Object Oriented Programming

A programming concept which views

programs as objects with properties
and ways to manipulate the object and
the properties.

Visual Basic
Objects / Properties / Methods
Object
Property
Method

Noun
Adjective
Verb

Part of the application

Attribute
Action to do
something

Visual Basic
Range (A3).select
Range is an object
(A3) is a modifier for the object
select is a method
Note that object separated from method by a .

Visual Basic

Activesheet.name
Activesheet is an object
name is a property
The result is the name of the active sheet

Procedures
Sub procedures return no values

Function procedures return a value

Function Procedures
Function Grade (exam1,exam2,exam3) as String
Sum = exam1+exam2+exam3
If sum > 95 then
Grade = A
Else if
sum > 80
Grade = B
Else
Grade = C
End if
End Function
The function name must be assigned
the value to be returned!

Arguments to a function must be in the order specified

in the function description:
= Grade (90, 80, C5)

Function Grade (exam1,exam2,exam3) as String

Note the as String to declare the type of value returned by
the function.

Sub Procedures
Sub Gc()
Lines beginning with are comments
' Gc Macro
' Puts gc in active cell & units in adjacent cell to right
' Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+g
'
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "32.174"
ActiveCell.Offset(0, 1).Range("A1").Select
ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "ft-lbm/lbf-s^2"
End Sub

This was a recorded macro macros are Sub procedures.

Review of some Excel Basics

Cell references of two types:

A1
numeric
R1C1

Columns are alphabetic, rows are

R number Column number

B2 and R2C2 refer to the same cell

Can be set by the Tools / Options menus
(Note that the two methods are transposed
A1 column first, then row
R1C1 row first, then column )

Formulae in Excel (A1 style)

A1 is a relative address --- it changes when
the formula is copy /pasted
$A$1 is an absolute address --- it does not
change via copy / paste
And can use mixed mode:
A$1 A is relative, $1 is absolute
$A1 A is absolute, 1 is relative

Formulae in Excel (R1C1 style)

R1C1 is an absolute address it does not
change under copy / paste
R[1]C[1] is a relative address it does
change under copy /paste
And can use mixed mode:
R1C[1] R1 is absolute,
C[1] is relative

In VBA, can use either or both A1 and

R1C1 styles
A1 style tends to be absolute
A1 style used with the Range property
Range(A4)
Can refer to individual cells with the
Cells Property, which uses an R1C1
style
Cells(4,1)

In Excel, cells & ranges can be named

Insert / name menu
These names can be used in
Formulae
VBA

VBA Variable Types

String
Integer
Long
Single
Double
Variant
Object

A sequence of bytes containing characters

2 byte integer
4 byte integer
4 byte real number
8 byte real number
Can hold anything (but expensive to use)
A class of data types used by Excel/VBA

Characters & Stings

For Excel, anything that is not a number or a
formula is a string. If want a set of digits as a
string, need to enclose in quote or quotation
marks.
For VBA, need to define variable that will
hold strings as string data types
Good programming practice is to declare
all variables and their types via the
Dim statement.

Visual Basic
Sub NameIt()
Dim newname as String
newname = InputBox(Enter a name for the worksheet)
ActiveSheet.Name=newname
End Sub

Object data type

Many of the objects in Excel have their own
data type:
Dim r as Range
Dim q as Worksheet
Dim z as Chart
About the only one we will use is the Range
data type.

Option Explicit
Forces you to Dim all variables
Helps prevent typos
Can set this as the default through the
Tools/ Options menu.
Require variable declaration check box)

Visual Basic
All objects have properties
Most objects have methods
Will work with only a few of the many
objects, methods and properties
To get a list of objects and properties,
invoke the Object Browser

Visual Basic
Some of the objects
Workbook
Worksheet
ActiveSheet
Range
Form
Chart
Note --- a Cell is not an object, but is a type of
range object

Visual Basic
And to further confuse the issue
objects can have objects as
properties
And objects can be grouped into
collections
Workbook = collection of
worksheets

Visual Basic
Object Browser --- Just for a quick look
In VBA, press F2 or View / Browser
Select Excel from library list
Enter an object in the second list box
Use F1 to get help on an object

Program module (Sub or Function) is made up of a

series of steps to accomplish a task. Five major
categories of steps:
Assignment statements
Conditional statements

A=5
If ( A > 5) then .

Calls to other modules

A = sqrt (12)

Iteration Statements

For I = 1 to 6

Input /Output operations

(Which are really calls to
other modules)

Read 5, A

Next i

Expression evaluation inVBA

Operators in priority order
Left to right
Operator Priority List
()
^
- (unary minus)
* /
+ Comparison Operators (>, < )
Logical Operators (NOT, AND, OR)

Test = 2 + 3 ^2 > 5 AND (3-7)*2 > 6

(3-7)
3^2
-4*2
9+2
11 > 5
-8 > 6
True AND False

-4
9
-8
11
True
False
False

Thus, Test has the value False

Conditional Expressions
If / then / else end if
Select case . End Case

If (expression) then
One or more expressions
else
One or more expressions
end if
Simple form
If (expression ) then (expression)

Select Case Statement

Like a complex If / Then / ElseIf / EndIf
Select Case testexpression
[Case expressionlist-n
[statements-n]] ...
[Case Else
[elsestatements] ]
End Select

We will not use it

Iteration Statements
Used to execute a number of
statements repeatedly
Two major types --For / Next
Do / Loop

For counter to upperlimt step size

Statements
Next counter
For Each cell In Selection
Statements
cell.value = expression
Next cell
Note that value is a property of the cell object and is the
contents of the cell

Do while expression_is_true
Statements
Loop

Do
Statements
Loop while expression_is_true

Do Until expression_is_true
Statements
Loop

Do
Statements
Loop Until expression_is_true

To add develop a function (or sub)

First determine what function (or sub ) is to do,
the steps to do it, and the needed arguments.
In VB,
Insert
Module
Insert
Procedure
Select desired type
Type name
Add arguments to argument list

To add develop a function (or sub)

Dim all variables
Write the code
Return to Excel & test

Some Simple Examples

Compute the factorial of number

Compute the sine of an angle from the
series expansion

Simple function to compute n!. There is a worksheet function

to do this (Fact(n), but calling it is complicated.
Public Function NFact(N) As Double
Assumes N is an integer > 1
Dim I As Integer
NFact = 1
I=1
Do While I <= N
NFact = NFact * I
I=I+1
Loop
End Function

Function to compute the sine of an angle (in radians)

Use a Taylor series expansion about 0 radians

Sine =

i 1

(1)

( i 1

angle
2i 1!

( 2 i 1)

Function will take two argument the angle and n, then number
Of terms in the series. It will return the approximate value of
)
the sine. (In theory, n should be

Public Function MySine(angle As Single, nterms As Integer) As Double

Declare the variables.
Dim J As Integer
Initialize the value to zero
MySine = 0.0
Compute the value by evaluating each term in the sum
J=1
Do While J <= nterms
MySine = MySine + ((-1) ^ (J + 1)) * (angle ^ (2 * J - 1)) / (NFact(2 * J - 1))
J=J+1
Loop
End Function