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User-Defined Function Argument Descriptions In Excel 2010

Excel Tips
Excel has a long history, and it continues C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]
to evolve and change. C onsequently, the
tips provided here do not necessarily One of the new features in Excel 2010 is the ability to provide argument descriptions for user-
apply to all versions of Excel. defined functions. These descriptions appear in Function Arguments dialog box -- w hich is
displayed after you choose a function using the Insert Function dialog box.
In particular, the user interface for Excel
2007 (and later), is vastly different from
its predecessors. Therefore, the menu Here's a simple (but very useful) user-defined function:
commands listed in older tips, will not
correspond to the Excel 2007 (and later) Function EXTRACTELEMENT(Txt, n, Separator) As String
user interface. EXTRACTELEMENT = Split(Application.Trim(Txt), Separator)(n - 1)
End Function
All Tips
Here's a VBA macro that provides a description for the EXTRACTELEMENT function, assigns it to
List all tips, by category
a function category, and provides a description for each of its three arguments:
Browse all tips
Sub DescribeFunction()
Browse Tips by Category Dim FuncName As String
General Dim FuncDesc As String
Formatting Dim Category As String
Formulas Dim ArgDesc(1 To 3) As String
Charts & Graphics
Printing FuncName = "EXTRACTELEMENT"
General VBA
FuncDesc = "Returns the nth element of a string that uses a separator character"
Category = 7 'Text category
CommandBars & Menus
ArgDesc(1) = "String that contains the elements"
UserForms
ArgDesc(2) = "Element number to return"
VBA Functions
ArgDesc(3) = "Single-character element separator"
Search for Tips Application.MacroOptions _
Search:
Macro:=FuncName, _
Go Description:=FuncDesc, _
Advanced Search
Category:=Category, _
ArgumentDescriptions:=ArgDesc
End Sub
Tip Books
Needs tips? Here are two books, with You need to run this macro only one time. After doing so, the descriptive information is stored
nothing but tips:
in the w orkbook (or add-in) that defines the function.

Here's how the function appears in the Function Arguments dialog box:

C ontains more than 200 useful tips and

tricks for Excel | Other Excel 2003
books | Amazon link: John
Walkenbach's Favorite Excel Tips &
Tricks

W hat about compatibility w ith earlier versions?

If the file is opened in Excel 2007, the argument descriptions are not displayed. If you save the
w orkbook as an XLS file, the Compatibility Checker kicks in and tells you that the function
C ontains more than 200 useful tips and
tricks for Excel 2007 | Other Excel 2007
descriptions w ill be removed.
books | Amazon link: John
Walkenbach's Favorite Excel 2007 Extracting An Email Address From Text
Tips & Tricks
C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]

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This tip describes a VBA function that accepts a text string as input, and returns the first email
address found in the text. The figure below show s this function in use. The formula in cell B2
is:

=ExtractEmailAddress(A2)

If an email address is not found, the function returns an empty string. Also, note that it only
extracts the first email address.

The function is not very elegant. It just starts w ith the first "at symbol" it finds, and examines
the characters before and after the at symbol.

Function ExtractEmailAddress(s As String) As String

Dim AtSignLocation As Long
Dim i As Long
Dim TempStr As String
Const CharList As String = "[A-Za-z0-9._-]"

'Get location of the @

AtSignLocation = InStr(s, "@")
If AtSignLocation = 0 Then
ExtractEmailAddress = "" 'not found
Else
TempStr = ""
'Get 1st half of email address
For i = AtSignLocation - 1 To 1 Step -1
If Mid(s, i, 1) Like CharList Then
TempStr = Mid(s, i, 1) & TempStr
Else
Exit For
End If
Next i
If TempStr = "" Then Exit Function
'get 2nd half
TempStr = TempStr & "@"
For i = AtSignLocation + 1 To Len(s)
If Mid(s, i, 1) Like CharList Then
TempStr = TempStr & Mid(s, i, 1)
Else
Exit For
End If
Next i
End If
'Remove trailing period if it exists
If Right(TempStr, 1) = "." Then TempStr = _
Left(TempStr, Len(TempStr) - 1)
ExtractEmailAddress = TempStr
End Function

Quantifying Color Choices

C ategory: Formatting / VBA Functions | [Item URL]

A companion file is available: Click here to download

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I got lots of Excel w orkbooks via email. A significant number of them have some dow nright ugly
color choices. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there's no excuse for making color
choices that result in illegible text.

