VBA - Necessary Evil In Small Business
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Anyone out there in a shop where VBA is king, especially with Excel? I am far from a developer but when things are slow, they want me learning and improving our huge VBA projects. And they are huge. One handles all of the calculations and export files to our roll forming machines. So, suffice to say, it is major here.
Many people say run from VBA but in a small business, it kind of is your friend.
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I guess from what I hear it's better to be running something like C# or C++ but if it fits the business needs and is already being used then stick with it.
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@lance said:
I guess from what I hear it's better to be running something like C# or C++ but if it fits the business needs and is already being used then stick with it.
Well, perhaps when I learn C# or another language, I could in theory rewrite some of these apps but we first import a lot of numbers from a metal building software program into Excel, crunch and manipulate the numbers in Excel through a lot of VBA code and export to a roll forming machine...may be on this for a good while...
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Can you use C# where VBA is used - inside of apps? If so, definitely drop VBA for forever. But, AFAIK, VBA is required for Office automation.
But never use VBA someplace that it isn't absolutely the only choice. It is extra effort and difficult to maintain and does not translate to other areas. Using C# is easier from the start and more powerful as you expand.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Can you use C# where VBA is used - inside of apps? If so, definitely drop VBA for forever. But, AFAIK, VBA is required for Office automation.
But never use VBA someplace that it isn't absolutely the only choice. It is extra effort and difficult to maintain and does not translate to other areas. Using C# is easier from the start and more powerful as you expand.
I am 1-3 years away from that...I first need to get in and wrap my mind around the process of it all...yes, I've been here three years but tend to get too busy with admin stuff.
This progress/process is so messy and so important too, that it will take not only training and study but kid gloves to make sure the calculations are not messed up. If it is off at all, could cost $1,000's in crap metal...
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Where are you using VBA today? Is it just inside Excel?
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@scottalanmiller said:
Where are you using VBA today? Is it just inside Excel?
The major project is an XLA file with TONS of VBA code. When you open this main Excel sheet for this project, it imports in the XLA file so it can do the work. It is a mess of gigantic proportions yet it works because I rarely touch the code.
We have several contract, change and change request apps with ungodly amount of tabs and then tons of code as well.
Then we have at least 20 more sheets with code or macro-generated code. This was firmly in place when I got here and I doubt it is going away anytime soon until I have time to devote to understand the processes, understand the code, learn how it interacts with other Excel/VBA projects (and they do, in addition to going reading and sometimes writing to SQL), learn an new language (who has the time) and then converting...
Suffice to say, we are currently up to our eyeballs in Excel and VBA.
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I'm trying to kill off Access and VBA here. Despite starting my career as an Access/VBA developer, I hate it now. Unfortunately there a couple of wannabe amateur Access developers here with too much time on their hands who "helpfully" develop Access solutions for users after I tell the users I'm not doing it. It's starting to become a major issue that I need to deal with.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
I'm trying to kill off Access and VBA here. Despite starting my career as an Access/VBA developer, I hate it now. Unfortunately there a couple of wannabe amateur Access developers here with too much time on their hands who "helpfully" develop Access solutions for users after I tell the users I'm not doing it. It's starting to become a major issue that I need to deal with.
if you can get management buy in - why not an SQL setup instead of Access?
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I'm trying to get people to develop and use our ERP system rather doing their own thing. It's the "doing their own thing" bit that I don't like, not the database behind it. Unfortunately, I'm the only one who can develop our ERP system. And if I'm a bottleneck then people will find ways of moving without me.
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Once I can get caught up on Sys. Admin stuff (will I ever), I have a long term plan for this (and thanks to everyone here.)...first up is understanding the total process of every VBA project, starting with the most complex one. Then the code and basics of VBA. finally, learn the best language to do what these processes in.
I've got access to several good VBA books, Channel 9, Lynda.com...finding the time...that's the trick...
