Microsoft Excel 2003

Macros
OTS PUBLICATION : E16 • REVISED 12/4/2006 • TRAINING@ TOWSON . EDU • OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
=Shortcut =Advice =Caution

About Macros
I’m sure you have used Excel enough to know that there are certain Macros
tasks that you seem to repeat over and over again. I’m sure you
1. About Macros
have thought, there must be a way to automate these repeated tasks
2. Set Up Excel to Allow
so that tasks can be repeated with minimal interaction by you. For
Macros
this, you need to create a Macro. A macro is a huge time saving
3. Open a Workbook that
feature that enables you record common or repetitive tasks and
Contains Macros
replay these tasks by “running” the macro when needed.
4. Run Macro
In Excel, rather than writing each step as code, you record a macro 5. Record a Macro
similar to recording a show on your VCR—except you are the show! 6. About Shortcut Keys
In other words, you start recording and Excel records each mouse 7. Modify a Macro
click and keystroke you make as you perform the task. When you are 8. About Visual Basic for
done, you stop recording. Voila! Your macro is ready and is now Applications (VBA)
available. Run the macro to repeat the same commands. Should you 9. Create a Custom
make a mistake, you can either re-record the macro or change it by Toolbar and a Custom
using the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) Editor. Toolbar Button
10. Customize the Toolbar
Think through the steps that you want to record in a new macro. Macro Button
11. Create a Worksheet
Examples of Macros:
Macro Button
1. Insert a desired TU logo and set page setup. 12. Delete the Custom
Toolbar
2. Format column headings and data. 13. Delete a Macro
3. Sort data in multiple columns.

4. Find and Replace text.

Set Up Excel to Allow Macros

Spreadsheets can contain macros that perform various automated tasks. Although most macros are
harmless and very useful, some can contain malicious macro viruses. Macro viruses can destroy
data and so Excel lets you decide to disable or enable macros through the uses of Security Settings.
There are four levels of security ranging from Low to Very High. Setting the security level is done on
the individual workstation and is a personal decision. By default the Security Level is High. If the
Excel macro security level is set to Very High, most, to all, macros will be disabled. You may want to
change the Security Level before you open spreadsheets from different sources.

In the following exercise, you will set the Security level to Medium.

1. Open Excel.

2. Select Tools > Macro > Security from the menu bar.

3. In the Security dialog box, select Medium (Figure 1, 1).

4. When ready, click OK (Figure 1, 2) to close the Security dialog box.

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 M ICROSOFT E XCEL 2003: M ACROS

Figure 1

Open a Workbook that Contains Macros

When you open or reopen a file that contains a macro, you may see the Excel Security Warning
(Figure 2). Excel is warning you that the file you are about to open contains macros.
Because macros contain programming code, they have the potential to produce harmful effects on
your system. If the Security Level is set to High (by default), Microsoft Excel will turn off the ability
to run macros.

If you are sure that the macros in the file are perfectly harmless (perhaps you created them yourself,
or the file came from someone you know) then click on “Enable Macros” (Figure 2,1). to open the
file and be able to use the macros within the workbook.

If you want to open the file but do not want the macros to be able to run, click on “Disable Mac-
ros” (Figure 2,2). This option will open the file in "Read Only" mode, which means you can view the
file, make changes and save it under a different name if you so chose.

Figure 2

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Run an Existing Macro

The following demonstrates how to run an existing macro. Once you have run a macro, please
notice the Undo button is not available. If you must undo the macro changes, close the file and do
not save changes.

1. Open the desired file.

2. When prompted, select Enable Macros.

3. Select Tools > Macro > Macros from the menu bar.

4. In the Macro dialog box, select the desired macro (Figure 3, 1), and then click Run
(Figure 3, 2).

Figure 3
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Record a Macro
The following demonstrates how to record a simple macro that inserts a TU logo located in the
Workshop Files folder on the Desktop. Once the logo is inserted, you will also record sizing the logo
to a proper size and place the logo in the upper right corner of the worksheet.

1. Open the desired file and display the desired worksheet

2. Select Tools > Macro > Record New Macro from the menu bar.

3. In the Macro Name field (Figure 4, 1), type a desired macro name, e.g. “Insert_Logo”.

Note: A macro name can be up to 255 characters. It must be unique and may not include any
spaces in the name.

4. Stored the macro in “This Workbook” (Figure 4, 2).

Note: By default, the macro will be stored and available only in the current workbook; if appro-
priate, open the Store macro in drop-down list and select either New Workbook (to store and use
the macro only in a new empty workbook) or Personal Macro Workbook (to make the macro
available in all workbooks).

5. In the Description field (Figure 4, 3), type a desired description, e.g. “This macro inserts
the TU Logo”.

6. Click the OK button (Figure 4, 4) to begin recording.

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7. Note: The word "Recording" will appear on the status bar to remind you that all keystrokes
and mouse actions are now being recorded. Depending on how your system is configured, a
Stop Recording toolbar may also appear in the window. If you make a mistake, simply cor-
rect it as you normally would and continue; both the mistake and its correction will become
part of the macro, and may be edited out later if desired.

8. Perform the necessary action to complete the macro, e.g. insert the TU logo from My Pictures
or a network location.

9. When ready, click the STOP button (Figure 5, 1) on the Stop Recording toolbar.

Note: if the toolbar is not visible, select Tools > Macro > Stop Recording.

