Using applescript within VBA to use safari - excel

I was trying to run a VBA Excel Macro on my mac that sends commands to other apps (explorer).
I figured this doesn't work on the mac, and found that applescript is a bypass solution, but I don't have a clue on how to create one or even call it from excel, so here it goes: I have an excel file with data and the macro opens an website on IE, inputs this data on a certain point, then go back to the excel file and puts an ok beside the data telling that it was done (looks simple).
How do I do this using applescript? In short, I need it to gather some info on the excel file, then input this data on an specific field of a webpage (and click ok) and then go back to excel and there I think I could go back to using VBA again until another loop.

Related

creating dynamic hyperlinks when importing data into excel

I am trying to automate a process where data is queried from the database, downloaded into an excel file and sent to recipients. One of the column in the excel file needs to be a hyperlink. How can i make this happen?
I selected =hyperlink(A,B) into the column but the function appears as text and not as hyperlink.
I tried changing the web options to 'update links on save' but it does not help.
Only when i click in the cell and hit enter does the hyperlink appear. This is not an option
Opening the file and adding a new column to use the hyperlink function is not an option either since the process is being automated.
The tool allows me to export into an xlsx and not a xlsm so i am assuming i cannot use macros to do the job.
I tried researching the answers for similar questions but didnt find any that i could use which will generate a url dynamically without me having to open the file. Any ideas?
I also tried another tool and they were able to send out emails with links. I do not know how they do it internally but i do not see any hyperlink functions when i tab into the hyperlink column.
Cell type should probably be set to "Generic".
You may also need to trigger a "Refresh" after the workbook is filled with all the data. Sometimes I need to that manually - but only once. I have no idea why it happens.

how do I get the link name from Excel or VBA

I'd like to have my spreadsheet behave differently depending on how I call it.
From file explorer I can double click on either "UHF-test.xlsm" or its shortcut, "VHF-test.lnk". From VBA or an Excel formula, how do I determine which one was used?
If I can't determine the link name, is there another way to pass information in the command line, something like this BAT file
start "\B" EXCEL \\qcy-win10-it-2\TDS-repository\TDS-UAXTED.xlsm -VHF
The BAT file solution works fairly well, it's a very small file where I can embed some options for running macros. A small downside is that the Excel PATH is not normally in the system execution PATH and needs to be added.
The goal is toI write and maintain one only macro-enabled spreadsheet stored in a network location but with the ability to allow multiple users to use it with different products and parameters without being prompted by a macro on startup.
I still prefer determining the shortcut name if someone has that solution.

Save logfile within Excel file using VBA

I am trying to develop a manner in VBA to track changes in a document without having to hide the contents in an extra sheet within a workbook.
I understand that if you change the extension of an Excel file to ".zip", you can access the Excel document as components sorted into directories. Is there a way to save and write to a text file within one of these directories so that I can access it every time the document is opened, without having to have the user drag a log file along with the Excel document?
Some facts:
When Excel opens the file, the file is blocked by Excel. There is no possibility to write to that file within VBA
You can store additional data into that file externally or after the Excel workbook has been closed
You would need to have code externally from the workbook to accomplish writing to that file after it has been closed. You may want to use VSTO or an oldschool Excel Addin.
you have to ensure that Excel will not destroy your changes when restructuring or repairing the file.
In the first run, your idea sounds very natural, to not use sheets from a programmer's point of view. You only have full control on Excel files when
you use external libraries (e.g. Spreadsheet Gear) or
you remote control Excel via automation.
you use openxml SDK for Excel
you use VBA
You could insert additonal information and take care that this information is not skipped by Excel.
When you want to do the tracking this way, I would suggest you to use an Excel Addin. There is actually no need for installation when using this kind of Addin. Attach to open workbook and close workbook events and ensure that all changes are written to the Excel Workbook after it has been closed. Certainly you would have to attach to all kind of other events to track all changes to the workbook. You may need to have in mind that there can be more than one workbook opened at a time.
Actually there are alternatives.
write your logging code in VBA or whatever fits
abstract away how your persist the code (e.g. use a data provider)
think about these two alternatives to store logging data:
You can save logging data in cells of excel. When using a "newer" version of excel, you have a limit of 1 million rows. You may want to implement a rolling mechanism that ensures that you never go over the border of 1 million records. (you may be dont want to track a million changes)
You can use the document properties to store you information as xml.
Last but not least, the most obvious: Why not using Excel's functionality of tracking changes? Understand track changes in Excel 2013

Non-portable Excel VBA macro behavior

I'm using Excel 2010 and adding a small VBA macro to a spreadsheet. (The purpose of the macro is to take the data on the active sheet and export it to a CSV file, but that's tangential to the question.) The macro determines the output path for the file using ThisWorkbook.Path. I also added a custom button to the Quick Access Toolbar to activate the macro.
After getting a working algorithm in place in my experimental spreadsheet (Test.xlsm, stored in one path), I made a copy of the spreadsheet in another path and renamed it to _Database.xlsm. Then I opened _Database.xlsm and ran the macro. To my surprise, the file was written to the original path, not the new one. And looking down at the Windows toolbar, I saw that Excel had opened the original file over in its original path as well.
After a lot of jiggering around with code tweaks, checking properties and such I finally found that I could prevent this by opening the copied spreadsheet, removing the Quick Access Toolbar button, re-adding it, and then saving the file. My questions are:
Why isn't the macro "independently portable" along with the spreadsheet? I.e. why does the copy maintain this kind of tie to the original sheet?
Is there a way I can create or modify the macro to make it portable in that sense?
If you want a toolbar/button to travel with a file (ie. not always link back to the original version) then you need to add it to the file itself, not to the QAT. The QAT only "knows" about the actual file you linked the button to.
It might be better to add the macro to your Personal Macro Workbook and then just have it operate on the ActiveWorkbook.
However, if you want to distribute it to other users, you can keep the macro in the "database" workbook and add a custom ribbon part. See: http://www.rondebruin.nl/win/s2/win001.htm

Excel VBA macro not found by worksheet, #NAME

I'm trying to get a simple VBA function to run in an excel (.xlsm) worksheet.
I created this function:
Function abc()
abc = 2
End Function
in Module2, and it worked.
But after I copied the spreadsheet to another system, it now just shows "#name" as if it can't find it. The function shows up on the available list of functions however.
This makes me think there is some kind of setting I need to enable, but I've enabled whatever I was prompted for. Any ideas?
I should've known it was in the trust center:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/change-macro-security-settings-in-excel-HP010096919.aspx
Basically, hit the ball and poke around until you find "trust" and "enable macros" and select the least secure options.
And then close and re-open the spreadsheet.
I think we may need more information. What version of Excel are you using? Is it different from the destination system version?
You'll want to make sure that Module2 was in the Workbook you copied into the other system. Excel 2007 stores macros on a personal workbook by default sometimes so you'll need to check the the code is actually inside of the .xlsm file.
If you're still stuck and need a quick fix just copy the code text into the new system's Excel workbook directly without making a .xlsm file (create new module in the other system then paste).
If you would like to learn how to put together add-ins you can get started here or here.

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