VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Last reviewed: March 13, 1998
Article ID: Q163435
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications version 5.0
  • Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Office 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 97 for Windows
  • Microsoft Access 97
  • Microsoft Outlook 97
  • Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

This article lists some of the resources that are available to help you learn Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications programming. The article contains the following categories:

  • Online Help
  • Microsoft Press and Third-Party Reference and Learning Materials
  • Microsoft Knowledge Base on the World Wide Web
  • Helpful Knowledge Base Articles
  • Internet Newsgroups
  • Other Web Resources

MORE INFORMATION

Online Help

The Help files included with Microsoft Office are useful for learning the syntax for specific Visual Basic for Applications methods or properties. To display the context-sensitive Help file for a particular Visual Basic command, type the command on a module sheet, and then press F1. This provides the syntax, a description, and an example of how the command is used.

NOTE: If you selected Typical when you installed Office 97, you need to run Setup again to install the Help files associated with Visual Basic for the programs you will be working with.

For more information about installing the Visual Basic for Applications Help files, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q176476
   TITLE     : OFF97: Office Assistant Not Answering Visual Basic
               Questions

Microsoft Press and Third-Party Reference and Learning Materials

The third-party contact information included in this article is provided to help you find the technical support you need. This contact information is subject to change without notice. Microsoft in no way guarantees the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

   Microsoft Office
   ----------------

   Title:     Microsoft Office 97 Visual Basic Step by Step
   Author:    David Boctor
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-389-7
   Pages:     334
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1042

   Title:     Microsoft Office 97/Visual Basic Language Reference
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-339-0
   Pages:     4848
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=476

   Title:     Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition, Resource Library
   Author:    Christine Solomon, Eric Wells, Timothy M. O'Brien,
              Steven J. Pogge, and Geoffrey E. White
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-606-3
   Pages:     1888
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1375

   Title:     Microsoft Office 97 Developer's Handbook
   Authors:   Christine Solomon
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-440-0
   Pages:     608
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1211

   Title:     Microsoft Office 97/Visual Basic Programmer's Guide
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-340-4
   Pages:     560
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=477

   Title:     Microsoft Office 97 Programming with VBA For Dummies
   Author:    Karen Jaskolka, Mike Gilbert
   Publisher: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
   Date:      July 21, 1997
   ISBN:      0-7645-0182-8
   Web Site:  http://www.dummies.com

   Title:     VBA For Dummies, Quick Reference
   Author:    Paul Litwin
   Publisher: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
   Date:      July 25, 1997
   ISBN:      0-7645-0250-6
   Web Site:  http://www.dummies.com

   Title:     VBA Developer's Handbook
   Author:    Ken Getz and Mike Gilbert
   Publisher: SYBEX, Inc.
   ISBN:      0-7821-1951-4
   Web Site:  http://www.sybex.com/cgi-bin/bookpg.pl?1951back.html

   Title:     Teach Yourself Visual Basic for Applications 5
              in 21 Days, Third Edition
   Author:    Matthew Harris
   Publisher: SAMS
   ISBN:      0-6723-1016-3

   Title:     Visual Basic for Applications Unleashed
   Author:    Paul McFedries
   Publisher: SAMS
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      0-6723-1046-5

   Title:     Special Edition Using Visual Basic for
              Applications 5
   Author:    Paul Sanna
   Publisher: QUE
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      0-7897-0959-7

   Title:     Mastering Microsoft Office 97 Development
   Publisher: Microsoft
   Date:      1997
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://www.microsoft.com/mastering/default.asp

   Microsoft Access
   ----------------

   Title:     Microsoft Access 97 Developer's Handbook
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-358-7
   Pages:     624
   Disk:      One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=393

   Title:     Microsoft Access 97/Visual Basic Step by Step
   Author:    Evan Callahan
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-319-6
   Pages:     416
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=338

   Title:     Microsoft Jet Database Engine Programmer's Guide,
              Second Edition
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      December 1995
   ISBN:      1-57231-342-0
   Pages:     792
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=459

   Title:     Access 97 Expert Solutions
   Author:    Stan Leszynksi
   Publisher: QUE
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      0-7897-0367-X
   Pages:     1200
   Web Site:  http://www.mcp.com/info/0-7897/0-7897-0367-x/

