Customer Reviews

Definitive Guide to Excel VBA

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Probably the two books to compare with are Walkenbach's "EXCEL 2000 Power Programming", and Green's "EXCEL 2000 VBA". A related book that is a description of the language with nothing about the EXCEL object model is Lomax "VB & VBA in a Nutshell".

Kofler can be cryptic at times. As explanation, he says (p. 336) "The long and the short of it is that you [dear reader] will not be spared the opportunity to do a bit of experimenting yourself". An example of this brevity is the treatment of the MsgBox, which is used to interrogate the user of the spreadsheet and offer a variety of choices. Kofler provides an example on p. 220, and refers the reader to the online help for amplification. In contrast, Julitta Korol offers over 7 pages of examples and tables using this function. The pro of brevity is many features can be outlined, and the reader can find the additional info for free. The con is that the reader won't appreciate the full utility of the feature without perusing the online help in some detail.

Compared to Walkenbach, Kofler has more about features new to EXCEL 2000. For instance, Kofler has subroutines illustrating the use of the Implements statement in VBA, while Walkenbach lists it as a statement with no comment, Green doesn't even mention it. Lomax has a complete discussion pp. 373 - 375. Kofler also describes the manipulation of files using the FSO (File System Objects) Library (pp. 245ff.), a new feature.

Compared to Green, Kofler is almost entirely exposition, while pp. 343-695 of Green is a listing of the EXCEL 2000 and VBE object models, which I personally find not too useful. However, because the first 245 pages of Green is compact, I find it easier to find information there.

Kofler definitely is a notch more advanced than Walkenbach, at least as knowledgeable, and much better organized. In fact, although there is a lot of overlap, it is handy to have both books because it is usually possible to find what you want in Kofler, and then (sometimes) use Walkenbach for a more detailed hand-holding example. However, finding something in Walkenbach by itself requires luck because of his poor organization and index.

None of the three EXCEL books describes the special status of sub main().

Bottom line: Buy Green first (cheapest), Kofler second and Walkenbach last.

I won't say this book is "the only Excel VBA book you will need" -- there is no such kind of thing for programming books. However, I like to say it is one of the best and definitive guides to Excel VBA. The most important thing is that there are several advanced topics you won't find on the other popular Excel VBA books (such as Excel 2002 VBA programminer's Reference by Stephen Bullen, John Green et al. or Excel 2002 Power Programming with VBA by John Walkenback): for instance, recursion, details of random numbers generation, matrix functions, automatic data reporting, OLAP functionality and using Excel as ActiveX server. However, I also must say this book is definitely not for the beginners to learn VBA.

Compared to Walkenbach books (like Excel 2002 / 2000 power programming with VBA) and many others, this book is truly worth its title. Its clear and very well structurated plan means all information can be found easily and everything understood without pain. This is paramount since a book main and unique goal is to transmit information. Its design and layout, clear, eye-pleasing and professional, strengthens this crucial aspect. With Walkenbach, the reader has to collect elements throughout all chapters them combine them to get an idea of a particular topic!!! With this book, the reader knows what he'll find and where. For example, all error handling is included in one part while all functions are sorted by theme (math, date etc.) It's incredible that having a coherent and clear organization, which should be basic, is not in Walkenbach books!?

Furthermore, this book reveals many important and little documented points tied to Excel VBA, ranging from range and cells to many critical points like external data access with true database programs, which are even not dealed in some self-proclamed 'expert' books, like Walkenbach's. Besides, it exhibits many trips and tricks that allow fast, clean programs and avoir many troubles by grouping all points linked to a particular problem.

Third, the writting is not terse: with irony, and a great amount of objectivity, qualities which seem to evaporate in Walkenbach and others (which very often sound like a Microsoft ad), it clearly explains and demonstrates the limits and bugs of Excel VBA.

Fourth, the companion CD Rom is truly useful, loaded with many pratical and real-life examples and solutions. Again, Walkenbach, after saying virtually every page the HE is the author, the creator and so forth, with its constant I-do-this mentality, provides a software wich is not usable since the reader has to send a coupon card!

Finally, this is the book to have for truly mastering Excel VBA, without pain but with efficiency.

