XL: Macros to Disable Keyboard Input

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 4.0, 5.0
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 4.0, 5.0
• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, to disable all the keys on the keyboard, set the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications DataEntryMode property or use the Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro ENTER.DATA() function.

Note that you can also disable keys on the keyboard with the ON.KEY() function, but this function will not allow you to disable keys such as the SPACEBAR or the PLUS SIGN (+).

MORE INFORMATION

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   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/default.asp

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

This code turns off keyboard entry for the active sheet only. To turn keyboard entry back on, press CTRL+D.

   ' Macro to turn off keyboard entry.
   Sub KeyboardOff()
      ' Sets CTRL+D to activate KeyboardOn.
      Application.OnKey "^d", "KeyboardOn"       
      Application.DataEntryMode = True
   End Sub

   ' Macro to restore keyboard entry.
   Sub KeyboardOn()
      Application.DataEntryMode = False
   End Sub

Microsoft Excel 4.0 Example

The following macro example turns on Data Entry mode. The keystroke CTRL+D initiates the second macro which turns Data Entry mode off. The macro assumes that all cells on the worksheet are locked.

   A1: =ON.KEY("^d","DataEntryOff")
   A2: =ENTER.DATA(2)
   A3: =RETURN()
   A4:
   A5: DataEntryOff
   A6: =ENTER.DATA(FALSE)
   A7: =RETURN()

NOTE: You can turn off Data Entry mode by pressing the ESC key. If you use the number 2 for the logical argument, you will not be able to turn off Data Entry mode with the ESC key.

REFERENCES

For more information about the DataEntryMode property, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel version 7.0 and 97 Help, type the following text

   DataEntryMode

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q163435
   TITLE     : VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for
               Applications