   Title:     Access 97 Power Programming
   Author:    F. Scott Barker
   Publisher: QUE
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      0-7897-0915-5
   Web Site:  http://www.mcp.com/info/0-7897/0-7897-0915-5/

   Title:     Access 97 Macro and VBA Handbook
   Author:    Susann Novalis
   Publisher: SYBEX, Inc.
   Date:      February 1997
   ISBN:      0-7821-1977-8
   Web Site:  http://www.sybex.com/cgi-bin/bookpg.pl?1977back.html

   Title:     Access 97 Developer’s Handbook
   Author:    Paul Litwin, Ken Getz and Mike Gilbert
   Publisher: SYBEX, Inc.
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      0-7821-1941-7
   Web Site:  http://www.sybex.com/cgi-bin/bookpg.pl?1941back.html

   Title:     Access and SQL Server Developer's Handbook
   Author:    John Viescas, Mike Gunderloy, Mary Chipman
   Publisher: SYBEX, Inc.
   ISBN:      0-7821-1804-6
   Web Site:  http://www.sybex.com/cgi-bin/bookpg.pl?1804back.html

   Title:     Mastering Access 97
   Author:    Alan Simpson and Elizabeth Olson
   Publisher: SYBEX, Inc.
   ISBN:      0-7821-1924-7
   Web Site:  http://www.sybex.com/cgi-bin/bookpg.pl?1924back.html

   Title:     Alison Balter's Mastering Access 97 Development,
              Premier Second Edition
   Author:    Alison Balter
   Publisher: SAMS
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      0-672-30999-8
   Web Site:  http://www.mcp.com/info/0-672/0-672-30999-8/

   Title:     Access 97 Programming For Windows For Dummies
   Author:    Rob Krumm
   Publisher: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
   Date:      March 3, 1997
   ISBN:      1-56884-696-7
   Web Site:  http://www.dummies.com

   Microsoft Excel
   ---------------

   Title:     Microsoft Excel 97 Developer's Handbook
   Author:    Micro Modeling Associates, Inc., Eric Wells
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-359-5
   Pages:     656
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1241

   Title:     Microsoft Excel 97 Developer's Kit
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      June 1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-498-2
   Pages:     608
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1062

   Title:     Microsoft Excel 97/Visual Basic Step by Step
   Author:    Reed Jacobson
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      March 1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-318-8
   Pages:     368
   Disk:      One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=341

   Title:     Excel 97 Programming For Windows For Dummies
   Author:    John Walkenbach
   Publisher: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
   Date:      June 19, 1997
   ISBN:      0-7645-0132-1
   Web Site:  http://www.dummies.com

   Title:     Special Edition Using Microsoft Excel 97
   Author:    Ron Person
   Publisher: QUE
   Includes:  An introduction to Visual Basic for Applications

   Microsoft Outlook
   -----------------

   Title:     Special Edition Using Microsoft Outlook 97
   Publisher: QUE
   Includes:  Contains a chapter "Developing Outlook Applications"

   Title:     Building Applications with Microsoft Outlook 97
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Availble:  March 1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-536-9
   Pages:     528
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1073

   Microsoft PowerPoint
   --------------------

   Title:     Running Microsoft PowerPoint 97
   Author:    Stephen Sagman
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-324-2
   Pages:     508
   Includes:  One CD; one chapter on Visual Basic for Applications.
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=782

   Title:     Special Edition Using Microsoft PowerPoint 97
   Author:    Nancy Stevenson
   Publisher: QUE
   Date:      1997

   Microsoft Word
   --------------

   Title:     Microsoft Word 97/Visual Basic Step by Step
   Author:    Michael Halvorson and Chris Kinata
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      April 1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-388-9
   Pages:     320
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1048

   Title:     Special Edition Using Microsoft Word 97
   Author:    Ron Person
   Publisher: QUE

   Title:     Word 97 Macro and VBA Handbook
   Author:    Guy Hart-Davis
   Publisher: SYBEX, Inc.
   Date:      April 1997
   ISBN:      0-7821-1962-X
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://www.sybex.com/cgi-bin/bookpg.pl?1962back.html

   Microsoft Visual Basic
   ----------------------

   Title:     Hardcore Visual Basic, Second Edition
   Author:    Bruce McKinney
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-422-2
   Pages:     760
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=231