The World W ide Web Consortium (W 3C) has created some formulas that can help you
determine if your foreground and background colors are legible: Ensure that foreground and
background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone
having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.

The W 3C presents tw o formulas, each of w hich returns a value:

Color Brightness Difference: returns a value betw een 0 and 255
Color Difference: Returns a value betw een 0 and 765
I converted their formulas into VBA functions, and formulas that use these functions are show n
in Columns B and C:

To be an acceptable color combination, the Color Difference score should be 500 or greater,
and the Brightness Difference score should be 125 or greater. I used conditional formatting to
highlight values that exceed these minimums.

Column D has a simple formula that determines if both score meet the minimum requirement.

These formulas seem to w ork quite w ell. The color combination deemed Acceptable are all very
legible. Bottom line: You can't go w rong w ith black text on a w hite background. Reserve the
fancy colors for column headers, or for special areas of a w orksheet that you w ant to be
noticed.

Determining The User’s Video Resolution

C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]

How you can determine the current video resolution? There are tw o w ays that I'm aw are of:

1. Maximize Excel's w indow and then access the Application's W idth and Height properties
2. Use a W indow s API function
This document presents VBA code to demonstrate both of these techniques.

Getting Excel's window size

The VBA subroutine below maximizes Excel's w indow , and then displays the w idth and height.

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 Sub ShowAppSize()
' Maximize the window
Application.WindowState = xlMaximized

' Get the dimensions

appWidth = Application.Width
appHeight = Application.Height

' Show a message box

Msg = "Excel's window size is: "

Msg = Msg & appWidth & " X " & appHeight

MsgBox Msg
End Sub
This subroutine is quite straightforw ard, and w orks w ith Excel 5 or later versions. The
disadvantage is that Excel's metric system does not correspond to pixels. For example, w hen
the video resolution is 1024 X 768 pixels, the preceding subroutine reports that the maximized
w indow size is 774 X 582.

Using the GetSystemMetrics API function

The subroutine below demonstrates how to use a W indow s API function to determine the
current video resolution. The result is expressed in pixels.

' API declaration

Declare Function GetSystemMetrics32 Lib "user32" _
Alias "GetSystemMetrics" (ByVal nIndex As Long) As Long

Public Const SM_CXSCREEN = 0

Public Const SM_CYSCREEN = 1

Sub DisplayVideoInfo()
vidWidth = GetSystemMetrics32(SM_CXSCREEN)
vidHeight = GetSystemMetrics32(SM_CYSCREEN)
Msg = "The current video mode is: "
Msg = Msg & vidWidth & " X " & vidHeight
MsgBox Msg
End Sub

Identifying Unique Values In An Array Or Range

C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]

Have you ever had to w ork w ith just the unique items in a range? If your data is in the form of
a database, you can use the Advanced Filter command to extract the unique items from a
single column. But if your data spans multiple columns, Advanced Filter w on't w ork. And the
Advanced Filter w on't do you any good if your data is in a VBA array.

In this document I present a VBA function that accepts either a w orksheet range object or a
VBA array. The function returns either:
A variant array that consists of just the unique elements in the input array or range (or)
A single value: the number of unique elements in the input array or range.
Here's the syntax for the UniqueItems function (w hich is listed at the end of this document):

UniqueItems(ArrayIn, Count)

ArrayIn: A range object, or an array

Count: (Optional) If True or omitted, the function returns a single value - the number of
unique items in ArrayIn. If False, the function returns an array that consists of the unique
items in ArrayIn.
Example 1
The subroutine below demonstrates UniqueItems. The routine generates 100 random integers
and stores them in an array. This array is then passed to the UniqueItems function and a
message box displays the number of unique integers in the array. The number w ill vary each
time you run the subroutine.

Sub Test1()
Dim z(1 To 100)
For i = 1 To 100
z(i) = Int(Rnd() * 100)
Next i
MsgBox UniqueItems(z, True)
End Sub

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Example 2
The subroutine below counts the number of common elements in tw o w orksheet ranges. It
creates tw o arrays. Array1 consists of the unique items in A1:A16; Array2 consists of the
unique items in B1:B16. A nested loop counts the number of items that are in both ranges.