When I purchased this book I assumed that because I have some VB experience and am fairly well versed with Excel that this book would fill the gap for me to pick up VBA. Sadly, this was not the case. Specifically, the nuts and bolts of interest to a VBA beginner are for the most part placed in one mammoth 150 page chapter. The frustrating subject of addressing and manipulating ranges, especially across sheets, is not covered in any depth. Example code is scarce and I couldn't get some of the sample code to work at all. Some of the language is convoluted possibly a result of being translated from the original german. In fairness, I did not get much past chapter 5 so perhaps once I'm up to speed the rest of the book may prove more helpful. Also the index is quite good especially compared to some other computer books I've seen.

If you're a beginner I would recommend J. Walkenbach's website on VBA for Excel. Also, chapter 14 of "Excel For Chemists" by E.J. Billo is an excellent source for learning how to reference ranges.

This is a great book for the intermediate to advanced Excel VBA user. It covers many fine details missed by other Excel VBA texts. This does NOT make this text better than others that focus on basic skills for VBA Application programming. Beginners may get lost in the depth of the details but experienced users will be very happy with the depth of knowledge that makes the difference between a good application and a great application. Buy this book after you master the fundamentals. Highly recommended.

If you only plan to buy one book on Excel VBA (and trust me, one may be enough for most people!), then this is it. Mr. Kofler gives a comprehensive treatment of the subject matter that is structured in a logical and progressive manner. New, intermediate, and even advanced programmers are sure to find nuggets of valuable information in these 900+ pages.

Several chapters are directly related to database applications within Excel which is a strong plus for me. I haven't found another book that covers Excel databases so it was a welcome addition.

This book was my bible for VBA & Excel while creating an application for work. I thought about getting Walkenbach's "EXCEL 2000 Power Programming", but my dad owned that one so I figured I could always borrow it if needed - but I never did need it.

I had not written a single line of Visual Basic or VBA prior to getting this book - I learned everything I needed here. (Although I had plenty of experience in C++/Java).

A few comments - I liked his style of mostly providing textual descriptions of all the different Excel classes, methods, and properties. There's not a lot of code in the book - but I never missed it. He provided clear enough descriptions of how to use the Excel object model, that I didn't need a ton of printed code to reinforce (don't get me wrong, there IS code within the book + the sample CD, just not pages and pages reflecting an entire application he's building up, like you get in a cookbook). If you prefer to just cut&paste code from a book into your own app, then you might be better off with Walkenbach's book.

The book was originally written in German and then translated to English, but I only remember one or two times where that became evident.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

I Like the Convention of the Book and the Style. And I think the coverage of ADO and Data Access was Adequate for someone new to the Accessing External Data. I feel the book gives a fair and meaningful explanation to the recordset, cursor, and cursor types is usually what is lacking in the Documentation and in other books.

There are some components missing such as a description of the IDE and settings and how to use the development environment. This would be helpful for users who aren't familiar with the VB IDE. I also feel that the author should have covered the Range names a little better.

My main gripe is the programming style presented in the book. Some of the subs and functions presented are declared as variants when they should be declared as a specific datatype.
Several functions also return variants as datatypes. While the code will work, it could present problems with this and next version of VBA(VSA) which is modeled after the .NET which doesn't promote the variant type. There also is an overhead in doing it this way because the variant type is larger to accomodate all data types. There is also a lack of cleanup, i.e. setting object variables to nothing when the procedure ends.

Although the book discusses the forms library. The text and the examples don't stress naming the form controls with more meaningful titles. Trying to write code for controls whose name is Checkbox1, Checkbox2, isn't so intuitive. Especially when referred by another control. I would name them chkFormatBold, chkFormatItalic. It also is more practical especially when you have alot of controls on the form.

There is also a lack of information on invoking /accessing add-in procedures like solver, analysis toolpak, etc.

Still, this is good for a beginner/amateur.

It is a good book for all levels of Excel VBA learners. It is comprehensive, covers many important topics such as chart programming, forms, pivot tables, basic Excel programming techniques, etc , and provides a lot of good information on each topic. But the examples are not very good.
I bought it because I can't find any other better book on this subject in Sydney bookstores.

This book has proved a life saver on more than one occasion. It is written in easy to understand language and organized in a way that doesn't force you to read the entire chapter to glean the one tidbit of information you were searching for. If you are looking for a tutorial style book, this isn't it, however if you are looking for a book that gives you answers quick - you're in luck. It has a thorough, helpful index. My one gripe is that I have found that the examples are a little scarce. I would like to see more examples of actual code. All in all, I am very pleased with my decision to purchase this book.