Some generic questions about UDFs

[hjopertham]

I have a small collection of UDFs some kindly provided by members of
this newsgroup. I've searched the net but I can't seem to find
answers to the following questions:

1st Ques: Ideally I would like the 2nd half of the UDF's [function
argument] box to provide additional information, like Excel's
integral functions. I definitely do not want to incorporate a help
file. Is it possible to add additional code to the UDF so a small
description is displayed?

They are for my own use so I don't want to go to the palaver of
learning how to do add-ins or produce help files.

2nd Ques: Is it possible to force Excel to list a recently used UDF in
the [recently used] category?

3rd Ques: What statement can I add to the beginning of a UDF code to
prevent it from being listed in the [user defined] box? Everything
I've tried makes the UDF unusable.

Personal opinion but the [Insert Function] box in Excel 98 & 2000 has a
much better user interface compared to the 2003 version, especially if
you're using lots of statistical functions in one session. The drop
down box for selecting a category and the tiny viewing area for the
[function names] are really inconvenient to use. (I know you can just
enter it directly in the formula bar, but sometimes I can't remember
the order of function arguments or I'm just too lazy). This leads me
to my last question:

4th Ques: Is there anything in Excel or Office options to change the
[Insert Function] interface to the 2000 model?

Regards
James

 

[Harlan Grove]

(e-mail address removed) wrote...
....

1st Ques: Ideally I would like the 2nd half of the UDF's [function
argument] box to provide additional information, like Excel's
integral functions. I definitely do not want to incorporate a help
file. Is it possible to add additional code to the UDF so a small
description is displayed?

....

No. It's not possible to add code to the udf itself to display function
argument descriptions. If you really want these, it requires some work
on your part. See

http://xcell05.free.fr/english/

2nd Ques: Is it possible to force Excel to list a recently used UDF in
the [recently used] category?

On my system, even the udfs in the Analysis ToolPak and add-in
functions in Laurent Longre's MOREFUNC.XLL don't appear in the Most
Recently Used category, so I'd infer from this that it's not possible
to do so.

3rd Ques: What statement can I add to the beginning of a UDF code to
prevent it from being listed in the [user defined] box? Everything
I've tried makes the UDF unusable.

....

See #1 above.

4th Ques: Is there anything in Excel or Office options to change the
[Insert Function] interface to the 2000 model?

No. If you still have Excel 2000, uninstall Excel 2003, install Excel
2000 then reinstall Excel 2003. You could then use either.

 

[MrShorty]

I haven't used the funcustomize dll, but I know it's possible (used t
be possible??) to add a brief description that is displayed in th
function wizard. Most of my functions I wrote when I was using 5.0 an
I could add a little description to the function that would display i
the function wizard and classify functions into any of the existin
categories. I'm not certain how much of the functionality has bee
retained through 2003, but it appears that 2002 at least has th
ability to add a brief description. In the VBE:
open the object browser (View menu)
browse through the available libraries/classes/members to find the UD
of interest.
right click on the name and select "Properties"
In the "description" field, type a brief description of the function.
Did Microsoft retain this functionality in 2003, or did they lose it?