Create an addin in Excel5/95

 1999-04-15    Addins    0    102

Describe the contents of the addin workbook

  1. Select File, Properties
  2. Select Summary.
  3. In the field Comments you can add a description of the addin workbook contents. This description will be displayed in the Addin Manager dialogbox when the user selects the addin.

Statusbar information

The statusbar can display a description text that informs the user what task the menu will perform when the user selects a menuitem. This can be done by filling in information in the field for statusbar text when you have the dialog Macrooptions displayed.

The statusbartext can also be edited by editing the property StatusBar for toolbarbuttons by using VBA code.(applies to Excel95 or newer)

Accessibility

Worksheetfunctions in addin workbooks will be displayed in the Function-Wizard under the category Userdefined if nothing else is applied for the macro options. Ordinary macro procedures should be started by a menu or a toolbarbutton. The use of shortcut-keys is not recommended. It's not always easy for a user to guess which keys to press to perform a task using the addin. Custom shortcut-keys will often come in conflict with the built-in shortcut-keys in Excel or any other custom shortcut-keys already assigned by the user. And the fact that you never use that shortcut-key is no guarantee that all the other's don't.

Saving the addin workbook

When you are ready to create the addin, remember to save the original workbook. It's (usually) not possible to make changes to an addin. So if you want to make changes later to the addin, you will have to use the original workbook that created the addin to make the changes in, and then create a new addin.

Here is how you create the addin:

  1. Activate a module sheet.
  2. Select Tools, Save addin...
  3. In the dialogbox Create addin you may enter a valid filename, and then select the drive and folder where you want to save the addin.
  4. Click on the Save-button.
The new addin workbook is now saved and ready to be installed.