Excel 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference (Programmer to Programmer)

Excel 2003 VBA Programmer's Reference is an updated and expanded version of the two previous editions now with a reference section downloadable from the Web for easy perusal. The book is aimed at Excel users who want to gain more control over their spreadsheets using VBA or who want to develop Excel applications for other users. The book starts with a primer chapter focused on bringing the readers up to speed with Excel and VBA. From there, the book expands to focus on major issues faced by advanced Excel users and developers.

What does this book cover?

In this book, you'll discover how to do the following:

• Set up applications and convert them to add-ins
• Package and distribute Excel applications
• Set up interaction with other Office applications and databases
• Program the VB Editor and use the Windows API
• Use VB6 and VB.NET with Excel
• Set up internationalization
• Advanced debugging and error handling techniques

That book has numerous errors: incorrect code that will not run, code that has incorrect variables, code that has nothing to do with the text above or below it, screen shots that have nothing to do with the text.

It also has an eclectic index that on occasion leads you to what you want.

The authors have been let down by the Wrox editors, but on occasion one can find gems of useful information in their book. I would be quite tempted to review the present version of the text, but my past experience with Wrox-edited books makes me hesitant to spend more money on such texts.

I hope someone who has actually read the book can supply us with a better review than this one.
--j.r.a.


is not a good start from here   March 30, 2005
Harrison (Singapore)
7 out of 13 found this review helpful

sorry to say that i'm very dissapointed to own this book. For those who are new to VBA, it is not a good start from here. I also find that the example and the function covered is not practical enough to use to develop your own program. I would recomend a book written by John Walkenbach which the examples and function cover more practical


Everything is Here, Organization a bit confusing.   November 23, 2004
John Matlock (Winnemucca, NV)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

This huge (1176 page) book is intended for Excel users and programmers from beginning to advanced, this book presumes you have a reasonable working knowledge of excel and a full installation of the software. It does not presume that you have a working knowledge of VBA, after all, that's it's subject.

In fact, chapter 1 is titled Primer in Excel VBA. Excel VBA is, of course, a specialized version of Microsoft's standard VBA, where those specific points that cater to spread sheet manipulation are differrent from the VBA's associated with other parts of the Microsoft Office package.

This book gives a general introduction to VBA, but it is entirely within the context of Excel. This is indeed a Primer. It starts with how you open the Visual Basic Editor and goes on from there. Generally the book grows step by step. But not always. ==On page 83 it says: "OnTime - You can use the OnTime method to schedule a macro to run sometime in the future." OK, I understand this. But only 7 pages later it says: "VBA does support interface polymorphism. Interface polymorphism is orthogonal to class polymorphism." Huh? Does this help me schedule something to run in the future? Is this supposed to mean anything at all to me? Since I have no idea what it's talking about am I supposed to go look up all these new words somewhere? Is this really going to help me? Anyway, you skip a few chapters and you're back into getting some useful information about things like creating user forms.

All in all I rate the book quite high. Everything you always wanted to know is there. And it is supposed to be a reference manual, not a tutorial. My only complaint is that I think it could have organized a bit better.