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COMMENTS

Welcome to the 7th issue of the Excel Experts E-letter (or EEE), by 
David Hager. EEE is a semi-monthly publication. Feel free to distribute
copies of EEE to your friends and colleagues. 


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EXCEL 2000 DESIGN IRREGULARITIES

Considering the large amount of private and public beta testing of Excel 
2000 and the relatively small number of changes that were made, you might 
have thought that this version would be basically error-free. Well, at
least Microsoft is doing a good job of reporting problems. Here are some 
of the problems associated with copy/pasting.

When you copy and paste cells, copied formulas are pasted as static values; 
the formulas are not copied. This problem occurs when you copy cells that 
are not one contiguous range of cells. For example, you select the range 
A1:A5, C1:C5, copy the cells, and paste them all as one block in cell D1.
This problem also existed in Excel 97. See:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q210/7/25.asp

Since the new Office Clipboard stores only values, you cannot use it to
copy/paste formulas. However, it may appear that you can, but the formulas
are actually coming from the Windows Clipboard. See:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q209/2/84.asp

There are problems with the cut/pasting of formulas containing 3D references.
See:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q215/2/17.asp


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POWER FORMULA TECHNIQUE

Created by David Hager

The goal is to create a way to tranform a string into a sorted string. This 
can be easily done with an user-defined function, as shown below.

Option Base 1

Function SortStr(uSortStr As String) As String
    Dim sArr()
    Dim newStr As String
    Dim store As String
    Dim strlen As Integer 
    strlen = Len(uSortStr)
    ReDim sArr(strlen)
    For s = 1 To strlen
        sArr(s) = Mid(uSortStr, s, 1)
    Next
    For i = 1 To UBound(sArr) - 1
        For j = i + 1 To UBound(sArr)
            If sArr(i) > sArr(j) Then
                store = sArr(i)
                sArr(i) = sArr(j)
                sArr(j) = store
            End If
        Next
    Next
    newStr = ""
    For r = 1 To strlen
        newStr = newStr & sArr(r)
    Next
    SortStr = newStr
End Function

The SortStr function returns a string sorted in ascending order, but it could
be easily modified with a second argument to choose ascending or descending 
order. 

Although this can be done with an UDF, the challenge is there to accomplish 
the same goal by just using worksheet formulas. Part of the solution shown 
below is somewhat kludgy, due to the lack of an Excel function that 
concatenates elements of an array into a string (perhaps this can be done 
with the CALL function, though). The following defined name formula 
transforms a string into a sorted array of characters that comprise the 
string (the active cell must be B1 during the creation of this formula). 

Define sArr as:

=CHAR(SMALL(CODE(MID(A1,ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(A1))),1)),
ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(!A1)))))

The MID function creates the array of characters. The CODE function returns 
the ASCII code number for each character in the array. The SMALL function 
sorts the array of code numbers in ascending order. Finally, the CHAR 
function returns the ASCII character for each code number in the array.

In order to convert the array into a string, the following defined name 
formula was created for each character in the string. 

Define zz1 as:

=IF(ISERROR(INDEX(sArr,1)),"",INDEX(sArr,1))

where the number argument in the INDEX function indicates the character 
position in the array.

These formulas are concatenated by the following defined name formula.

Define SortString as:

=zz1&zz2&zz3&zz4&zz5&...etc

Of course, this will only work for strings that <= the # of formulas that 
have been concatenated. Now, if you type =SortStr in a cell to the right of a
cell containing a string, the sorted string will be returned. I don't know 
if there is a burning need for the preceding techniques, but it has been an 
interesting exercise<g>.

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VBA CODE EXAMPLES 

Created by Rob Bovey

Here is a data encryption/decryption method for strings.

Option Explicit

Sub Test()

    Dim szTest As String
    
    szTest = "My dog has fleas."
    
