Synopses & Reviews
“As Excel applications become more complex and the Windows development platform more powerful, Excel developers need books like this to help them evolve their solutions to the next level of sophistication. Professional Excel Development is a book for developers who want to build powerful, state-of-the-art Excel applications using the latest Microsoft technologies.”
–Gabhan Berry, Program Manager, Excel Programmability, Microsoft
“The first edition of Professional Excel Development is my most-consulted and most-recommended book on Office development. The second edition expands both the depth and range. It shines because it takes every issue one step further than you expect. The book relies on the authors’ current, real-world experience to cover not only how a feature works, but also the practical implications of using it in professional work.”
–Shauna Kelly, Director, Thendara Green
“This book illustrates techniques that will result in well-designed, robust, and maintainable Excel-based applications. The authors’ advice comes from decades of solid experience of designing and building applications. The practicality of the methods is well illustrated by the example timesheet application that is developed step-by-step through the book. Every serious Excel developer should read this and learn from it. I did.”
–Bill Manville, Application Developer, Bill Manville Associates
The Start-to-Finish Guide to Building State-of-the-Art Solutions with Excel 2007
In this book, four world-class Microsoft® Excel developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors—three of whom have been honored by Microsoft as Excel Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs)—show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel’s most powerful new features. Using their techniques,you can reduce development costs, time to market, and hassle—and build more effective, successful solutions.
Fully updated for Excel 2007, this book starts where other books on Excel programming leave off. Through a hands-on case study project, you’ll discover best practices for planning, architecting, and building Excel applications that are robust, secure, easy to maintain, and highly usable. If you’re a working developer, no other book on Excel programming offers you this much depth, insight, or value.
• Design worksheets that will be more useful and reliable
• Leverage built-in and application-specific add-ins
• Construct applications that behave like independent Windows programs
• Make the most of the new Ribbon user interface
• Create cross-version applications that work with legacy versions of Excel
• Utilize XML within Excel applications
• Understand and use Windows API calls
• Master VBA error handling, debugging, and performance optimization
• Develop applications based on data stored in Access, SQL Server, and other databases
• Build powerful visualization solutions with Excel charting engine
• Learn how to work with VB.NET and leverage its IDE
• Automate Microsoft Excel with VB.NET
• Create managed COM add-ins for Microsoft Excel with VB.NET
• Develop Excel solutions with Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO)
• Integrate Excel with Web Services
• Deploy applications more securely and efficiently
Synopsis
Microsoft Excel can be much more than just a spreadsheet. It has become adevelopment platform in it own right. Applications written using Excel are partof many corporations' core suites of business-critical applications. In spite ofthis, Excel is too often thought of as a hobbyist's platform. While there arenumerous titles on Excel and VBA, until now there have been none thatprovide an overall explanation of how to develop professional-quality Excel-basedapplications. All three authors are professional Excel developers who runtheir own companies developing Excel-based apps for clients ranging fromindividuals to the largest multinational corporations. In this book they showhow anyone from power users to professional developers can increase thespeed and usefulness of their Excel-based apps.
Synopsis
The Start-to-Finish Guide to Building State-of-the-Art Solutions with Excel 2007
In this book, four world-class Microsoft® Excel developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors–three of whom have been honored by Microsoft as Excel Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs)–show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel’s most powerful new features. Using their techniques,you can reduce development costs, time to market, and hassle–and build more effective, successful solutions. Fully updated for Excel 2007, this book starts where other books on Excel programming leave off. Through a hands-on case study project, you’ll discover best practices for planning, architecting, and building Excel applications that are robust, secure, easy to maintain, and highly usable. If you’re a working developer, no other book on Excel programming offers you this much depth, insight, or value.
- Design worksheets that will be more useful and reliable
- Leverage built-in and application-specific add-ins
- Construct applications that behave like independent Windows programs
- Make the most of the new Ribbon user interface
- Create cross-version applications that work with legacy versions of Excel
- Utilize XML within Excel applications
- Understand and use Windows API calls
- Master VBA error handling, debugging, and performance optimization
- Develop applications based on data stored in Access, SQL Server, and other databases
- Build powerful visualization solutions with Excel charting engine
- Learn how to work with VB.NET and leverage its IDE
- Automate Microsoft Excel with VB.NET
- Create managed COM add-ins for Microsoft Excel with VB.NET
- Develop Excel solutions with Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO)
- Integrate Excel with Web Services
- Deploy applications more securely and efficiently
Synopsis
Finally, there's a book that treats Excel as the powerful development platform it really is, and covers every facet of developing commercial-quality Excel applications.
This is not a book for beginners. Writing for professional developers and true Excel experts, the authors share insider's knowledge they've acquired building Excel applications for many of the world's largest companiesincluding Microsoft. Professional Excel Development demonstrates how to get the utmost from Excel, addressing everything from application architectures through worksheet and userform design, charting, debugging, error handling and optimizing performance. Along the way, the authors offer best practices for every type of Excel development, from building add-ins through interacting with XML Web services. Coverage includes
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Building add-ins to provide new Excel functions
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Designing effective worksheets, userforms and other user interface elements
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Leveraging Excel's powerful data analysis features
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Creating sophisticated custom charts
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Handling errors, debugging applications and optimizing performance
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Using class modules and interfaces to create custom objects
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Understanding Windows API calls: when to use them, and how to modify them
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Adding worksheet functions with
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C-based XLLs
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Programming with databases
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Controlling external applications from Excel
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Integrating with Visual Basic 6, VB.NET and Visual Studio Tools for Office
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Using XML to import and export data and communicate with Web services
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Providing help, securing, packaging and distributing
The accompanying CD-ROM contains the book's sample timesheet application at every stage of construction, with detailed code comments. It also includes many examples of the concepts introduced in each chapter and a collection of the authors' Excel development utilities.
© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Rob Bovey, President of Application Professionals, has developed several Excel add-ins shipped by Microsoft. He coauthored the Microsoft Excel 97 Developers Kit and Excel 2007 VBA Programmer’s Reference.
Dennis Wallentin has developed Excel solutions since the 1980s through his firm, XL-Dennis, based in Östersund, Sweden.
Stephen Bullen, coauthor of The Excel 2007 VBA Programmer’s Reference, owns Office Automation, Ltd., based in Essex, Ireland.
John Green owns Execuplan Consulting, a Sydney, Australia-based consultancy specializing in Excel and Access development.
Bovey, Bullen, and Green hold Microsoft’s prestigious Most Valuable Professional (MVP) honor.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments.
About the Authors.
1. Introduction.
About This Book
The Excel Developer
Excel as an Application Development Platform
Structure
Examples
Supported Versions
Typefaces
On the CD
Help and Support
Feedback
2. Application Architectures.
Concepts
Conclusion
3. Excel and VBA Development Best Practices.
Naming Conventions
Best Practices for Application Structure and Organization
General Application Development Best Practices
Conclusion
4. Worksheet Design.
Principles of Good Worksheet UI Design
Program Rows and Columns: The Fundamental UI Design Technique
Defined Names
Styles
User Interface Drawing Techniques
Data Validation
Conditional Formatting
Using Controls on Worksheets
Practical Example
Conclusion
5. Function, General and Application-Specific Add-ins.
The Four Stages of an Application
Function Library Add-ins
General Add-ins
Application-Specific Add-ins
Practical Example
Conclusion
6. Dictator Applications.
Structure of a Dictator Application
Practical Example
Conclusion
7. Using Class Modules to Create Objects.
Creating Objects
Creating a Collection
Trapping Events
Raising Events
Practical Example
Conclusion
8. Advanced Command Bar Handling.
Command Bar Design
Table-Driven Command Bars
Putting It All Together
Loading Custom Icons from Files
Hooking Command Bar Control Events
Practical Example
Conclusion
9. Understanding and Using Windows API Calls.
Overview
Working with the Screen
Working with Windows
Working with the Keyboard
Working with the File System and Network
Practical Examples
Conclusion
10. Userform Design and Best Practices.
Principles
Control Fundamentals
Visual Effects
Userform Positioning and Sizing
Wizards
Dynamic Userforms
Modeless Userforms
Control Specifics
Practical Examples
Conclusion
11. Interfaces.
What Is an Interface?
Code Reuse
Defining a Custom Interface
Implementing a Custom Interface
Using a Custom Interface
Polymorphic Classes
Improving Robustness
Simplifying Development
A Plug-in Architecture
Practical Example
Conclusion
12. VBA Error Handling.
Error-Handling Concepts
The Single Exit Point Principle
Simple Error Handling
Complex Project Error Handler Organization
The Central Error Handler
Error Handling in Classes and Userforms
Putting It All Together
Practical Example
Conclusion
13. Programming with Databases.
An Introduction to Databases
Designing the Data Access Tier
Data Access with SQL and ADO
Further Reading
Practical Example
Conclusion
14. Data Manipulation Techniques.
Excel’s Data Structures
Data Processing Features
Advanced Functions
Conclusion
15. Advanced Charting Techniques.
Fundamental Techniques
VBA Techniques
Conclusion
16. VBA Debugging.
Basic VBA Debugging Techniques
The Immediate Window (Ctrl+G)
The Call Stack (Ctrl+L)
The Watch Window
The Locals Window
The Object Browser (F2)
Creating and Running a Test Harness
Using Assertions
Debugging Shortcut Keys that Every Developer Should Know
Conclusion
17. Optimizing VBA Performance.
Measuring Performance
The PerfMon Utility
Creative Thinking
Macro-Optimization
Micro-Optimization
Conclusion
18. Controlling Other Office Applications.
Fundamentals
The Primary Office Application Object Models
Practical Example
Conclusion
19. XLLs and the C API.
Why Create an XLL-Based Worksheet Function
Creating an XLL Project in Visual Studio
The Structure of an XLL
The XLOPER and OPER Data Types
The Excel4 Function
Commonly Used C API Functions
XLOPERs and Memory Management
Registering and Unregistering Custom Worksheet Functions
Sample Application Function
Debugging the Worksheet Functions
Miscellaneous Topics
Additional Resources
Conclusion
20. Combining Excel and Visual Basic 6.
A Hello World ActiveX DLL
Why Use VB6 ActiveX DLLs in Excel VBA Projects
In-Process versus Out-of-Process
Automating Excel From a VB6 EXE
Practical Examples
Conclusion
21. Writing Add-ins with Visual Basic 6.
A Hello World Add-in
The Add-in Designer
Installation Considerations
The AddinInstance Events
Command Bar Handling
Why Use a COM Add-in?
Automation Add-ins
Practical Example
Conclusion
22. Using VB.NET and the Visual Studio Tools for Office.
Overview
How to Leverage the .NET Framework
Managed Workbooks
Managed Excel Add-ins
Hybrid VBA/VSTO Solutions
The VSTO Security Model
The Big Issues
Further Reading
Practical Example
Conclusion
23. Excel, XML and Web Services.
XML
Web Services
Practical Example
Conclusion
24. Providing Help, Securing, Packaging and Distributing.
Providing Help
Securing
Packaging
Distributing
Conclusion
Index.