Create File Associations in Windows June 28, 2007

This is cool. I just came across a commandline tool for creating and listing file associations in windows. The assoc command will list all the associations and assoc .=txtfile will make all files without extensions text files (ie, README). Cygwin doesn’t seem to be able to find assoc so it must be run from a cmd window.

Excel Add-In May 27, 2007

I finally created an add-in for Excel that includes many of the tools that I use all the time and have outlined on this site. The add-in will create a new menu in Excel and setup a number of shortcuts. Here are some of the more useful ones:

• Ctrl-Shift-C - Automatically color selected cells based on their content (values=blue, formula=black, ref to another sheet=green, offset=red)
• Ctrl-Shift-U - Toggle an underline for the selected cells
• Ctrl-Shift-O - Toggle an overline for the selected cells
• Ctrl-Shift-A - Toggle center (Align) across the selected cells
• Ctrl-Shift-V - Paste just values
• Conditional Deletes - Delete any cell/row from the current selection that is a duplicate of the prior cell
• Format selected cells as multiples (ie, “4.75x”) - A toolbar button is added to the format toolbar

More...

Toggle Bullet and Sub-Bullet July 26, 2005

When I feel like getting fancy, it can be nice to include a bulleted list in an Excel sheet to describe assumptions, etc. This is actually pretty easy to do, but requires adding some odd characters. This macro will add a character and change the font of a cell to create a bullet. If you run this macro on a cell which already contains a bullet, an arrow shaped sub-bullet is inserted instead.

' Toggles a bullet and an arrow
' Copyright under GPL by Mark Grimes
' Keyboard Shortcut: Crtl+Shift+B
'
Sub mgBullet()
    If ActiveCell.Formula = "l" Then
        Selection.Font.Name = "Wingdings"
        ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "bullet"
        ' Replace the text bullet with the bullet symbole from Wingdings
        ' Found that others don't have wingdings 3, it's sub-bullet was better
        ' Selection.Font.Name = "Wingdings 3"
        ' ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "}"
    Else
        Selection.Font.Name = "Wingdings"
        ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "l"
    End If

    With Selection
        .HorizontalAlignment = xlCenter
        .VerticalAlignment = xlBottom
        .WrapText = False
        .Orientation = xlHorizontal
    End With
End Sub

Backup Current File July 26, 2005

This is one of my favorites. It saves a copy of the current file in the ‘Backup’ directory if one exists under the directory in which the file is currently saved. It saves the files with an incrementing two digit number after the filename (before the .xls extension). A cap of 50 backups is imposed just to keep from taking up too much disk space (my models tend to be BIG).

' Save a copy of the current file.
' Copyright under GPL by Mark Grimes
' Keyboard Shortcut: Crtl+Shift+S
'    Will save in the "Backup" subdirectory if it exists.
'    Will attempt to add an index number upto 50.
'
Sub mgSaveBackup()
    p0$ = ActiveWorkbook.Path
    If Dir(p0$ & "\Backup", vbDirectory) <> "" Then
        p$ = p0$ & "\Backup"
    End If

    n0$ = ActiveWorkbook.Name
    If Right(n0$, 4) <> ".xls" And Right(n0$, 4) <> ".XLS" Then
        MsgBox "File must be a previously saved '.xls' file."
        End
    End If
    n$ = Left(n0$, Len(n0$) - 4)

    i = 0
    Do
        i = i + 1
    Loop Until (Dir(p$ & "\" & n$ & "." & Application.Text(i, "00") & ".xls") = "") Or (i > 50)

    If i > 50 Then
        MsgBox "No more than 50 backup's can be made."
        End
    End If

    response = MsgBox("File to be backed-up as:" & Chr(10) _
            & p$ & "\" & n$ & "." & Application.Text(i, "00") & ".xls", vbOKCancel)

    If response = vbOK Then
        'FileCopy p0$ & "\" & n0$, p$ & "\" & n$ & "." & i & ".xls"
        ActiveWorkbook.SaveCopyAs p$ & "\" & n$ & "." & Application.Text(i, "00") & ".xls"
    Else
        MsgBox "Backup aborted!"
    End If
End Sub

Toggle Under/Overlines July 25, 2005

When formatting a Excel sheet underlining or overlining (which appears as if you underlined the cell above) a cell often looks much better than just underlining the contents of the cell (ctrl-u). This macro will toggle the under/overlines for all the selected sells.

