ID: Q184440
The information in this article applies to:
This article includes sample AppleScript scripts that demonstrate how to use AppleScript to call Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Sub procedures and Function procedures in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition.
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:
http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/
To call a Visual Basic procedure from an AppleScript script, you can use the Evaluate command or the Do Script command, followed by the appropriate syntax for specifying the name of the procedure (and possible arguments). Because there is not a discernible difference between the Evaluate command and the Do Script command, Evaluate is used in all sample scripts in this article.
NOTE: All examples provided in this article assume Microsoft Excel is running and the sample procedure being called is contained in an open workbook called "Workbook1."
1. Start Microsoft Excel.
2. Start the Visual Basic Editor (press OPTION+F11), and click Module
on the Insert menu.
Sub Test_Recording()
MsgBox "This is an Excel macro."
End Sub
5. On the File menu, click Save.
6. Save the workbook and name it Workbook1.
7. Click Hide Microsoft Excel on the Application menu.
To record the script, follow these steps:
1. Start Script Editor.
2. On the Controls menu, click Record.
4. On the Application menu, click Microsoft Excel.
5. Point to Macro on the Tools menu, then click Macros.
6. In the list of macros, click Test_Recording, and then click Run.
A message box displays the message "This is an Excel macro."
7. Click OK.
8. On the Application menu, click Script Editor.
9. On the Controls menu, click Stop.
The recorded script looks similar to the following:
tell application "Microsoft Excel"
Activate
Evaluate "Workbook1!Test_Recording()"
end tell
NOTE: To start Visual Basic procedures (including macros) from
an AppleScript script, the name of the procedure must be followed by
parentheses.
11. Select a destination folder, type a name for your script in the
Save Script As box, and then click Save.
To play the script, follow these steps:
1. With the recorded script displayed in the Script Editor window,
click Run on the Controls menu.
The Test_Recording macro is run, and a message box displays the "This is
an Excel macro" message.
3. On the Application menu, click Script Editor.
The following examples passes arguments from an AppleScript script to a Visual Basic for Applications Sub or Function procedure.
As noted earlier in this article, the name of the procedure must be followed by parentheses if you want to start it from an AppleScript script. If you are passing arguments to a procedure, you place them between the parentheses.
To pass a value, follow these steps:
1. Open the workbook (Workbook1) that you created earlier and then start
the Visual Basic Editor (press OPTION+F11).
Sub Pass_1_Argument(x As Variant)
Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(1,1).Value = x
End Sub
4. On the File menu, click Save.
5. On the Application menu, click Hide Microsoft Excel.
6. Start Script Editor and type the following in a new script window:
tell application "Microsoft Excel"
set myvalue to 10
Activate
Evaluate "Workbook1!Pass_1_Argument(" & myvalue & ")"
end tell
NOTE: In order to pass a variable to a Visual Basic procedure, you must
concatenate the variable into the Evaluate or Do Script statement. If
you want to pass a constant value to the procedure, you can place the
value between the parentheses without using concatenation. If you
want to pass a constant value, the Evaluate line becomes the following:
Evaluate "Workbook1!Pass_1_Argument(10)
8. Select a destination folder, type a name for your script in the
Save Script As box, and then click Save.
The script activates Microsoft Excel and places the value 10 in cell A1
on Sheet1.
A Visual Basic Sub procedure returns a value of 0 when it runs successfully from an AppleScript script.
If you are calling a Function procedure, you can return any numerical, Boolean, or string value back to the AppleScript script. Whether you are calling a Sub or Function procedure, the value is returned to a predefined AppleScript variable named "result."
To return a value, follow these steps:
1. Switch to Microsoft Excel and open the workbook (Workbook1) that you
created earlier.
in the module:
Function Return_Function_Value(x As Integer) As Integer
Return_Function_Value = x * 2
End Function
4. Start Script Editor and type the following in a new script window:
tell application "Microsoft Excel"
Evaluate "Workbook1!Return_Function_Value(10)"
set myvalue to result + 1
display dialog myvalue
end tell
6. Select a destination folder, type a name for your script in the
Save Script As box, and then click Save.
An AppleScript dialog box displays the value 21.
To return a value from a Sub procedure, follow these steps:
1. Switch to Microsoft Excel and open the workbook (Workbook1) that you
created earlier in this article.
Sub Return_Sub_Value()
Sheets("Sheet1").Cells(1, 1).Value = 1
End Sub
4. Start Script Editor, and type the following in a new script window:
tell application "Microsoft Excel"
Evaluate "Workbook1!Return_Sub_Value()"
display dialog result as integer
end tell
6. Select a destination folder, type a name for your script in the
Save Script As box, and then click Save.
