Professional Excel Development

Stephen Bullen is founder of Office Automation Ltd., a specialist in Excel, Access and Visual Basic development that serves many of the world's largest businesses. Rob Bovey is president of Application Professionals, a software developer specializing in Microsoft Office, Visual Basic and SQL Server applications. He has developed several add-ins shipped by Microsoft with Excel. John Green is founder of Execuplan Consulting, a specialist in Excel and Access business application development. The authors have each held Microsoft's coveted Excel MVP status for eight consecutive years, and are coauthors of Excel 2000/Excel 2002 VBA Programmer's Reference (Wrox Press). © Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Contents

Acknowledgments.

About the Authors.

1. Introduction.

    About This Book

    The Excel Developer

    Excel as an Application Development Platform

    Structure

    Examples

    Supported Versions

    Typefaces

    On the CD

    Help and Support

    Feedback

2. Application Architectures.

    Concepts

    Conclusion

3. Excel and VBA Development Best Practices.

    Naming Conventions

    Best Practices for Application Structure and Organization

    General Application Development Best Practices

    Conclusion

4. Worksheet Design.

    Principles of Good Worksheet UI Design

    Program Rows and Columns: The Fundamental UI Design Technique

    Defined Names

    Styles

    User Interface Drawing Techniques

    Data Validation

    Conditional Formatting

    Using Controls on Worksheets

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

5. Function, General and Application-Specific Add-ins.

    The Four Stages of an Application

    Function Library Add-ins

    General Add-ins

    Application-Specific Add-ins

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

6. Dictator Applications.

    Structure of a Dictator Application

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

7. Using Class Modules to Create Objects.

    Creating Objects

    Creating a Collection

    Trapping Events

    Raising Events

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

8. Advanced Command Bar Handling.

    Command Bar Design

    Table-Driven Command Bars

    Putting It All Together

    Loading Custom Icons from Files

    Hooking Command Bar Control Events

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

9. Understanding and Using Windows API Calls.

    Overview

    Working with the Screen

    Working with Windows

    Working with the Keyboard

    Working with the File System and Network

    Practical Examples

    Conclusion

10. Userform Design and Best Practices.

    Principles

    Control Fundamentals

    Visual Effects

    Userform Positioning and Sizing

    Wizards

    Dynamic Userforms

    Modeless Userforms

    Control Specifics

    Practical Examples

    Conclusion

11. Interfaces.

    What Is an Interface?

    Code Reuse

    Defining a Custom Interface

    Implementing a Custom Interface

    Using a Custom Interface

    Polymorphic Classes

    Improving Robustness

    Simplifying Development

    A Plug-in Architecture

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

12. VBA Error Handling.

    Error-Handling Concepts

    The Single Exit Point Principle

    Simple Error Handling

    Complex Project Error Handler Organization

    The Central Error Handler

    Error Handling in Classes and Userforms

    Putting It All Together

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

13. Programming with Databases.

    An Introduction to Databases

    Designing the Data Access Tier

    Data Access with SQL and ADO

    Further Reading

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

14. Data Manipulation Techniques.

    Excel’s Data Structures

    Data Processing Features

    Advanced Functions

    Conclusion

15. Advanced Charting Techniques.

    Fundamental Techniques

    VBA Techniques

    Conclusion

16. VBA Debugging.

    Basic VBA Debugging Techniques

    The Immediate Window (Ctrl+G)

    The Call Stack (Ctrl+L)

    The Watch Window

    The Locals Window

    The Object Browser (F2)

    Creating and Running a Test Harness

    Using Assertions

    Debugging Shortcut Keys that Every Developer Should Know

    Conclusion

17. Optimizing VBA Performance.

    Measuring Performance

    The PerfMon Utility

    Creative Thinking

    Macro-Optimization

    Micro-Optimization

    Conclusion

18. Controlling Other Office Applications.

    Fundamentals

    The Primary Office Application Object Models

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

19. XLLs and the C API.

    Why Create an XLL-Based Worksheet Function

    Creating an XLL Project in Visual Studio

    The Structure of an XLL

    The XLOPER and OPER Data Types

    The Excel4 Function

    Commonly Used C API Functions

    XLOPERs and Memory Management

    Registering and Unregistering Custom Worksheet Functions

    Sample Application Function

    Debugging the Worksheet Functions

    Miscellaneous Topics

    Additional Resources

    Conclusion

20. Combining Excel and Visual Basic 6.

    A Hello World ActiveX DLL

    Why Use VB6 ActiveX DLLs in Excel VBA Projects

    In-Process versus Out-of-Process

    Automating Excel From a VB6 EXE

    Practical Examples

    Conclusion

21. Writing Add-ins with Visual Basic 6.

    A Hello World Add-in

    The Add-in Designer

    Installation Considerations

    The AddinInstance Events

    Command Bar Handling

    Why Use a COM Add-in?

    Automation Add-ins

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

22. Using VB.NET and the Visual Studio Tools for Office.

    Overview

    How to Leverage the .NET Framework

    Managed Workbooks

    Managed Excel Add-ins

    Hybrid VBA/VSTO Solutions

    The VSTO Security Model

    The Big Issues

    Further Reading

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

23. Excel, XML and Web Services.

    XML

    Web Services

    Practical Example

    Conclusion

24. Providing Help, Securing, Packaging and Distributing.

    Providing Help

    Securing

    Packaging

    Distributing

    Conclusion

Index.