XL: Clarification of Caller Property Help

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a
• Microsoft Excel for the Power Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, the Caller Property Help topic in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Help contains the following statement:

   If you need to write a macro which behaves differently based on whether
   it is called from a button or a menu item, you should specify an
   argument for the macro in the Assign Macro To Object... dialog box.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

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

Example

1. Enter the following code in a module sheet:

         Sub MultiUse(fromMenu As Boolean)
            If fromMenu Then
               MsgBox "Called from a menu"
            Else
               MsgBox "Called from a button"
            End If
         End Sub
   
   

2. Switch to a worksheet and use the Forms toolbar to create an object on your sheet.

3. Select the object and click the right mouse button.

4. On the shortcut menu, click Assign Macro.

5. In the Macro Name/Reference box, type the appropriate command for the type of object.

       - To assign the procedure to a menu bar, type:
   

            'MultiUse true'
   
       - To assign the procedure to a button, type:
   
            'MultiUse false'
   
      NOTE: You must include the apostrophes around either statement. Note
      also that you can use other types of arguments; for example, you can use
      an integer rather than a Boolean argument. The following error message:
   
           Formula is too complex to be assigned to object.
   
      will be received if you try to pass an argument from within the Assign
      Macro dialog box using something like:
   
           test(1)
   
      where "test" is the name of your macro and you are trying to pass a
      value of 1 to the macro.
   
   

You can use information functions such as IsObject or Isarray to check the type of returned values to determine what called the macro.

When you use an argument to tell the procedure what called it (menu, tool, or button), your code is designed such that it can tell what kind of result it will get from Caller, and it can use that information to determine what else to do.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Excel 5 Visual Basic for Applications Reference," Microsoft Press, pages 88-89

For more information about the Caller property, choose the Search button in Help and type:

   Caller Property