Am I too stupid to program VBA?
| Author |
Message |
|
cinebur
#1 / 4
|
 Am I too stupid to program VBA? I'm getting frustrated. I'm not a stupid person in general. I'm 28, and have a good job in a good company. I'm great with computers (I've built several), and am really good at troubleshooting software and hardware problems. My job involves digital video, and I'm well versed in the intricacies of High Definition Television Systems and formats. At work, I'm one of the most knowledgeable people on the floor regarding
Word, Excel and Outlook (all 2000) (our most used programs). A few years
ago, I decided I'd like to learn how to program. I decided Visual Basic
would be my language of choice. I bought Visual Basic 5 and "Visual Basic 5
for Dummies".
Well, to make a long story short (too late), over the last several years,
I've read 4-5 books on visual basic, written several programs that say
"Hello World" when you press a button, but I'm still at a loss for making a
program that does what I want it to do. I feel like I have an OK
understanding of the Visual Basic language, I just can't use it. For
example, my workday revolves around me filling out two basic forms, one in
Word, the other in Outlook. I've created templates that have a set layout
and a "fill-in-the-blanks" functionality, but I can't move beyond that.
I'm not looking for specific advice. I'm just looking for books or other
resources I might have overlooked that can show me how to implement and
create macros in Office 2000. I have all these ideas for forms that grab
data from an excel spreadsheet to fill themselves in (so I don't have to
manually enter it), or emails that send themselves to the correct people
based on how the form is filled out, but I just stare at the screen and
don't know where to begin writing code. I think the books I've read are too
general, or too specific with their examples. I can understand the specific
examples shown, and understand the principles taught, but I can't bring the
two together to work for me.
And if anyone needs a programmer to write a program that says "Hello World"
at the push of a button, I'm your man.
|
| Wed, 03 Nov 2004 13:35:23 GMT |
|
 |
|
Doug Robbins - Word MV
#2 / 4
|
Am I too stupid to program VBA? Hi Cineburk.
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/MacrosVBA/VBABasicsIn15Mins.htm
and sorry, I just couldn't resist giving you the bad as well:
http://flyingpenguinproductions.com/boards/
Please post any response to the newsgroups for the benefit of others who may
also be following the thread.
Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - Word MVP
Quote: > I'm getting frustrated. I'm not a stupid person in general. I'm 28, and > have a good job in a good company. I'm great with computers (I've built > several), and am really good at troubleshooting software and hardware > problems. My job involves digital video, and I'm well versed in the > intricacies of High Definition Television Systems and formats. > At work, I'm one of the most knowledgeable people on the floor regarding
> Word, Excel and Outlook (all 2000) (our most used programs). A few years
> ago, I decided I'd like to learn how to program. I decided visual basic
> would be my language of choice. I bought Visual Basic 5 and "Visual Basic
5
> for Dummies".
> Well, to make a long story short (too late), over the last several years,
> I've read 4-5 books on visual basic, written several programs that say
> "Hello World" when you press a button, but I'm still at a loss for making
a
> program that does what I want it to do. I feel like I have an OK
> understanding of the Visual Basic language, I just can't use it. For
> example, my workday revolves around me filling out two basic forms, one in
> Word, the other in Outlook. I've created templates that have a set layout
> and a "fill-in-the-blanks" functionality, but I can't move beyond that.
> I'm not looking for specific advice. I'm just looking for books or other
> resources I might have overlooked that can show me how to implement and
> create macros in Office 2000. I have all these ideas for forms that grab
> data from an excel spreadsheet to fill themselves in (so I don't have to
> manually enter it), or emails that send themselves to the correct people
> based on how the form is filled out, but I just stare at the screen and
> don't know where to begin writing code. I think the books I've read are
too
> general, or too specific with their examples. I can understand the
specific
> examples shown, and understand the principles taught, but I can't bring
the
> two together to work for me.
> And if anyone needs a programmer to write a program that says "Hello
World"
> at the push of a button, I'm your man.
|
| Wed, 03 Nov 2004 17:12:50 GMT |
|
|
|
Jonathan Wes
#3 / 4
|
Am I too stupid to program VBA? Hi cineburk, For Word-specific VBA beginners tips and all kinds of help on VBA, take a
look at www.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA.htm
In particular, these three articles may help you
Getting to grips with VBA basics in 15 minutes
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/MacrosVBA/VBABasicsIn15Mins.htm
Creating a macro with no programming experience using the recorder
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/MacrosVBA/UsingRecorder.htm
How to create a Userform
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm
--
Regards
Jonathan West - Word MVP
MultiLinker - Automated generation of hyperlinks in Word
Conversion to PDF & HTML
http://www.multilinker.com
Word FAQs at http://www.multilinker.com/wordfaq
Please post any follow-up in the newsgroup. I do not reply to Word questions
by email
Quote: > I'm getting frustrated. I'm not a stupid person in general. I'm 28, and > have a good job in a good company. I'm great with computers (I've built > several), and am really good at troubleshooting software and hardware > problems. My job involves digital video, and I'm well versed in the > intricacies of High Definition Television Systems and formats. > At work, I'm one of the most knowledgeable people on the floor regarding
> Word, Excel and Outlook (all 2000) (our most used programs). A few years
> ago, I decided I'd like to learn how to program. I decided visual basic
> would be my language of choice. I bought Visual Basic 5 and "Visual Basic
5
> for Dummies".