   Title:     Microsoft Visual Basic, Deluxe Learning Edition
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      March 1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-551-2
   Pages:     1278
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1262

   Title:     Microsoft Visual Basic 5 Step by Step
   Author:    Michael Halvorson
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      March 1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-435-4
   Pages:     416
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1045

   Title:     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Developer's Workshop,
              Fourth Edition
   Author:    John Clark Craig, Webb
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      May 1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-436-2
   Pages:     752
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1253

   Title:     Advanced Microsoft Visual Basic 5
   Author:    The Mandelbrot Set, Ltd.
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-414-1
   Pages:     832
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1032

   Title:     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Programmer's Guide
   Publisher: Microsoft Press
   Date:      July 1997
   ISBN:      1-57231-604-7
   Pages:     912
   Web Site:  http://mspress.microsoft.com/order/bookpage.asp?title_id=1370

   Title:     Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 5 Fundamentals
   Publisher: Microsoft
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://www.microsoft.com/mastering/

   Title:     Visual Basic 5 Object-Oriented Programming
   Author:    Gene Swartzfager
   Publisher: Coriolis
   ISBN:      1-57610-106-1
   Pages:     600
   Web Site:  http://www.coriolis.com/

   Title:     Visual Basic 5 Developer's Guide
   Author:    Anthony T. Mann
   Publisher: SAMS
   ISBN:      0-6723-1048-1

   Title:     Visual Basic 5 Interactive Course
   Author:    John Harrington, Mark Spenik, Heidi Brumbaugh, Cliff
              Diamond
   Publisher: Waite Group Press
   Date:      March 1997
   ISBN:      1-5716-9077-8

   Title:     Special Edition Using Visual Basic 5
   Author:    Mike McKelvy, Ronald Martinsen, Jeff Webb, Bob Reselman
   Publisher: QUE
   Date:      March 1997
   ISBN:      0-7897-0922-8

   Title:     Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 5
   Publisher: Microsoft
   Includes:  One CD
   Web Site:  http://www.microsoft.com/mastering/

   Title:     Visual Basic Algorithms
   Author:    Rod Stephens
   Publisher: Wiley Computer Publishing
   Web Site:  http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/stephens/vba.htm

Microsoft Knowledge Base on the World Wide Web

Many articles in the Knowledge Base contain sample code for common Visual Basic for Applications solutions. The advantage of accessing the articles online is that you can copy the code from your browser and paste it into a module. This saves you the time it would take to manually enter the code.

To access the Knowledge Base on the Internet, follow these steps:

  1. Connect to the Knowledge Base using the following Web address:

          http://support.microsoft.com/support/a.asp?M=S
    

  2. In the "My search is about" list, click the product you are interested in. To search all products, click All Products.

  3. In the "I want to search for" box, type your question, and then click Find.

    -or-

    If you already have an ARTICLE-ID (Q number), type it in the "I want to search for" box, and then click Find.

    For help on searching, click the Search Hints link.

The following articles answer some frequently asked questions and can help you get started in developing your custom solutions in Visual Basic for Applications. To obtain any of these articles, search on the Q number (that is, the identification number or ARTICLE-ID number) that is associated with each of the following articles. If you are viewing this article online, the ARTICLE-ID number is a hyperlink to the article.

   Microsoft Office
   ----------------

   ARTICLE-ID: Q159748
   Title     : How to Protect VB Code from Unauthorized Access

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161923
   Title     : Troubleshooting Variables and Data Types

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161014
   Title     : How to Animate the Office Assistant

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161246
   Title     : Sample Code to Get User Input From an Office Assistant
               Balloon

   ARTICLE-ID: Q142999
   TITLE     : Tips for Debugging Visual Basic for Applications Code

   Microsoft Access
   ----------------

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162068
   TITLE     : Access 97 Articles Available by Fax or E-Mail: Modules &
               Macros

   ARTICLE-ID: Q147816
   TITLE     : Using Microsoft Access as an Automation Server

   ARTICLE-ID: Q95608
   TITLE     : How to Parse Comma-Separated Text into Multiple Fields

   ARTICLE-ID: Q89610
   TITLE     : Tips on How to Troubleshoot Microsoft Access Macros

   ARTICLE-ID: Q131583
   TITLE     : Sending the Current Record to Word 97 with Automation

