VBA Open PDFs in a list by selecting cells - excel

Question

I am working on a sheet that will allow the users to pull up PDFs based on partial file names in different folders from just clicking on the cell.
My question has two parts.
I want the File Path "fp" to grab the active cell value at the top of the column selected. I want to do this for easy of user use down the road in the event the paths change.
I have looked up several methods to open a PDF from excel. None of which seem to be working and I am unsure why this is.
Option Explicit
Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
'Activate Macro by click a cell
If Selection.Count = 1 Then
If Not Intersect(Target, Range("A3:B10000")) Is Nothing Then
Call OpenFile
End If
End If
End Sub
Function OpenAnyFile(strPath As String)
'Put this in as "ActiveWorkbook.FollowHyperlink OpenMe" was not working. Was trying the shell method.
Set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")
objShell.Open (strPath)
End Function
Sub OpenFile()
Dim fp As String, fn As String, TheFile As String
fp = "R:\Procurement\Invoices\"
'(((Item 1))) I want it so that fp will return the top value from the top row of this sheet as i would like the path information to be there for easy user modification.
fn = ActiveCell.Value
TheFile = Dir(fp & fn & "*.pdf")
If CBool(Len(fn)) Then
MsgBox ("File Found")
'(((Item 2))) Opening the PDf does not work. Below are two ways i have tried to achieve this.
Call OpenAnyFile(TheFile)
'ActiveWorkbook.FollowHyperlink TheFile
End If
End Sub

Answer 1

The way you use whitespace is very confusing and makes it hard to understand your program.
Your code won't compile as written.
Why use a Function instead of a Sub if you're not returning a value?
You'll get an overflow error if a user presses Ctrl A to select the whole worksheet.
Read about the shell function https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/language/reference/user-interface-help/shell-function
Overflow errors can occur when Target.Count is used. Typically this happens with Ctrl + A. The expanding behavior if Ctrl + A provides very little protection. At best, you must press it three times to first selecting the region, then the used range, and then the entire worksheet. At worst, once is needed.
From MS Docs, re: Range object & Count vs CountLarge properties
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/excel.range.count
The CountLarge property is functionally the same as the Count property, except that the Count property will generate an overflow error if the specified range has more than 2,147,483,647 cells (one less than 2,048 columns). The CountLarge property, however, can handle ranges up to the maximum size for a worksheet, which is 17,179,869,184 cells.
Shell function vs Shell object
The shell function is super easy to use, no need for the overhead that comes with creating an object.
For example, using the shell function to open page 4 of myfile.pdf in Internet Explorer:
Shell("C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe " + "C:\myfile.pdf#Page=4")
Note there is a space after `"[...]iexplore.exe [...]" that is important.
Replace the executable file path with the application of your choice
Note: many applications cannot open a PDF to a specific page. Simply omit the part #Page= segment of it's a problem.
Note: you can also get the PID of the new process like this:
vPID = Shell("C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe " + "C:\myfile.pdf#Page=4")

Answer 2

You can do this:
Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
Dim rng As Range
If Target.Count = 1 Then
Set rng = Application.Intersect(Target, Me.Range("A3:B10000"))
If Not rng Is Nothing Then
'Pass the cell value and the value from the top row
' of the selected column
OpenFile rng.Value, Me.Cells(1, rng.Column).Value
End If
End If
End Sub
Sub OpenFile(fn As String, fp As String)
'etc

Answer 3

I had a colleague of my give me a hand with this. Thank you for all the help! Answer is below. Let me know if you see anything that can be improved upon.
Option Explicit
Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
If Selection.Count = 1 Then
If Not Intersect(Target, Range("A3:B10000")) Is Nothing Then
Call OpenFile
End If
End If
End Sub
Sub OpenFile()
Dim filepath As String
Dim filename As Variant
'So that the macro wont try to open nothing
If ActiveCell.Value = "" Then
Exit Sub
End If
'Filepath is at the top of the worksheet above each active cell
filepath = Cells(1, ActiveCell.Column).Value
'File name is just the first portion of the file. the "*" will determine the remaining file name
filename = Dir(filepath & ActiveCell.Value & "*")
'This will open the file below. Needs the filepath and the filenname together although the filepath is inbedded in the filename
If CBool(Len(filename)) Then
ActiveWorkbook.FollowHyperlink (filepath & filename)
End If
End Sub