Visual Basic error message with version EXCEL 2008

[DA]

I have been sent a file that, when someone with EXCEL 2008 tried to
open it, got an error message about visual basic. I do not yet know
the exact message, but I am assuming it has something to do with the
rumor that the 2008 version does not use (and cannot understand)
VBA.

Does that make sense?

By the way, is EXCEL 2008 for a MAC only, or is there a vwersion 2008
for a PC that is already released?

I, then, was asked if I felt that the file would be compromised? I
don't know if they meant after saving in 2008 and then reopening in
EXCEL 2003, or if they meant, if only opeining it in version 2003. If
it is the latter, then I assume there is nothing to compromise, so
let's assume it is the former.

I figured that the answer was "if there were any macros, then, yes,
the file will be compromised". Fortunately, I happened to have am
almost exact copy of the file, created using the same template, but
never saved in 2008, so I checked that. When I went to Tools-Macro, I
saw no macros whatsoever. When I looked into "This Workbook", it was
blank, too. So, I was all set to conlcude that, although version 2008
does compromise macros, since this template had none, there would be
nothing to get compromised. The only thing that confuses me is that
there are two print buttons that do cause pages to be automatically
submitted. I always thought that those kind of things were done with
macros, but since I can find no macros, my question is:

Is there some other way that a gray rectangualr box that says "print
5" on it would not be driven by a VBA macro?

Or, might the print macro be hidden somewhere and if so, how to I try
to find it?

Thanks much for any help.
Dean

 

[Mike Middleton]

Dean -

Mac Excel 2008 does not include VBA.

Excel 2008 is only for the Mac. The current Windows version is Excel 2007,
and the next will be 2010.

I'm not familiar with "compromised" for describing a file.

On both Windows Excel and Mac Excel (including 2008), macros can be written
and executed using the ancient Excel 4 XLM macro programming language. Some
XLM features do not work properly with Mac Excel 2008, e.g., option buttons.

Another possibility for programming Mac Excel 2008 is AppleScript.

The very active newsgroup for Mac Excel is
microsoft.public.mac.office.excel.

- Mike
http://www.MikeMiddleton.com

 

[DA]

Hi Mike,

You're right, compromised is a bad way to put it. Let me rephrase.
If there had been macros in the file and, someone saved it in EXCEL
2008, and all I had was the EXCEL 2008 file, I might lose some
functionality that the original file had.

Make no mistake, I am not a MAC user and I am opening this files in
EXCEL 2003. So, I wonder if you know the answers to my last two
questions about what else this print button could be, if not a VBA
macro. Or, if it must be a VBA macro, where dould the doe be
hidden?

Do you, per chance, know those answers, for a PC?

I would not consider losing a couple of print routines much of a
compromise but, since I now fear that those print buttons could be
hidden macros, then I must also entertain the possibility that other
important macros might also be hidden.

Thanks again,
Dean

 

[DA]

There were acouple of typos in my last post. Sorry. It should have
said:

So, I wonder if you know the answers to my last two questions about
what else this print button could be, if not a VBA
macro. Or, if it must be a VBA macro, where could the code for that
macro be hidden?

Kindly respond.

D

 

[Mike Middleton]

Dean -

In Excel 2003, choose Tools | Macro | Visual Basic Editor (VBE), or use the
shortcut key Alt F11.

On the left side of the VBE, there may be a VBA Project for the workbook. To
look for VBA code in a Module, double-click the Module icon.

Another less-likely location for VBA code is in the VBA Project's Microsoft
Excel Objects "This Workbook."

- Mike
http://www.MikeMiddleton.com


Hi Mike,

You're right, compromised is a bad way to put it. Let me rephrase.
If there had been macros in the file and, someone saved it in EXCEL
2008, and all I had was the EXCEL 2008 file, I might lose some
functionality that the original file had.

Make no mistake, I am not a MAC user and I am opening this files in
EXCEL 2003. So, I wonder if you know the answers to my last two
questions about what else this print button could be, if not a VBA
macro. Or, if it must be a VBA macro, where dould the doe be
hidden?

Do you, per chance, know those answers, for a PC?

I would not consider losing a couple of print routines much of a
compromise but, since I now fear that those print buttons could be
hidden macros, then I must also entertain the possibility that other
important macros might also be hidden.

Thanks again,
Dean

 

[DA]

The places you mentioned are the usual places and I indicated that I
had already looked there and found nothing. Is there nowhere else a
VBA macro can be hidden?

Alternatively, when I click a rectangular block on one of the
worksheets that says "Print5" on it, it causes pages to print. Can
anyone explain how this could happen in EXCEL 2003, if there is no VBA
macro behind it?

Thanks
Dean

 

[DA]

Those are the (obvious) places I had already looked. I have now just
solved the mystery. Apparently, the macro code can be on one of the
sheet objects, rather than in a module. I never knew that until now.
Indeed, I found the code there under the object "sheet1". I assume
there is a special reason for one to place the code there, perhaps so
one can easily find where the macro button is. Does that make sense?
Does anyone know a downside to placing it there instead of within a
module?

Thanks
D

 

[Patrick Molloy]

in general code should always be placed in a standard module.
Code behind sheets or other object (userforms for example) is there to
facilitate methods of that object...such as a worksheet event (click, change
and so on)
This is a large subject, and this is just my view.

Excel 2007 allows files to be saved either with or without code...so its not
"compromised" as such, but it may be that the user saved the file without
when it should have been saved with.