An AppleScript dialog box displays the value 0.
There are situations in which your Sub or Function procedure fails because of user intervention or a run-time error. This section discusses ways to communicate to the AppleScript script that an error has occurred in the Visual Basic procedure.
A Visual Basic Sub procedure cannot explicitly pass a value back to its AppleScript caller. However, a Sub procedure can store a value in a worksheet cell, or it can store a defined name in the workbook. Then, your AppleScritp script can check the current value of the cell or the defined name to see if an error has occurred. The following example uses a defined name to hold the status of any error in the Sub procedure:
1. Start Microsoft Excel and open the workbook (Workbook1) that you
created earlier.
2. On the Insert menu, point to Name, and then click Define.
3. Type "myerr" (without the quotation marks) in the Names in Workbook
box.
4. Delete any text in the Refers To box, and then type ="ok" (including
the quotation marks) in the Refers To box. Click OK.
5. Start Visual Basic Editor and type the following code in the
module:
Sub Return_Sub_Error()
Dim x as Integer
ThisWorkbook.Names("myerr").RefersTo = "ok"
On Error GoTo handle:
x = MsgBox(Prompt:="Click Yes for an error, otherwise" & _
"Click no", Buttons:=vbYesNo)
If x = vbYes Then
Error 1004 ' Generates a run-time error.
End If
Exit Sub
handle:
ThisWorkbook.Names("myerr").RefersTo = Err
End Sub
6. On the Application menu, click Hide Microsoft Excel.
7. Start Script Editor and type the following in a new script window:
tell application "Microsoft Excel"
Activate
Evaluate "Workbook1!Return_Sub_Error()"
if not(Evaluate "Workbook1!myerr") = "ok" then
set myerr to Evaluate ("Workbook1!myerr")
set myerr to myerr as integer
display dialog "An error occurred in the macro: " & myerr
else
display dialog "No error."
end if
end tell
7. On the File menu, click Save.
8. Select a destination folder, type a name for your script in the
Save Script As box, and then click Save.
9. On the Controls menu, click Run.
The script activates Microsoft Excel and displays a message box.
This creates an error condition in the Sub procedure and changes
the value of the defined name "myerr." Then, an AppleScript
dialog box displays the following message:
"An error occurred in the macro: 1004."
NOTE: If you click No in step 10, the script displays a dialog box with the message "No error."
Because a function can return a value to its caller, passing this information back to a script is much easier for a function than it is for a
Sub procedure.
1. Switch to Microsoft Excel and open the workbook (Workbook1) that you
created earlier.
Function Return_Function_Error () As Integer
Dim x As Integer
On Error GoTo handle:
x = MsgBox(Prompt:="Click Yes for an error, otherwise" & _
"click No", Buttons:=vbYesNo)
If x = vbYes Then
Error 1004 ' Generates a run-time error.
Else
Return_Function_Error = 0
End If
Exit Function
handle:
Return_Function_Error = Err
End Function
4. Start Script Editor and type the following in a new script window:
tell application "Microsoft Excel"
Activate
Evaluate "Workbook1!Return_Function_Error()"
if not (result = 0) then
set myerr to result as integer
display dialog "An error occurred in the macro: " & myerr
else
display dialog "No error"
end if
end tell
6. Select a destination folder, type a name for your script in the
Save Script As box, and then click Save.
The script activates Microsoft Excel and displays a message box.
This creates an error condition in the function, and the function
value is set to the value of the error. Then, an AppleScript
dialog box displays the following message:
"An error occurred in the macro: 1004."
NOTE: If you click No in step 7, the script displays a dialog box with the message "No error."
For additional information about using AppleScript scripts with Excel 98, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID: Q113891
TITLE : MXL: Using AppleScript with Microsoft Excel
ARTICLE-ID: Q180613
TITLE : XL98: AppleScript Error Selecting Range on Another Worksheet
ARTICLE-ID: Q177047
TITLE : XL98: Recorded AppleScript Cannot Create Embedded Chart
ARTICLE-ID: Q176413
TITLE : XL98: Error Message Running AppleScript That Clears Print
Area
ARTICLE-ID: Q176412
TITLE : XL98: Drawing Tools Not Recorded into AppleScript Script
Keywords : kb3rdparty kbprg kbdta kbdtacode xlvbahowto OffVBA PgmHowto kbfaq
Version : MACINTOSH:98
Platform : MACINTOSH
Issue type : kbhowtoLast Reviewed: May 18, 1999