How can I loop through a subset of worksheets? - excel

Question

I know how to loop through all the worksheets in a workbook, and how to exit once I reach an 'end-flag' worksheet:
For Each ThisWorkSheet In Worksheets
If ThisWorkSheet.Name = "FlagEnd" Then Exit For
MsgBox "This worksheet name is: " & ThisWorkSheet.Name
Next
However I cannot get the loop to begin on a 'start-flag' worksheet (or even better on the worksheet right after the start-flag worksheet. For example the flagged start/end worksheets are in the middle of a bunch of other worksheets, so beginning or end traversing is not workable.
There could be hundreds of worksheets before that 'FlagStart' sheet, so I really need to start on the right sheet.
Tried:
Set ThisWorkSheet = Sheets("FlagNew")
and
For Each Sheets("FlagNew") In Worksheets
Ideas?
Solution:
Mathias was very close, but dendarii was that tiny step closer with the custom ending index. I actually figured out my final solution on my own, but wanted to give credit. Here was my final solution:
Private Sub CommandButtonLoopThruFlaggedSheets_Click()
' determine current bounds
Dim StartIndex, EndIndex, LoopIndex As Integer
StartIndex = Sheets("FlagNew").Index + 1
EndIndex = Sheets("FlagEnd").Index - 1
For LoopIndex = StartIndex To EndIndex
MsgBox "this worksheet is: " & Sheets(LoopIndex).Name
' code here
Next LoopIndex
End Sub

Answer 1

If this is not a particularly changeable workbook (i.e. worksheets are not being added and deleted all the time), you could store the names of the worksheets in a range on a hidden sheet and loop through them by name.
However, it sounds like they are stored consecutively in the workbook so, building on Mathias' solution, you could use a function to return the indices of the start and end worksheets and then loop through:
Public Function GetStartIndex() As Integer
On Error Resume Next
GetStartIndex = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("MyStartingWorksheet").Index + 1
End Function
Public Function GetEndIndex() As Integer
On Error Resume Next
GetEndIndex = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("MyEndingWorksheet").Index - 1
End Function
Sub LoopThrough()
Dim wks As Worksheet
Dim i As Integer
Dim iStart As Integer
Dim iEnd As Integer
iStart = GetStartIndex()
iEnd = GetEndIndex()
If iStart > 0 And iEnd > 0 And iEnd > iStart Then
For i = iStart To iEnd
Set wks = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(i)
MsgBox wks.Name
Next i
End If
End Sub

Answer 2

I believe that if you use "foreach" you won't have any control over the starting sheet. For that matter, I am not even sure you are guaranteed the order in which the iteration will take place.
I think what you should do is first, get the index of the sheet you are interested in (get the sheet by name, and get its index), and then iterate using a for loop, over the indexes of the sheets starting at the flag sheet index.
[Edit: I hacked through a quick example]
Sub Iterate()
Dim book As Workbook
Dim flagIndex As Integer
Dim flagSheet As Worksheet
Set book = ActiveWorkbook
Set flagSheet = book.Worksheets("Sheet3")
flagIndex = flagSheet.Index
Dim sheetIndex As Integer
Dim currentSheet As Worksheet
For sheetIndex = flagIndex To book.Worksheets.Count
Set currentSheet = book.Worksheets(sheetIndex)
Next
End Sub

Answer 3

How about?
For Each ThisWorkSheet In Worksheets
If ThisWorkSheet.Name = "FlagStart" Then output = true
If ThisWorkSheet.Name = "FlagEnd" Then Exit For
If output = true Then MsgBox "This worksheet name is: " & ThisWorkSheet.Name
Next
This code might not be quite right. I'm writing it in the SO editor not VBA, but you get the idea.

Answer 4

Do the sheets you iterate over have a common name format?
Ex)
Sheets(0).name > "Reports"
Sheets(1).name > "Start Here"
Sheets(2).name > "emp.0001"
Sheets(3).name > "emp.0002"
Sheets(4).name > "emp.0003"
Sheets(5).name > "emp.0004"
Sheets(6).name > "End Here"
If so, in your for each loop, just do a Left(ThisWorkSheet.name, 4) = "emp" to verify if it's a sheet you want to reference.

Answer 5

In Excel VBA 2013 if you have the worksheets you want to update between tabs "Blankfirst" and "Blanklast" this works.
Use the code below to test it brings back your tab names and then replace your manipulating code in place of MsgBox wks.Name part.
Sub Macro2()
On Error Resume Next
GetStartIndex = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Blankfirst").Index + 1
On Error Resume Next
GetEndIndex = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Blanklast").Index - 1
Dim wks As Worksheet
Dim i As Integer
Dim iStart As Integer
Dim iEnd As Integer
iStart = GetStartIndex
iEnd = GetEndIndex
If iStart > 0 And iEnd > 0 And iEnd > iStart Then
For i = iStart To iEnd
Set wks = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(i)
MsgBox wks.Name
Next i
End If
End Sub

Answer 6

Public Sub ITERATE_WORKSHEETS()
On Error Resume Next
Dim x As Long
For x = 0 To 100
MsgBox Worksheets(x).Name
Next x
On Error GoTo 0
MsgBox "all done"
End Sub