' Toggles Underlines
' [% coypright %]
' Keyboard Shortcur: Crtl+Shift+U
'
Sub mgSetUnderline()
    If Selection.Borders(xlBottom).LineStyle = xlNone Then
        With Selection.Borders(xlBottom)
            .Weight = xlThin
            .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic
        End With
    Else
        Selection.Borders(xlBottom).LineStyle = xlNone
    End If
End Sub

' Toggles Overlines
' Copyright under GPL by Mark Grimes
' Keyboard Shortcur: Crtl+Shift+O
'
Sub mgSetAnOverline()
    If Selection.Borders(xlTop).LineStyle = xlNone Then
        With Selection.Borders(xlTop)
            .Weight = xlThin
            .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic
        End With
    Else
        Selection.Borders(xlTop).LineStyle = xlNone
    End If
End Sub

Outlooks Spam Handler July 25, 2005

The spam filters that we use at work, process all the messages in a particular folder to train the filter. Rather than drag and drop messages, I use the following code to move the selected or active message into the target folder. For each of the public subs, I have a toolbar button which runs the code.

More...

Select Alternate Columns July 25, 2005

I often like to have narrow empty columns between data columns just to make things look nice (cell underlining looks better that way in my opinion). This macro will prompt you for a number of columns per group and then it selects one column per group for the currently selected range (i.e. selecting A5:G5, running the macro and entering 2 would result in columns B, D, and F being selected). Then you can quickly resize those columns to make everything look real pretty.

' Select every other column
' Copyright under GPL by Mark Grimes
'
Sub mgSelectEOther()
    Dim i, mult As Integer
    Dim r, cst As String

    mult = Application.InputBox(prompt:="Select every x columns:", default:=2, Type:=1)

    r = ""
    i = 0
    For Each c In Selection
        i = i + 1
        If i Mod mult = 0 Then
            If (c.Column > 26) Then
                ' tx = c.Column & ": A=" & Asc("A") & ", " & Int(c.Column / 26) & ", " & (c.Column Mod 26)
                ' MsgBox tx
                cst = Chr(Asc("A") - 1 + Int(c.Column / 26)) & Chr(Asc("A") + (c.Column Mod 26) - 1)
            Else
                cst = Chr(Asc("A") + c.Column - 1)
            End If
            r = r & "," & cst & ":" & cst
        End If
    Next
    r = Right(r, Len(r) - 1)
    ' MsgBox r
    ActiveSheet.Range(r).Select
End Sub

Swap Note and Formula July 25, 2005

Here are two routines that pull the formula from a note and put the formula in a note. I had a very specific need for this, but I can’t recall why now.

' Creates a formula from the Note
' Copyright under GPL by Mark Grimes

Sub mgNote2Formula()
    For Each c In Selection.Cells
        c.Formula = c.NoteText
    Next
End Sub

'
' Put the formula in the note
' Copyright under GPL by Mark Grimes
Sub mgFormulaToNote()
    For Each c In Selection.Cells
        c.NoteText (c.Formula)
    Next
End Sub

Outlook Folder List July 25, 2005

For the previous hack, I often had a hard time finding the correct folder to monitor. This bit of code will list all the top level folders for you.

' Copyright under GPL by Mark Grimes
' list folders by poping up msg box windows
Private Sub ListFolders()
    Dim objNS As NameSpace
    Dim objFolders, objFolder
    Set objNS = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")

    ' instantiate Items collections for folders we want to monitor
    Set objFolders = objNS.Folders
    For Each objFolder In objFolders
        MsgBox objFolder.Name
    Next
    Set objNS = Nothing
End Sub

Combine Cells July 25, 2005

This routine combines the selected cells into one long string in the current cell.

' Combine cells
' Copyright under GPL by Mark Grimes

Sub mgCombineCells()
    t = ""
    For Each c In Selection.Cells
        t = t & Trim(c.Formula) & " "
    Next
    t = Left(t, Len(t) - 1)
    ActiveCell.Formula = t
End Sub