    ''' Encrypt the string
    EncryptDecrypt szTest
    MsgBox szTest
    
    ''' Decrypt the string
    EncryptDecrypt szTest
    MsgBox szTest
    
End Sub


''' This procedure is a quick and dirty encryption/decryption
''' device. It will process as much text as you can load into
''' a string variable and it is *very* fast. I've encrypted
''' entire documents worth of text with it.
'''
''' You can store the encrypted text in a text file or the
''' registry for later retrieval and decryption.
'''
''' szData  The string you want to encrypt/decrypt.
'''         Pass the string through once to encrypt it.
'''         Pass it through a second time to decrypt it.
'''

Sub EncryptDecrypt(ByRef szData As String)

    Const lKEY_VALUE As Long = 215
    
    Dim bytData() As Byte
    Dim lCount As Long
    
    bytData = szData
    
    For lCount = LBound(bytData) To UBound(bytData)
        bytData(lCount) = bytData(lCount) Xor lKEY_VALUE
    Next lCount

    szData = bytData
    
End Sub

Sub ViewDecrEncr()
    EncryptDecrypt "This is a test."
    MsgBox szData
End Sub


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POWER PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUE

By Leo Heuser

This procedure provides a workaround for the glaring lack of accessibility
in VBA for manipulating custom number formats. To do this, it hacks into 
the Number Format dialog box with SendKeys. It loops through each item, 
including those custom number formats that have been orphaned from the 
worksheet. The dialog box flickers upon each opening, but it works! If 
anyone comes up with a way to eliminate the flicker, let me know.

Sub DeleteUnusedCustomNumberFormats()
    Dim Buffer As Object
    Dim Sh As Object
    Dim SaveFormat As Variant
    Dim fFormat As Variant
    Dim nFormat() As Variant
    Dim xFormat As Long
    Dim Counter As Long
    Dim Counter1 As Long
    Dim Counter2 As Long
    Dim StartRow As Long
    Dim EndRow As Long
    Dim Dummy As Variant
    Dim pPresent As Boolean
    Dim NumberOfFormats As Long
    Dim Answer
    Dim c As Object
    Dim DataStart As Long
    Dim DataEnd As Long
    Dim AnswerText As String

    NumberOfFormats = 1000
    ReDim nFormat(0 To NumberOfFormats)
    AnswerText = "Do you want to delete unused custom formats from the workbook?"
    AnswerText = AnswerText & Chr(10) & "To get a list of used and unused formats only, choose No."
    Answer = MsgBox(AnswerText, 259)
    If Answer = vbCancel Then GoTo Finito

    On Error GoTo Finito
    Worksheets.Add.Move after:=Worksheets(Worksheets.Count)
    Worksheets(Worksheets.Count).Name = "CustomFormats"
    Worksheets("CustomFormats").Activate
    Set Buffer = Range("A2")
    Buffer.Select
    nFormat(0) = Buffer.NumberFormatLocal
    Counter = 1
    Do
        SaveFormat = Buffer.NumberFormatLocal
        Dummy = Buffer.NumberFormatLocal
        DoEvents
        SendKeys "{tab 3}{down}{enter}"
        Application.Dialogs(xlDialogFormatNumber).Show Dummy
        nFormat(Counter) = Buffer.NumberFormatLocal
        Counter = Counter + 1
    Loop Until nFormat(Counter - 1) = SaveFormat

    ReDim Preserve nFormat(0 To Counter - 2)

    Range("A1").Value = "Custom formats"
    Range("B1").Value = "Formats used in workbook"
    Range("C1").Value = "Formats not used"
    Range("A1:C1").Font.Bold = True

    StartRow = 3
    EndRow = 16384

    For Counter = 0 To UBound(nFormat)
        Cells(StartRow, 1).Offset(Counter, 0).NumberFormatLocal = nFormat(Counter)
        Cells(StartRow, 1).Offset(Counter, 0).Value = nFormat(Counter)
    Next Counter