Sub Test2()
Set Range1 = Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1:A16")
Set Range2 = Sheets("Sheet1").Range("B1:B16")
Array1 = UniqueItems(Range1, False)
Array2 = UniqueItems(Range2, False)
CommonCount = 0
For i = LBound(Array1) To UBound(Array1)
For j = LBound(Array2) To UBound(Array2)
If Array1(i) = Array2(j) Then _
CommonCount = CommonCount + 1
Next j
Next i
MsgBox CommonCount
End Sub

Example 3
The UniqueItems function can also be used in w orksheet formulas. The formula below returns
the number of unique items in a range:

=UniqueItems(A1:D21)

Example 4
To display the unique items in a range, you must array-enter the formula into a range of cells
(use Ctrl+Shift+Enter). The result of the UniqueItems function is a horizontal array. If you
w ould like to display the unique values in a column, you can use the TRANSPOSE function. The
formula below (w hich is array-entered into a vertical range) returns the unique items in
A1:D21.

=TRANSPOSE(UniqueItems(A1:D21,FALSE))

The Code
Option Base 1

Function UniqueItems(ArrayIn, Optional Count As Variant) As Variant

' Accepts an array or range as input
' If Count = True or is missing, the function returns the number of unique elements
' If Count = False, the function returns a variant array of unique elements
Dim Unique() As Variant ' array that holds the unique items
Dim Element As Variant
Dim i As Integer
Dim FoundMatch As Boolean
' If 2nd argument is missing, assign default value
If IsMissing(Count) Then Count = True
' Counter for number of unique elements
NumUnique = 0
' Loop thru the input array
For Each Element In ArrayIn
FoundMatch = False
' Has item been added yet?
For i = 1 To NumUnique
If Element = Unique(i) Then
FoundMatch = True
Exit For '(exit loop)
End If
Next i
AddItem:
' If not in list, add the item to unique list
If Not FoundMatch And Not IsEmpty(Element) Then
NumUnique = NumUnique + 1
ReDim Preserve Unique(NumUnique)
Unique(NumUnique) = Element
End If
Next Element
' Assign a value to the function
If Count Then UniqueItems = NumUnique Else UniqueItems = Unique
End Function

(Thanks to Peter Atherton for suggesting the method to avoid converting blanks to zero values)

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Getting A List Of File Names Using VBA
C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]

If your macro needs to present a list of files for the user to choose from, the easiest approach
is to use the GetOpenFileName method of the Application object. For example, the code below
displays the standard File Open dialog box. If the user selects a file, the filename is stored in
SelectedFile; if the user clicks Cancel, SelectedFile is equal to False.

Filter = "Excel files (*.xls), *.xls"

Caption = "Select a File"
SelectedFile = Application.GetOpenFilename(Filter, , Caption)
In some cases, how ever, you may w ant to get a list of all files in a particular directory. The VBA
function below (GetFileList) accepts a DOS path and filespec as its argument, and returns a
variant array that contains all of the filenames in that directory. If no matching files are found,
the function returns False.

Function GetFileList(FileSpec As String) As Variant

' Returns an array of filenames that match FileSpec
' If no matching files are found, it returns False

Dim FileArray() As Variant

Dim FileCount As Integer
Dim FileName As String

On Error GoTo NoFilesFound

FileCount = 0
FileName = Dir(FileSpec)
If FileName = "" Then GoTo NoFilesFound

' Loop until no more matching files are found

Do While FileName <> ""
FileCount = FileCount + 1
ReDim Preserve FileArray(1 To FileCount)
FileArray(FileCount) = FileName
FileName = Dir()
Loop
GetFileList = FileArray
Exit Function

' Error handler

NoFilesFound:
GetFileList = False
End Function
The subroutine listed below demonstrates how to use this function. In this example, the
filespec is passed to the GetFileList function and the result is stored in x. If x is an array, it
means that matching files w ere found. A message box displays the number of files and the
filenames are copied to column A in Sheet1. If x is not an array, it means that no matching files
w ere found.

Sub test()
Dim p As String, x As Variant

p = "c:/msoffice/excel/library/*.xls"
x = GetFileList(p)
Select Case IsArray(x)
Case True 'files found
MsgBox UBound(x)
Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A:A").Clear
For i = LBound(x) To UBound(x)
Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(i, 1).Value = x(i)
Next i
Case False 'no files found
MsgBox "No matching files"
End Select
End Sub

Looping Through Ranges Efficiently In Custom Worksheet Functions

C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]

If you create custom w orksheet functions using VBA, this tip describes how to w rite efficient

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looping code.