   Microsoft Excel
   ---------------

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162320
   TITLE     : Microsoft Excel Articles Available by Fax or E-Mail: VBA

   ARTICLE-ID: Q157416
   TITLE     : How to Assign a Macro to an ActiveX Worksheet Control

   ARTICLE-ID: Q156942
   TITLE     : How to Create an Add-in File in Microsoft Excel 97

   ARTICLE-ID: Q159619
   TITLE     : Sample Macros to Control Menus and Submenus

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161215
   TITLE     : How to Programmatically Create a Collection

   Microsoft Outlook
   -----------------

   Article-ID: Q166368
   Title     : OL97: How to Get Help Programming with Outlook

   Article-ID: Q170783
   Title     : OL97: Q&A: Questions about Customizing or
               Programming Outlook

   ARTICLE-ID: Q160502
   TITLE     : Using Automation to Add Appointments to Microsoft Outlook

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161012
   TITLE     : VBA: How to Create a New Contact Item in Outlook with
               Automation

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161088
   TITLE     : Using Automation to Send a Microsoft Outlook Message

   Microsoft PowerPoint
   --------------------

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162307
   TITLE     : PowerPoint Articles Available by Fax or E-Mail: Programming

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162102
   TITLE     : Introduction to Macro Programming in PowerPoint 97

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162555
   TITLE     : How to use the Presentations.Open Method

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161390
   TITLE     : Sample Code to Display the Selection Type

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162180
   TITLE     : Sample Code to Assign a Random Animation to all Objects

   Microsoft Word
   --------------

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162191
   TITLE     : Word Articles Available by Fax or E-Mail: Programming

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161407
   TITLE     : Word 97: VB Macro Examples to Insert Text into a Document

   ARTICLE-ID: Q159547
   TITLE     : Retrieving Settings From Word Dialog Boxes Using OLE

   ARTICLE-ID: Q162490
   TITLE     : How to Access Sample Macros for Word 97

   ARTICLE-ID: Q146899
   TITLE     : Sample Macros to Scroll to Top or Bottom of Document Window

Internet Newsgroups

The following peer-to-peer newsgroups are available to help you interact with other users of Visual Basic for Applications:

   microsoft.public.access.devtoolkits
   microsoft.public.access.formscoding
   microsoft.public.access.macros
   microsoft.public.access.queries
   microsoft.public.excel.programming
   microsoft.public.excel.sdk
   microsoft.public.officedev
   microsoft.public.outlook97.program_forms
   microsoft.public.vb.ole.automation
   microsoft.public.vb.database.dao
   microsoft.public.vb.database.odbc
   microsoft.public.vb.database.rdo
   microsoft.public.word.vba
   microsoft.public.word.wordbasic

For more information about Microsoft Internet newsgroups, please see the following Microsoft World Wide Web site:

   http://support.microsoft.com/support/news/default.asp

Other Web Resources

The following Web sites are also of interest to Visual Basic for Applications programmers:

   Office Development Web site at the following Web address:

      http://www.microsoft.com/officedev/

   Developer Publications at the following Web address:

      http://www.microsoft.com/msdn/bookmag/

   Microsoft Visual Basic Web site at the following Web address:

      http://www.microsoft.com/vbasic/

   Microsoft Developer Network online at the following Web address:

      http://www.microsoft.com/msdn/

   Visual Basic Online Developer (from Pinnacle Publishing Inc.) at
   the following Web address:

      http://www.pinpub.com/vbd/

   Visual Basic Power Source at the following Web address:

      http://www.mcp.com/resources/prog/frame_vbps.html

      -or-

      http://www.mcp.com/resources/prog/vbpsfree/vb5.htm

   Summit Web site for Microsoft VBA at the following Web address:

      http://www.summsoft.com/vba/


Additional query words: 8.00 URL help xlvbainfo kbref ppt97 powerpnt
ppt8 OFF97 acc acc97 acc8 access97 access8 excel97 xl xl97 XL98 OFF98 vbwin
ol97 ACC98 ACCESS98 PPT98 EXCEL98 WORD98 OutSol OutSol97O utSol98
Keywords : kb3rdparty kbprg PgmOthr kbfaq
Version : WINDOWS:97; MACINTOSH:98
Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo


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Last reviewed: March 13, 1998
© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.