    Counter = 0
    For Each Sh In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets
        If Sh.Name = "CustomFormats" Then Exit For
        For Each c In Sh.UsedRange.Cells
            fFormat = c.NumberFormatLocal
            If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountIf(Range(Cells(StartRow, 2), Cells(EndRow, 2)), fFormat) = 0 Then
                Cells(StartRow, 2).Offset(Counter, 0).NumberFormatLocal = fFormat
                Cells(StartRow, 2).Offset(Counter, 0).Value = fFormat
                Counter = Counter + 1
            End If
        Next c
    Next Sh

    xFormat = Range(Cells(StartRow, 2), Cells(EndRow, 2)).Find("").Row - 2
    Counter2 = 0
    For Counter = 0 To UBound(nFormat)
        pPresent = False
        For Counter1 = 1 To xFormat
            If nFormat(Counter) = Cells(StartRow, 2).Offset(Counter1, 0).NumberFormatLocal Then
                pPresent = True
            End If
        Next Counter1
        If pPresent = False Then
            Cells(StartRow, 3).Offset(Counter2, 0).NumberFormatLocal = nFormat(Counter)
            Cells(StartRow, 3).Offset(Counter2, 0).Value = nFormat(Counter)
            Counter2 = Counter2 + 1
        End If
    Next Counter
    With ActiveSheet.Columns("A:C")
        .AutoFit
        .HorizontalAlignment = xlLeft
    End With
    If Answer = vbYes Then
        DataStart = Range(Cells(1, 3), Cells(EndRow, 3)).Find("").Row + 1
        DataEnd = Cells(DataStart, 3).Resize(EndRow, 1).Find("").Row - 1
        On Error Resume Next
        For Each c In Range(Cells(DataStart, 3), Cells(DataEnd, 3)).Cells
            ActiveWorkbook.DeleteNumberFormat (c.NumberFormat)
        Next c
    End If
Finito:
    Set c = Nothing
    Set Sh = Nothing
    Set Buffer = Nothing
End Sub




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EXCEL 2000 PROGRAMMING TIP

Created by David Hager

The Spreadsheet Component has an extensive object model similar to Excel 
itself, but one of the features it does not have is the ability to use
array formulas. Presented below is a workaround to that deficiency that
allows the entering of an array formula in a Spreadsheet cell and the 
calculation of that formula to afford the result in the cell. However,
the calculation is actually performed on a worksheet named "slink" in 
the workbook containing this application. So, for this to work you need an
UserForm with a CommandButton (named CommandButton1) and a visible Spreadsheet
Component (named Spreadsheet1) and the worksheet named "slink". Place this 
code in the UserForm module. When you want to calculate an array formula in 
the Spreadsheet Component, you click the button and type your formula in 
a cell. You can change what is initially in the Spreadsheet Component at
design time, and that data is updated on the slink worksheet at run time
by the Initialize event. Subsequent changes are handled by the Calculate
event of the Spreadsheet Component.

Public EAF As Boolean


Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
    EAF = True
End Sub

Private Sub Spreadsheet1_Calculate(ByVal EventInfo As 
	OWC.SpreadsheetEventInfo)

    Dim pRange As Range
    Dim aCell As Range

    If Not EAF Then Exit Sub

    On Error Resume Next

    Application.EnableEvents = False

     If Spreadsheet1.ActiveCell.Formula = "" Then
         EAF = False
        Exit Sub
     End If  

    Set pRange = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("sLink").Range(Spreadsheet1. _
    ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Address)

    Set aCell = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("sLink").Range(Spreadsheet1. _
    ActiveCell.Address)

    Spreadsheet1.ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Copy

    pRange.PasteSpecial

    Spreadsheet1.ActiveCell.Formula = Application.Evaluate(aCell.Formula)

    EAF = False

End Sub


Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()

    Dim pRange As Range
    Dim aCell As Range

    Application.EnableEvents = False

    Set pRange = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("sLink").Range(Spreadsheet1. _
    ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Address)

    Spreadsheet1.ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Copy

    pRange.PasteSpecial

End Sub

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DID YOU KNOW?...

that the Spreadsheet Component calculates dates differently than Excel. In
fact, it works much better! See:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q210/7/82.asp

for details and

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q216/5/78.asp

for information on calculation differences between Excel 2000 and
the Spreadsheet Component.


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Issue No.7 OF EEE (PUBLISHED 15Jun1999)
Next issue scheduled for 01Jul1999.
BY David Hager
dchager@compuserve.com

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