Figure 4 Figure 5
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About Shortcut Keys

As an alternative to running a macro from the Tools > Macro menu, you can also assign a keyboard
shortcut key (also known as a "hot key"). When you record a new macro, you have the option of
assigning a shortcut key to it while the Record Macro dialog box is displayed. To assign a shortcut
key, click the Shortcut key text box and either type a letter key (to produce a Ctrl shortcut key) or
type a letter key while holding down the Shift key (to produce a Ctrl-Shift shortcut key).

If you have already recorded the macro and you can assign or change its shortcut key by doing the
following:

1. Select Tools > Macro > Macros from the menu bar.

2. In the Macro dialog box, select the name of the macro and click the Options button.

3. In the Shortcut Key field, type the desired shortcut key (Figure 6, 1) as indicated above.

4. When ready, click the OK button to close the Macro Options dialog box.

5. Click the OK button to close the Macro dialog box.

Figure 6

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Modify a Macro
Visual Basics for Applications (VBA) is the programming language used to create macros in the
Microsoft Office 2003 applications. When you record a macro, Excel translates the keystrokes and
mouse clicks into VBA code and creates and stores the macro for you.

Macros are grouped together in larger VBA code blocks called Modules. An Excel file can contain one
or more modules, and a module can contain one or more macros. Since a macro is a set of organ-
ized steps, a macro is also called a Procedure. All macro code can be viewed in the Code window
(Figure 7, 1). In the VBA, in order to see the macro code, you must first double-click the Modules
folder under the file name in the Project Explorer (Figure 7, 2). Each Module can have many macros/
procedures. Each macro/procedure begins with a “Sub” and end with an “End Sub” statement. All
text displayed in black is the actual macro code and any text displayed in green are comments and
will not be executed. To switch from the VBA back to Excel, you can either close the VBA window or
click the View Microsoft Excel button (Figure 7, 3)

The following demonstrates how to start up the VBA Editor.

1. Select Tools > Macro > Visual Basic Editor.

Shortcut: You can also press ALT+F11 on the keyboard.

Objects to be aware of in the Visual Basic Editor:

Need Help? While in the VBA, press F1 on the keyboard to startup the Help Screen.

3 Figure 7

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Create a Custom Toolbar and a Custom Toolbar Button

As an alternative to running a macro from the Tools > Macro menu, you can also create a custom
button and place it on any of the existing toolbars or on a custom toolbar. In the next exercise, we
will create a new macro toolbar, then place a new macro toolbar button on the toolbar. Once the
button is created, we will change its appearance and screen tip.

To Create a Custom Toolbar:

1. Select View > Toolbars > Customize.

2. In the Customize dialog box, select the Toolbars tab.

3. On the Toolbars tab, click the New… button.

4. In the New Toolbar dialog box, type “My Macros” (Figure 8, 1) and click OK (Figure 8, 2).

5. Click Close to close the Customize dialog box, or go on to the next section to add a custom
toolbar button.

Figure 8

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2

To Create a Custom Toolbar icon:

1. Select View > Toolbars > Customize.

2. In the Customize dialog box, select the Commands tab.

3. Under Categories, scroll down to “Macros” (Figure 9, 1).

4. Under Commands, select and drag the Custom Button icon (Figure 9, 1) onto any existing
toolbar or the new “My Macros” toolbar created in the previous section.

5. Right-click the new custom button and select Assign Macro.

6. In the Assign Macro dialog box, select the desired macro (Figure 10, 1) and click OK
(Figure 10, 2).
Figure 9 Figure 10

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Customize the Button Image and Tool Tip

1. While the Customize dialog box is open, right-click the new macro button and select
Change Button Image.

2. Select any desired image for the new macro button (Figure 11).

3. Right-click the new macro button again and select the text in the Name field, and type a desired
button name, e.g. “Insert TU Logo”.

4. Click away from the shortcut menu to close the menu.

5. Click the Close button in the Customize dialog box to close the dialog box.

Note: The macro can now be executed using the custom toolbar button.

Figure 11

Create a Worksheet Macro Button

A convenient way to run a macro is to create a Command Button on the actual worksheet. You can
create a command button using the Forms toolbar. The Forms toolbar is not turned on by default,
but can easily be turned on if needed.

To Turn on the Forms Toolbar

1. Open the desired file.

2. Select View > Toolbars > Forms to display the Forms toolbar.

Figure 12
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To Create a Command Button on the Worksheet

1. On the Forms toolbar, click the Button icon (Figure 12, 1).

2. Click and hold the mouse button and drag the pointer on the worksheet to indicate the location
and shape of the command button you wish to create.

3. Release the mouse button and the command button will be created and the Assign Macro dialog
box displays.

4. In the Assign Macro dialog box, select the desired macro (Figure 13, 1), and click the OK
(Figure 13, 2) button.

5. Select the text (“Button 1”) on the button face (Figure 14) and type a desired new button name.

6. Click away from the in the worksheet, but not on the command button, to de-select the com-
mand button.

Figure 13 Figure 14

Delete the Custom Toolbar

1. Select View > Toolbars > Customize from the menu bar.

2. In the Customize dialog box, select the Toolbars tab.

3. Scroll to the bottom of the Toolbars section and select the desired toolbar.

4. Click the Delete button.

5. Click OK to confirm deletion of the custom toolbar.

6. Close the Customize dialog box.

Delete an Existing Macro

1. Open the desired workbook.

2. Select Tools > Macro > Macros from the menu bar.

3. In the Macro dialog box, select the desired macro, and then click Delete.

4. Click Yes, to confirm deletion of the macro.