Excel development tools?

[Neil Jones]

Hi,

I want to develop some tools at work for Excel using Visual Basic. The
goal is to make an exe file which will prompt the user for data input
files and create spreadsheets. What tools do I need? Do I need to
install Visual Studio Express and develop the VB code?

Thank you in advance for any help.

NJ

 

[JLatham]

Why not just use the built-in tools in Excel? You could have a 'template'
workbook with the functions built right into it through VBA and UserForms.
Or create .xla files (Excel Add-Ins) to add functionality to Excel on user's
systems.

Or you can go with the Visual Studio/VB route, but it's kind of bumpy at the
start of the ride.

Exactly what types of tools are you looking for?

An Excel file could be used to simply provide a UserForm for data entry - or
enter data directly on a worksheet in it, and then VBA code could create a
new workbook based on the data entered if so desired.

Both the .xla files or a utility .xls file would be much easier to
distribute than a VB package.