What is this course about?

This course is designed to provide you with the knowledge and skills to program using the VBA programming tools. You learn to automate repetitive tasks performed by users of existing business applications. As you learn how to use VBA to enhance the existing functionality within a host application (in this course, we use Microsoft Office 2003 applications), you see that it can be an effective and efficient alternative to other programming languages.

What background do I need?

You should be familiar enough with the products in the Microsoft Office system that you can navigate the user interface and perform basic functions within Word and Excel.

Who will benefit from this course?

Whether you are a power user or developer of Office or other VBA-compatible products, a programmer new to VBA, a manager, an analyst, or an office administrator, you learn techniques that can be applied immediately at work. The course also helps managers to realise the potential of enhancing applications with VBA.

What is VBA?

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a programming environment designed to enable power users and developers to rapidly build custom business solutions with off-the-shelf software applications (the VBA host applications). VBA includes a sophisticated set of programming tools based on the Visual Basic development system.

Will I learn to program Microsoft Access?

The VBA language covered in this course is the same as that used in Access. The course also shows you how to retrieve data from a database. If your interest is limited to using VBA purely inside Microsoft Access, Course 971, Building Applications with Microsoft Access^®: Hands-On, is closer to your needs.

What is the difference between VBA and Visual Basic?

Visual Basic is a standalone tool for creating software components including COM components and ActiveX controls. It is used to build a solution from scratch. VBA includes the same tools as Visual Basic, but it is used to customise an existing application to meet the needs of an organisation's specific business processes.

I use Office XP/2003/2000 or 97. Will this course still be useful for me?

Yes, definitely! There are very few differences in VBA among these four Office versions. Whenever such changes apply to a topic we discuss or use in an exercise, they are documented in the course material.

Are the skills learned in this course only applicable to Microsoft Office?

No. In this course, you use Microsoft Office programs as host applications. However, there are many products on the market that host VBA, such as AutoCAD, Rational Rose and WordPerfect. Skills gained in this course can be applied regardless of your host application.

Which version of Office is used in this course?

You can choose to complete the exercises in this course in either Office 2003 or Office 2007. Office 2003 is suitable for those running Office 97, Office 2000, Office XP or Office 2003. Office 2007 is an appropriate choice for those currently using or those who will be moving to Office 2007.

What can I do with VBA that can't already be accomplished in the applications that come with Microsoft Office?

VBA programming allows you to automate the point-and-clicks that users of programs like Word and Excel otherwise must accomplish from the user interface. It's possible to automate virtually every user action with VBA.

Is programming experience required for this course?

No. Previous programming experience is helpful but not required. The course covers Visual Basic for Applications from the ground up.

How much time is spent on each topic?

What is covered in the hands-on exercises?

Fifty percent of the course is devoted to the more than 20 hands-on exercises that reinforce the concepts and techniques presented in the course material.

We start out by recording and executing simple macros. Then you learn to enhance these macros by using VBA functionality. You write VBA to respond to specific events passed to the host application from Windows. With conditional branching and looping, you learn to add functionality to applications not attainable through the user interface. We employ the VBA tools to communicate with the user through standard and customised dialog boxes, menus and toolbars.

Examples of in-class exercises include building an automated expense report in Excel, creating dynamic form letters in Word and Outlook, retrieving database data, building an add-in, plus many more.

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

Learning Tree offers several other courses that may be of interest to you, including:

• 971, Building Applications with Microsoft Access®: Hands-On also provides a level of programming similar to Course 209, but is specific to the Access environment.
• 1361, Microsoft Excel®: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction provides the skills to create Excel worksheets, develop formulas and apply sophisticated formatting to capture and present your data.
• 1801, Modern Object-Oriented Software Design: Hands-On offers the skills to deliver software on time and within budget using iterative and Agile strategies.
• 340, Project Management for Software Development provides the knowledge required to successfully manage software projects. You learn how to identify the criteria for success, create realistic plans to meet those criteria, and manage the day-to-day task list for a project.