How To Make VBA Class Modules

Available Out-of-Process

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Summary

This article describes how you can make a Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) Class Module
available out-of-process.
More information

In certain situations, it may be useful to make instances of a VBA Class Module available outof-process. However, VBA Class Modules are marked private by default, meaning that their
type information is not available for marshalling purposes. In order to correct this, the
instancing property of the VBA Class Module must be changed from Private to Public, Noncreatable.
The instancing parameter can also be changed programmatically, using the VBA Extensibility
library. The following VB/APC code demonstrates this scenario. It assumes you have a
variable called TheProject of type MSAPC.Project):
Dim TheProjectItem As MSAPC.ProjectItem
Set TheProjectItem = TheProject.ProjectItems.AddClassModule("Class1")
TheProjectItem.VBComponent.Properties("Instancing").Value = 2

Properties
Article ID: 244075 - Last Review: 06/19/2014 06:24:00 - Revision: 2.0
Keywords:
kbhowto KB244075

How to use a class (object) from outside of

the VBA project in which it is declared

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Author:

Tushar Mehta MVP

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Tips
How one VBA project can use an object declared in the class module of another project

Author
The author of this tip is Tushar Mehta. You can reach him through his web site:
Introduction
One of the benefits of using Object Oriented Programming (OOP) is the reusability of code.
The typical way to do so is to instantiate an object of an already defined class with the Set
variable = New ClassName syntax. VBA programmers use such objects whenever they use
any object within their application platform. Examples include the Workbook object in Excel,
the Presentation object in PowerPoint or the Document object in Word. In addition,
VBA programmers use userforms, which are objects that belong to a special kind of class. All
these objects are defined in libraries that are outside of the VBA developer's project. Click on
the Tools | References menu item to see the list of external libraries that the Visual Basic
Editor (VBE) automatically establishes on behalf of the developer.
In this tip, we explore how to access a custom class in an external library created by us.
While the example used below is based on Excel 2003, the tips applies to other MS Office
products that support VBA and is applicable to versions 2000 or later.
This is an intermediate/advanced level tip and it presumes a certain comfort level with VB(A)
programming.
There are two distinct set up steps required before one VBA project can access an object
declared in the class module of another VBA project. The first set makes the class module
usable outside of the project in which it is declared and provides a means by which an object
can be instantiated. The second set deals with how the client project uses this class.
Set up the project that contains the class definition
By default a class module has the Instancing property set to Private. That means that only the

project which contains the definition of the class can instantiate an object of that class. The
only other choice that VBA supports is Public, not creatable. What that means is that an
external project can use an object of this class, but it cannot instantiate it. Might seem
strange, but that's the way it is. The way to change the property from the default value is to
select the class module in the VBE Project Explorer, select the class module of interest, access
the Properties Window (if necessary, use F4 to make it visible), and change the Instancing
property to 2-PublicNotCreatable.
To follow along with the example in this tip, create a class module, name it clsEmployee,
change its Instancing property, and add the following code to it.
Option Explicit
Dim sName As String
Property Get Name() As String
Name = sName
End Property
Property Let Name(uName As String)
sName = uName
End Property
Next, since the Instancing property of the class is PublicNotCreatable, the project must
provide a way for a client to instantiate the object. Add a new function in a standard module:
Option Explicit
Public Function New_clsEmployee() As clsEmployee
Set New_clsEmployee = New clsEmployee
End Function
where clsEmployee is the name of the class of interest. Also, this should not be a private
module.
One final change will make life a little easier. Rename the project from the default
VBAProject to ClassProvider. To do so, select the project in the VBE Project Explorer, then
select Tools | VBAProject Properties | General tab | and in the Project Name field enter
ClassProvider.
Save this file, say, as Class Provider.xls.
Next, move on to the client project.
Set up the project that will use the exported class
The client project uses the class very much as it would a class defined in any other external
library (such as an userform) -- with one key difference. Since it cannot instantiate an object
of that class, it must use the New_clsEmployee() function declared above. As with any other
external library, decide whether to use early binding or late binding. The code below
demonstrates both. Remember that to use the early binding code, the client project must
include a reference (Tools | References) to the Class Provider.xls file.
Option Explicit
Sub UseExportedClass_EarlyBinding()

Dim anEmployee As ClassProvider.clsEmployee

Set anEmployee = ClassProvider.New_clsEmployee
anEmployee.Name = "Tushar Mehta"
MsgBox anEmployee.Name
End Sub
Sub UseExportedClass_LateBinding()
Dim anEmployee As Object
Set anEmployee = Application.Run("'g:\temp\class provider.xls'!new_clsEmployee")
anEmployee.Name = "Tushar Mehta"
MsgBox anEmployee.Name
End Sub
Final Note
The external library doesn't have to be a normally saved file. It can be in a applicationspecific add-in (such as a file saved with the suffix .xla or .ppa). Just remember that such an
add-in is opened not through the normal File | Open method but loaded with the Tools |
Add-Ins command.
References: The only article found on this subject in the MSKB:
How To Make VBA Class Modules Available Out-of-Process