA
Operators

VBA Syntax for declaring subroutines

Private Sub mySubRoutine(ByVal arg1 As String, ByVal arg2 As String)
'do something
End Sub

HERE in the syntax,

Code Action

 "Private Sub  Here the keyword "Sub" is used to declare a subroutine

mySubRoutine(…)" named "mySubRoutine" and start the body of the
subroutine.
 The keyword Private is used to specify the scope of the
subroutine

 "ByVal arg1 As String, ByVal  It declares two parameters of string data type name arg1
arg2 As String" : and arg2

 "End Sub"  "End Sub" is used to end the body of the subroutine
The following subroutine accepts the first and last name and displays them in a
message box.

Now we are going to program and execute this whole process for the subroutine. Let
see this.

Sub-routines demonstrated with Example:

1. Design the user interface and set the properties for the user controls.
2. Add the subroutine
3. Write the click event code for the command button that calls the subroutine
4. Test the application

Step 1) User Interface

Design the user interface as shown in the image below

Set the following properties. The properties that we are setting

S/N Control Property Value

1 CommandButton1 Name btnDisplayFullName

2 Caption Fullname Subroutine

Your interface should now look as follows

Step 2) Add subroutine

1. Press Alt + F11 to open the code window

2. Add the following subroutine

Private Sub displayFullName(ByVal firstName As String, ByVal lastName As String)

MsgBox firstName & " " & lastName
End Sub

HERE in the code,

Code Actions

 "Private Sub  It declares a private subroutine displayFullName that

displayFullName(…)" accepts two string parameters.

 "ByVal firstName As String,  It declares two parameter variables firstName and

ByVal lastName As String" lastName

 MsgBox firstName & " " &  It calls the MsgBox built-in function to display a
lastName" message box. It then passes the 'firstName' and
'lastName' variables as parameters.
 The ampersand "&" is used to concatenate the two
variables and add an empty space between them.

Step 3) Call the subroutine from the command button click event.

 Right click on the command button as shown in the image below. Select View
Code.
 The code editor will open
Add the following code in code editor for the click event of btnDisplayFullName
command button.

Private Sub btnDisplayFullName_Click()

displayFullName "John", "Doe"
End Sub

Your code window should now look as follows

Save the changes and close the code window.

Step 4) Testing the code

On the developer toolbar put the design mode 'off'. As shown below.
Step 5) Click on the command button 'FullName Subroutine'.

You will get the following results

Download the above Excel Code

Summary:

 A subroutine is a piece of code that performs a specific task. A subroutine

does not return a value after execution
 Subroutines offer code reusability
 Subroutines help break down large chunks of code into small manageable
code.
Excel VBA Function Tutorial: Return, Call,
Examples
What is a Function?
A function is a piece of code that performs a specific task and returns a result.
Functions are mostly used to carry out repetitive tasks such as formatting data for
output, performing calculations, etc.

Suppose you are developing a program that calculates interest on a loan. You can
create a function that accepts the loan amount and the payback period. The function
can then use the loan amount and payback period to calculate the interest and
return the value.

Why use functions

The advantages of using functions are the same as the ones in the above section on
why use subroutines.

Rules of naming functions

The rules for naming functions as the same as the ones in the above section on
rules for naming subroutines.

VBA Syntax for declaring Function

Private Function myFunction (ByVal arg1 As Integer, ByVal arg2 As Integer)

myFunction = arg1 + arg2
End Function

HERE in the syntax,

Code Action

 "Private Function  Here the keyword "Function" is used to declare a function

myFunction(…)" named "myFunction" and start the body of the function.
 The keyword 'Private' is used to specify the scope of the
function
  "ByVal arg1 As Integer,  It declares two parameters of integer data type named
ByVal arg2 As Integer" 'arg1' and 'arg2.'

 myFunction = arg1 + arg2  evaluates the expression arg1 + arg2 and assigns the
result to the name of the function.

 "End Function"  "End Sub" is used to end the body of the function

Function demonstrated with Example:

Functions are very similar to the subroutine. The major difference between a
subroutine and a function is that the function returns a value when it is called. While
a subroutine does not return a value, when it is called. Let's say you want to add two
numbers. You can create a function that accepts two numbers and returns the sum
of the numbers.

1. Create the user interface

2. Add the function
3. Write code for the command button
4. Test the code

Step 1) User interface

Add a command button to the worksheet as shown below

Set the following properties of CommanButton1 to the following.

 S/N Control Property Value

1 CommandButton1 Name btnAddNumbers

2 Caption Add Numbers Function

Your interface should now appear as follows

Step 2) Function code.

1. Press Alt + F11 to open the code window

2. Add the following code

Private Function addNumbers(ByVal firstNumber As Integer, ByVal secondNumber As Integ

er)
addNumbers = firstNumber + secondNumber
End Function

HERE in the code,

Code Action

 "Private Function addNumbers(…)"  It declares a private function "addNumbers" that

accepts two integer parameters.
  "ByVal firstNumber As Integer, ByVal  It declares two parameter variables firstNumber
secondNumber As Integer" and secondNumber

 "addNumbers = firstNumber +  It adds the firstNumber and secondNumber

secondNumber" values and assigns the sum to addNumbers.

