| Visual Basic for Applications (VBA for short) is a programming environment
designed to work with Microsoft’s Office applications (Word, Excel,
Access, and PowerPoint). Components in each application (for example,
worksheets or documents) are exposed as objects to the programmer to use and
manipulate to a desired end. Almost anything you can do through the normal use
of the Office application can also be automated through programming.
VBA is a complete programming language, but you can’t use it outside the application
in which it is integrated. This does not mean VBA can be integrated only
with Office programs. Any software vendor that decides to implement VBA can
include it with their application.
VBA is relatively easy to learn, but to use it in a new application, you must first
become familiar with the object model of the application. For example, the
Document and Dictionary objects are specific to the Word object model, whereas
the Workbook, Worksheet, and Range objects are specific to the Excel object model.
As you proceed through this book, you will see that the Excel object model is
fairly extensive; however, if you are familiar with Excel, you will find that using
these objects is generally straightforward. |