> Well, to make a long story short (too late), over the last several years,
> I've read 4-5 books on visual basic, written several programs that say
> "Hello World" when you press a button, but I'm still at a loss for making
a
> program that does what I want it to do. I feel like I have an OK
> understanding of the Visual Basic language, I just can't use it. For
> example, my workday revolves around me filling out two basic forms, one in
> Word, the other in Outlook. I've created templates that have a set layout
> and a "fill-in-the-blanks" functionality, but I can't move beyond that.
> I'm not looking for specific advice. I'm just looking for books or other
> resources I might have overlooked that can show me how to implement and
> create macros in Office 2000. I have all these ideas for forms that grab
> data from an excel spreadsheet to fill themselves in (so I don't have to
> manually enter it), or emails that send themselves to the correct people
> based on how the form is filled out, but I just stare at the screen and
> don't know where to begin writing code. I think the books I've read are
too
> general, or too specific with their examples. I can understand the
specific
> examples shown, and understand the principles taught, but I can't bring
the
> two together to work for me.
> And if anyone needs a programmer to write a program that says "Hello
World"
> at the push of a button, I'm your man.
|
| Wed, 03 Nov 2004 17:18:01 GMT |
|
|
|
Cato Antonse
#4 / 4
|
Am I too stupid to program VBA? First of all, you have my sympathy. I don't think you are stupid. ... I guess! ;-) I think 75% of what it takes to be a programmer is to be able to take a
(large) problem and break it down into smaller "steps" that you can convert
to program code. As you've found out, the examples shown in books and
articles will almost allways not solve your spesific problem. They are just
to show a principle. It's your job to take these prinsiples and apply to
your spesific needs.
Here are some tips:
- Write down the steps that you think your program should do. This should be
in English language, but kind of structured like program code. This is
called pseudo-code. It is very helpfull!
- Start with the user interface. Don't do any code yet. This helps you get
quickly started and even see if something should/could be different before
you start coding.
- Then convert your pseudo-code to Visual Basic (or any other language).
Remember not to take a too big bite at a time!
- If you have problems converting pseudo-code to VB because you don't know
how to do it, then your pseudo-code is probably to gereral. See if you can
make it more detailed and spesific.
Hope this help!
Sincerely,
Cato Antonsen
Quote: > I'm getting frustrated. I'm not a stupid person in general. I'm 28, and > have a good job in a good company. I'm great with computers (I've built > several), and am really good at troubleshooting software and hardware > problems. My job involves digital video, and I'm well versed in the > intricacies of High Definition Television Systems and formats. > At work, I'm one of the most knowledgeable people on the floor regarding
> Word, Excel and Outlook (all 2000) (our most used programs). A few years
> ago, I decided I'd like to learn how to program. I decided visual basic
> would be my language of choice. I bought Visual Basic 5 and "Visual Basic
5
> for Dummies".
> Well, to make a long story short (too late), over the last several years,
> I've read 4-5 books on visual basic, written several programs that say
> "Hello World" when you press a button, but I'm still at a loss for making
a
> program that does what I want it to do. I feel like I have an OK
> understanding of the Visual Basic language, I just can't use it. For
> example, my workday revolves around me filling out two basic forms, one in
> Word, the other in Outlook. I've created templates that have a set layout
> and a "fill-in-the-blanks" functionality, but I can't move beyond that.
> I'm not looking for specific advice. I'm just looking for books or other
> resources I might have overlooked that can show me how to implement and
> create macros in Office 2000. I have all these ideas for forms that grab
> data from an excel spreadsheet to fill themselves in (so I don't have to
> manually enter it), or emails that send themselves to the correct people
> based on how the form is filled out, but I just stare at the screen and
> don't know where to begin writing code. I think the books I've read are
too
> general, or too specific with their examples. I can understand the
specific
> examples shown, and understand the principles taught, but I can't bring
the
> two together to work for me.
> And if anyone needs a programmer to write a program that says "Hello
World"
> at the push of a button, I'm your man.
|
| Sun, 07 Nov 2004 19:08:59 GMT |
|
| |
|