Consider the follow ing custom w orksheet function.

Function CountBetween(InRange, Lower, Upper)

TheCount = 0
For Each Cell In InRange
If Cell.Value >= Lower And Cell.Value <= Upper _
Then TheCount = TheCount + 1
Next Cell
CountBetween = TheCount
End Function

This function returns the number of cells in a range that fall betw een tw o values. The first
argument is a range, the second argument is the low er comparison value, and the third
argument is the upper comparison value. If you w anted to count the number of values
betw een 1 and 5 in the range A1:A20, you could use this formula:

=CountBetween(A1:A20,1,5)

This function w orks fine in most situations. How ever, try entering the follow ing formula and see
w hat happens:

=CountBetween(A:A,1,5)

You'll find that evaluating this function seems to take forever since it w ill loop through all cells
in the range -- even those that are beyond the w orksheet's "used range."

My original approach to solving this problem w as to use the SpecialCells method to create a
subset of the input range that consisted only of nonempty cells. How ever, I discovered that
SpecialCells is off-limits inside of a w orksheet function.

I eventually learned the solution. The function below uses the Intersect function to create a
new range object that consists of the intersection of the UsedRange and the input range.

Function CountBetween2(InRange, Lower, Upper)

Set SubSetRange = Intersect(InRange.Parent.UsedRange, InRange)
TheCount = 0
For Each Cell In SubSetRange
If Cell.Value >= Lower And Cell.Value <= Upper Then _
TheCount = TheCount + 1
Next Cell
CountBetween2 = TheCount
End Function

The addition of the Set statement solves the problem. You'll find that this function w orks
equally fast w ith either of these formulas:

=CountBetween(A1:A20,1,5)
=CountBetween(A:A,1,5)

This technique can be adapted to any custom w orksheet function that accepts a range
argument and loops through each cell in the range.

Undoing A VBA Subroutine

C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]

Computer users are accustomed to the ability to "undo" an operation. Almost every operation
you perform in Excel can be undone. If you program in VBA, you may have w ondered if it's
possible to undo the effects of a subroutine. The answ er is yes. The qualified answ er is it's not
always easy.

Making the effects of your subroutines undoable isn't automatic. Your subroutine w ill need to
store the previous state so it can be restored if the user choose the Edit Undo command. How
you do this w ill vary, depending on w hat the subroutine does. In extreme cases, you might
need to save an entire w orksheet. If your subroutine modifies a range, for example, you need
only save the contents of that range.

The code below demonstrates how to enable the Edit Undo command after a subroutine is
executed. The subroutine itself is very simple: it simply inserts a 0 into every cell in the current
range selection. The bulk of the code is used to save the contents of the current selection.

Trying it out
To try out this example code:

1. Copy the code to an empty VBA module.

2. Enter some data into a w orksheet range.

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 3. Select the range and execute the ZeroRange subroutine. The cells w ill be replaced w ith
zeros.
4. Select the Edit Undo command. The original contents of the selection w ill be restored.
How it works
The OldSelection array stores the cell address and the cell contents (using a custom data
type). Notice that this array is declared as a Public variable so it's available to all subroutines.
The last statement in the ZeroRange subroutine specifies the text to display in the Undo
menu, and the subroutine to call if this command is selected. The UndoZero routine loops
through the OldSelection array and restores the values to their appropriate cells. Notice that I
also store the w orkbook and w orksheet -- w hich ensures that the correct cells w ill be restored
even if the user sw itches out of the original w orksheet.

The Undo example

'Custom data type for undoing
Type SaveRange
Val As Variant
Addr As String
End Type

' Stores info about current selection

Public OldWorkbook As Workbook
Public OldSheet As Worksheet
Public OldSelection() As SaveRange

Sub ZeroRange()
' Inserts zero into all selected cells

' Abort if a range isn't selected

If TypeName(Selection) <> "Range" Then Exit Sub

' The next block of statements

' Save the current values for undoing
ReDim OldSelection(Selection.Count)
Set OldWorkbook = ActiveWorkbook
Set OldSheet = ActiveSheet
i = 0
For Each cell In Selection
i = i + 1
OldSelection(i).Addr = cell.Address
OldSelection(i).Val = cell.Formula
Next cell

