It should not come as a great surprise that we need to focus on how VBA interacts with the Excel™ worksheets data model. By mastering this logic you can develop surprisingly complex and powerful applications that defy the notion of what you can do on a PC. Getting data into a worksheet is not the most complex challenge – many applications already provide the interface file capability we need: comma- or tab delimited files, XML, and an application we use to extract and convert data from different sources. This formalizes some of the concepts we explored in the previous course, so that you now have the tools at your fingertips to create really powerful analytics applications.

Even for applications written in Excel™-VBA there are few restrictions for interacting with external files other than worksheets. Excel has powerful capabilities for interacting with external database systems (including the use of SQL statements). The option to work with external files improves our ability to focus on Excel™-VBA as the tool for developing an executive information system that can integrate data from multiple sources, and on techniques we can employ to collate that data for processing.

In this section we revisit charts, and in particular how you can incorporate charts in your application under VBA program control. When you develop VBA applications that usually means complex information is created that you have to present in a manner suitable for your clients (or employer). We know how to use charts and graphs from an earlier session: here we use charts and graphs in order to output assembled data into the ranges from where the charting logic can present the information, and how that is then activated in order to create the executive view that can be output into a separate workbook if necessary to maintain control over working data. We take a second look at the importance of using visual images to improve on the understanding of the data that has been created.

In the final wrap-up to all 4 courses we review how we can explore more VBA functionality by using the Excel™ Help facilities, and how you develop your own “brand” of VBA expertise based on the typical applications you are involved with. There are many capabilities that we have barely been able to touch on – we could easily have doubled the total hours for this course – and hopefully the course schedule with time in between to work with Excel™ and VBA to explore what you can do has helped to solidify the knowledge you have gained. The adage is “you don’t know what you don’t know until you know what to look for!” and with that the intent is to develop a sense of comfort with the notion that you can rely on Help to fill in the gaps if you are faced with a challenge of how to automate some processes required to meet client (or employer) expectations.

Learning Formats       BPEV_VB4

This course is currently available in a classroom setting (public or company private) with approximately 15 contact hours. The training should be followed by independent learning to gain hands-on practice with what has been learned in class. Since there is no further training the student can be free to decide how lone and how intense to study Excel™-VBA.

PDF – Certificate Of Completion

Each course offers a certificate of completion that identifies the course, the student, and a brief description of the course. To receive a certificate the student must have attended at least 80% of the course sessions. This personalized certificate is forwarded to the student by Email.

PDF – Course Notebook

Each course includes a notebook in PDF format that provides the minimum knowledge the student must master in order to obtain the certificate. In the notebook you will find references to other study materials. Students receive the notebook by Email when their registration is confirmed.

PDF – Program Overview

An overview of this study program can be downloaded from the website by right-clicking on the program link on the enquiry page.

PDF – Current Training Schedule

A list of upcoming training sessions can be downloaded from the website by right-clicking on the schedule link on the enquiry page.

Registration – Service Providers

To register for any training course please look on the enquiry link page of your service provider (from where you accessed this website). On the page you will find a registration request form where you can order the course that you are interested in. The availability dates will be provided to you, along with payment instructions if you decide to go ahead.