Step 3) Write Code that calls the function

1. Right click on btnAddNumbers_Click command button

2. Select View Code
3. Add the following code

Private Sub btnAddNumbersFunction_Click()

MsgBox addNumbers(2, 3)
End Sub

HERE in the code,

Code Action

"MsgBox  It calls the function addNumbers and passes in 2 and 3 as the

addNumbers(2,3)" parameters. The function returns the sum of the two numbers five (5)

Step 4) Run the program, you will get the following results
Download Excel containing above code

Download the above Excel Code

Summary:

 A function is a piece of code that performs a specific task. A function returns a

value after execution.
 Both subroutines and functions offer code reusability
 Both subroutines and functions help break down large chunks of code into
small manageable code.

Excel VBA Range Object

What is VBA Range?
The VBA Range Object represents a cell or multiple cells in your Excel worksheet. It
is the most important object of Excel VBA. By using Excel VBA range object, you
can refer to,

 A single cell
 A row or a column of cells
 A selection of cells
 A 3-D range
As we discussed in our previous tutorial, that VBA is used to record and run Macro.
But how VBA identify what data from the sheet needs to be executed. This is where
VBA Range Objects is useful.

In this tutorial, you will learn-

 Introduction to Referencing Objects in VBA

 Refer to a Single cell using the Worksheet.Range Property
 Cell Property
 Range Offset property

Introduction to Referencing Objects in VBA

Referencing Excel's VBA Range Object and the Object Qualifier.

 Object Qualifier: This is used for referencing the object. It specifies the
workbook or worksheet you are referring to.

To manipulate these cell values, Properties and Methods are used.

 Property: A property stores information about the object.

 Method: A method is an action of the object it will perform. Range object can
perform actions like selected, copied, cleared, sorted, etc.

VBA follow object hierarchy pattern to refer object in Excel. You have to follow the
following structure. Remember the .dot overhere connects the object at each of the
different levels.

Application.Workbooks.Worksheets.Range

There are two main types of default objects.

How to refer to Excel VBA Range Object using Range

property
Range property can be applied in two different types of objects.

 Worksheet Objects
 Range Objects

Syntax for Range Property

1. The keyword "Range."

 2. Parentheses that follow the keyword
3. Relevant Cell Range
4. Quotation (" ")

Application.Workbooks("Book1.xlsm").Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A1")

When you refer Range object, as shown above, it is referred as fully qualified
reference. You have told Excel exactly which range you want, what sheet and in
what worksheet.

Example: MsgBox Worksheet("sheet1").Range("A1").Value

Using Range property, you can perform many tasks like,

 Refer to a Single cell using range property

 Refer to a Single cell using the Worksheet.Range Property
 Refer to an entire row or column
 Refer to merged cells using Worksheet.Range Property and many more

As such it will be too lengthy to cover all scenarios for range property. For scenarios
mentioned above, we will demonstrate an example only for one. Refer to a Single
cell using range property.

Refer to a Single cell using the Worksheet.Range Property

To refer to a single cell, you have to refer to a single cell.

Syntax is simple "Range("Cell")".

Here, we will use ".Select" command to select the single cell from the sheet.

Step 1) In this step, open your excel.

Step 2) In this step,

 Click on button.
 It will open a window.
 Enter your program name here and click 'OK' button.
 It will take you to main Excel file, from top menu click on 'stop' record button
to stop recording Macro.
Step 3) In next step,

 Click on Macro button from the top menu. It will open the window
below.
 In this window, Click on the 'edit' button.
Step 4) The above step will open VBA code editor for file name "Single Cell Range".
Enter the code as shown below for selecting range "A1" from the excel.

Step 5) Now save the file and run the program as shown below.

Step 6) You will see Cell "A1" is selected after execution of the program.
Likewise, you can select a cell with a particular Name. For example, if you want to
search cell with name "Guru99- VBA Tutorial". You have to run the command as
shown below. It will select the cell with that name.

Range("Guru99- VBA Tutorial").Select

To apply other range object here is the code sample.

Range for selecting cell in Excel Range declared

For single Row Range("1:1")

For single Column Range("A: A")

For Contiguous Cells Range("A1:C5")

For Non-Contiguous Cells Range("A1:C5, F1:F5")

For Intersection of two ranges Range("A1:C5 F1:F5")

(For intersection cell, remember there is no comma operator)

To merge Cell Range("A1:C5")

( To merge cell use "merge" command)

Cell Property
Similarly to the range, in VBA you can also you "Cell Property". The only difference
is that it has an "item" property that you use to reference the cells on your
spreadsheet. Cell property is useful in a programming loop.

For example,

Cells.item(Row, Column). Both the lines below refer to cell A1.

 Cells.item(1,1) OR
 Cells.item(1,"A")

Range Offset property

Range offset property will select rows/columns away from its original position. On
the basis of the range declared, cells are selected. See example below.

For example,

Range("A1").offset(Rowoffset:=1, Columnoffset:=1).Select

The result for this will cell B2. The offset property will move A1 cell to 1 column and
1 row away. You can change the value of rowoffset / columnoffset as per
requirement. You can use a negative value (-1) to move cells backward.

Download Excel containing above code

Download the above Excel Code

Summary:

 The VBA Range Object represents a cell or multiple cells in your Excel
worksheet
o A single cell
o A row or a column of cells
o A selection of cells
o A 3-D range
 To manipulate cell values, Properties and Methods are used
o A property stores information about the object
o A method is an action of the object it will perform like select, merge,
sorted, etc.
 VBA follow object hierarchy pattern to refer object in Excel using .dot operator
 Range property can be applied in two different types of objects
o Worksheet Objects
o Range Objects