' Insert 0 into current selection

Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Selection.Value = 0

' Specify the Undo Sub

Application.OnUndo "Undo the ZeroRange macro", "UndoZero"
End Sub

Sub UndoZero()
' Undoes the effect of the ZeroRange sub

' Tell user if a problem occurs

On Error GoTo Problem

Application.ScreenUpdating = False

' Make sure the correct workbook and sheet are active
OldWorkbook.Activate
OldSheet.Activate

' Restore the saved information

For i = 1 To UBound(OldSelection)
Range(OldSelection(i).Addr).Formula = OldSelection(i).Val
Next i
Exit Sub

' Error handler

Problem:
MsgBox "Can't undo"

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 End Sub

Other examples of Undo

If you've purchased the source code to Power Utility Pak, you can examine these utilities for
other, more complex, examples of using undo.

Determining The Last Non-empty Cell In A Column Or Row

C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]

This tip presents tw o useful VBA functions that can be used in w orksheet formulas.
LASTINCOLUMN returns the contents of the last non-empty cell in a column; LASTINROW
returns the contents of the last non-empty cell in a row . Each function accepts a range as its
single argument. The range argument can be a complete column (for LASTINCOLUMN) or a
complete row (for LASTINROW ). If the supplied argument is not a complete column or row , the
function uses the column or row of the upper left cell in the range. For example, the follow ing
formula returns the last value in column B:

=LASTINCOLUMN(B5)
The formula below returns the last value in row 7:

=LASTINROW(C7:D9)

You'll find that these functions are quite fast, since they only examine the cells in the
intersection of the specified column (or row ) and the w orksheet's used range.

The LASTINCOLUMN function

Function LASTINCOLUMN(rngInput As Range)
Dim WorkRange As Range
Dim i As Long, CellCount As Long
Application.Volatile
Set WorkRange = rngInput.Columns(1).EntireColumn
Set WorkRange = Intersect(WorkRange.Parent.UsedRange, WorkRange)
CellCount = WorkRange.Count
For i = CellCount To 1 Step -1
If Not IsEmpty(WorkRange(i)) Then
LASTINCOLUMN = WorkRange(i).Value
Exit Function
End If
Next i
End Function

The LASTINROW function

Function LASTINROW(rngInput As Range) As Variant
Dim WorkRange As Range
Dim i As Long, CellCount As Long
Application.Volatile
Set WorkRange = rngInput.Rows(1).EntireRow
Set WorkRange = Intersect(WorkRange.Parent.UsedRange, WorkRange)
CellCount = WorkRange.Count
For i = CellCount To 1 Step -1
If Not IsEmpty(WorkRange(i)) Then
LASTINROW = WorkRange(i).Value
Exit Function
End If
Next i
End Function

Multifunctional Functions
C ategory: VBA Functions | [Item URL]

This tip describes a technique that may be helpful in some situations - making a single
w orksheet function act like multiple functions. For example, the VBA listing below is for a
custom function called StatFunction. It takes tw o arguments: the range (rng), and the
operation (op). Depending on the value of op, the function w ill return any of the follow ing:
AVERAGE, COUNT, MAX, MEDIAN, MIN, MODE, STDEV, SUM, or VAR.

For example, you can use this function in your w orksheet as follow s:

=STATFUNCTION(B1:B24,A24)

The result of the formula depends on the contents of cell A24 -- w hich should be a string such

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as Average, Count, Max, etc. You can adapt this technique for other types of functions.

The StatFunction Function

Function STATFUNCTION(rng, op)
Select Case UCase(op)
Case "SUM"
STATFUNCTION = Application.Sum(rng)
Case "AVERAGE"
STATFUNCTION = Application.Average(rng)
Case "MEDIAN"
STATFUNCTION = Application.Median(rng)
Case "MODE"
STATFUNCTION = Application.Mode(rng)
Case "COUNT"
STATFUNCTION = Application.Count(rng)
Case "MAX"
STATFUNCTION = Application.Max(rng)
Case "MIN"
STATFUNCTION = Application.Min(rng)
Case "VAR"
STATFUNCTION = Application.Var(rng)
Case "STDEV"
STATFUNCTION = Application.StDev(rng)
Case Else
STATFUNCTION = Evaluate("NA()")
End Select
End Function

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