If It's Not Broken Why Should You Fix It? Find Out With VBA

Many people stand behind the phrase 'if it's not broken then don't fix it', but you may not feel quite the same way when it comes to repetitive computer-related tasks.

If you've ever sat down at your desk and believed you have a long day ahead because you'll be carrying out lots of similar functions via computer programmes, then you may want to consider harnessing the power of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This sounds like a complicated software product that may have you returning to your Microsoft documents to finish said tasks. But if you wish to cut the amount of time you will spend on functions, such as importing tables and writing the same headers on each one, or inserting the same kinds of tables into pages of Word files, then you may find the product very beneficial.

VBA allows you to manipulate and add features that are already present in a host of Microsoft products, such as Excel, Word, Outlook, Publisher and many more. It does this by supplying you with the means to write and edit a type of computer language that is saved in files or on your PC so you are free to use it time and time again. There are already many ways to make process within applications quicker, such as using shortcuts, but sometimes they will not exist for the type of function you need.

Instead of spending hours repetitively adding the same information to the same fields in a host of spreadsheets, maybe it's time to delve deeper into VBA, either by your own research or via specialised courses to teach you the basics and more. On the other hand, you may already have a firm grasp of the principles of VBA and instead of using it to build code that will see you pressing a button for a new tool, you may want to expand the tools that allow a greater level of interactivity between users of the applications and the software itself. This is also possible and can see you adding panes of information to programmes that help guide people through them.

As well as helping you to create new functions to automate tasks and boost interactivity, you are also free to write commands that assist you in drawing together different Microsoft products. So if you need to move data that is currently held in an Excel spreadsheet to a PowerPoint document then there is VBA code waiting to be written by you. Before setting off and writing code to create these new functions, it's important that you get a grasp of 'objects' as they give you the playing field from which you are free to change and alter the functionality of the documents.

An object could be described as a kind of map of the interface you see when opening documents such as Word files. Objects are the applications/tools you can use within the programme and their properties refer to 'descriptions' of the functions. If the text was an object then whether it was in a certain colour would be its property and you are free to change these by using 'methods', which activate it.

Taking all this into account, you may see the wider picture when it comes to writing VBA, in that programmes have lots of different objects, meaning there is much scope for you to manipulate and alter their functionality.