need advice on whether or not to use macro

[Michael]

Hello all, I am a pretty experienced macro writer, having spent about
40 hours last year writing a macro in Visual Basic. I find myself
with just about the same need now and I want to confirm that the macro
is the best way to go.

We have about 4 financial reports we need to create that are all
formatted very differently, but they all pretty much use the same
source data. Each monthly report can be created using the source data
from another. Should I just create 4 different macros that each copy
from one report to another? Or is there a better method out there
than a macro? Most reports are pretty small in size (less than 1 MB)
and have no more than 12 tabs. Thanks!

 

[JLGWhiz]

Macros are good for doing repetitive tasks that derive from repetitive
sources with high volume content where data must be selectively manipulated
from one place to another and calculated to produce summary information. The
evaluation is usually made based on the time it takes to perform a task
manually over a given time span (perhaps a year) against the time it takes to
write a program, teach someone to use it and produce the same results during
that same period. Don't know if this helps, but at least you have a starting
point.

 

[SteveM]

Macros are good for doing repetitive tasks that derive from repetitive
sources with high volume content where data must be selectively manipulated
from one place to another and calculated to produce summary information. The
evaluation is usually made based on the time it takes to perform a task
manually over a given time span (perhaps a year) against the time it takes to
write a program, teach someone to use it and produce the same results during
that same period. Don't know if this helps, but at least you have a starting
point.

If it's the same source data for each, then I'm guessing that each
report contains different aggregations and cross cuts of information.
Which suggests that you may be able to generate a custom report for
each using pivot tables and charts. Just select the data fields and
aggregations appropriate for each report when you design the
individual pivot tables/charts.

SteveM

 

[Michael]

If it's the same source data for each, then I'm guessing that each
report contains different aggregations and cross cuts of information.
Which suggests that you may be able to generate a custom report for
each using pivot tables and charts.  Just select the data fields and
aggregations appropriate for each report when you design the
individual pivot tables/charts.

SteveM- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

thanks, i will read up on PivotTables tonight.