I am so disappointed that the built-in function wizard in Excel doesn't fully
support UDFs (through variable explanation, help, etc) that I've decided to a
wizard-based add-in to make up the difference. Essentially, I want the
add-in to look almost exactly like the current function wizard, but it would
load function information from whatever add-in calls it.
I want to design this so others can use it, so I'm posting my plan for
comment. I would like the wizard to gather its information from a worksheet
saved with the add-in. This worksheet would include information like groups
of functions (like LOOKUP and REFERENCE, etc), function names, a list of
arguments, and possibly help file locations. I also plan on support for
Parameter Arrays by using a dynamic userform.
Using a standard format would allow average skilled developers like me a
quick and simple way to present their users with support for UDFs, something
we need in order to convince our end users to use the functions.
My question is this: if the wizard requires a worksheet saved along with the
add-in, could XLL and COM add-ins use it, since I know that UDFs work best
when coded and compiled outside the VBE? Would it be practical to distribute
a hidden workbook with each XLL, thus requiring two files?
Those who make such sophisticated add-ins usually are capable of including
installation packages to handle this, but is that worth it? My other thought
was to search within the comments of the code, but that seems to be more
trouble than its worth.
Again, I'm interested in what other developers think about this. I
appreciate all the free add-ins I've used, and I'd like to contribute. This
is an area that I see a need.
Thanks,
Pflugs
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