Excel & PDFCreator

Creating PDF files from Excel is not always an easy task, especially when we would like to automate it via VBA. Another aspect is that not everyone has access to Adobe Acrobat to create PDF files with.

Ken Puls (a regular poster at VBAX and JMT) has recently published several Excel examples how to create PDF Files with the free tool PDFCreator:

Examples: Excel & PDFCreator (You need to scroll down on the page)

To download the free PDFCreator use this link: PDFCreator

It’s great to see that we have alternative options to create PDF files with. At present I’ve only made some simple tests. So far I’ve noticed that we need to check if there exist any data in the source sheet(s) before calling the PDFCreator.

Does anyone else have experience with it?

Full credit to Ken for publishes good examples on how to use PDFCreator :)

Kind regards,
Dennis

Edit note:
The following post refer to the input about the pdftk tool from Ale: Excel & PDFCreator Take II

Most people probably know about this, but I just discovered it today. You can use Excel’s Speak method in a function. Simple example:

Then you can write a formula that vocalizes the contents of a cell whenever the sheet is calculated. Like:

Or, add a condition using and IF Function. In this case, you hear the lovely voice only if the sum of the values in column A exceed 25,000:

It’s possible that there are some very good uses for this. But I can’t think of any. But it’s kind of fun to play around with.

By the way, Excel’s text-to-speech feature first appeared in Excel 2002, so this won’t work with earlier versions.

Add-ins – Excel Loader – A standalone utility to start Excel and load selected add-ins

This is the last post about add-ins and Windows registry. You can find the previously posts at the following URLs:
Add-ins – Where does Windows store the information?
Add-ins – Working with Windows registry

Before setting the focus on the tool I would like to explicit thanks the following kind people who have helped me out in various ways:

My good friends in the UK:
– Richie Sill (testing the tool and also correct my poor English (not yet done) )
– Will Riley (testing the tool)
Friends in the Netherlands:
– Jan Karel Pieterse (basic testings of the tool with Excel 2007)
– Jurgen Volkerink (aka KeepItCool) for some interesting input and knowledge about COM add-ins and especially about the COM add-ins for the VB-editor.

Any eventually remaining bug(s) or weird behavior(s) of Excel Loader can only be booked on my account.

Excel Loader
Below is a screenshots that shows the main dialog of the tool. Initially the tool read the present settings for the available add-ins when an Excel version has been selected. In the first column (Name) the file name of the add-ins (XLA/XLL) and the ProgID for the COM add-ins are viewed. Additional information about pathways, type of add-in and their status are showed in the second column.

The steps to work with the utility are the following:

# 1 Start Excel Loader.
# 2 Choose version of Excel (only installed versions can be used and so called ghost versions, i e removed previously versions, are ignored).
# 3 Choose if Excel will start with a new workbook or with an existing workbook.
# 4 Choose which add-ins should be loaded (checked) or not (unchecked) when Excel is launched.
# 5 Launch Excel by clicking on the Load Excel button.

Settings
In order to locate the add-ins that are shipped with Microsoft Excel you must configure which main folders Excel Loader should look into. This include also any personal add-ins stored in these main folders.

This is done in the following dialog:

The default settings in the dialog refer to the English version and if you use an English version then click on the Save settings button and close the dialog. If you use another language version you need to change them before saving the settings. The settings are stored in the Windows registry.

Based on my experience with several language versions of Excel it seems that Solver and XLStart are valid main folders for most language versions of Excel. If I’m wrong please let me know.

The installation package is available here for download (my English homepage):
Excel Loader

Excel Loader was originally developed with classic VB (which is the available version for download) but has been ported to Delphi 2006 as I try hard to learn C#.

For those of You who have no interest of the Excel Loader but would like to explore the web help system can access the following URL:
Help System by RoboHelp Office

Speaking about controling add-ins, Charles Williams has developed a nice utility for handling add-ins in a network that may be of interest: Add-in Loader

Finally, if You have any questions about the utility or find a bug please send me an e-mail (the address can be located in the help system) about it or make a comment in this blog.

Kind regards,
Dennis

This article describes a bug recently discovered by Ron de Bruin and which has also
been reported here.

The Application.InputBox function is very useful to get a range from
the user. Unfortunately, this function exposes a bug in Excel (all current
versions!). If the sheet on which a (range of) cell(s) is selected contains
conditional formatting using the : “Formula Is” option, the function may fail,
returning an empty range.

The only reliable workaround is to build a userform to request the range from
the user, which I have included as a download here.

I just read Conrad Systems Development’s Access Junkie Top 10 List. I think we need one for Excel Junkies. Here are some candidates for Top 10 Signs You Are an Excel Junkie, in no particular order.

• When your car breaks down, you open Excel 2003 Power Programming with VBA to learn how to fix it.
• You try to press F8 on your microwave to step through the cooking process and figure out why your popcorn always burns.
• You’ve tried to re-write Quicken in Excel.
• You think in terms of Excel formulas, i.e. =IF(AND(MIN(Temperature, 50)=50, WEEKDAY(NOW(),2)=6, NOT(Rain)),"Play Golf", "Sleep In")
• You’ve painted gridlines on the floor of your house so you can more accurately refer to specific locations. “Pick up those dirty socks at AC314, then F5 back to A1?
• You pine for a Control+Z after answering the infamous “Does this make me look fat?” question.
• When your spouse says “Because I said so” in an argument, you reply:
  

  I cannot resolve your logic. References in your logic refer to your conclusions, creating a circular reference. Try one of the following: If you accidentally created a circular reference, say OK. I will help you correct the reference. For more information about why your logic stinks, say Help. To continue ranting illogically, say Cancel.

• You no longer associate the F1 key with help. (Excel 2003 Junkies only)

Certainly you have some that are better than this. Let’s hear them.

Hi all,

For the very first time I have decided to attend an international Excel conference. The conference will be in London, UK, by the end of July 2006.

The older I get the more I prefer diversity and I have realized that most subjects can be viewed in many different ways, i e there exist usually not one ‘truth’. This is the professional driving force to me to attend and which also explain why I nowadays see learning as a never ending process. However, I will not attend to any class just the conference itself.

It will also be great to see some persons in the real life who I have contact with via forums and lists for several years as well as new faces and names.

I’m pleased to see that the following persons will be among the speakers:
– Andy Pope
– Bob Philips
– Charles Williams
– Simon Murphy

For more information about the conference please see:
2006 UK Excel Conference

After the conference I will make a post about my impressions and conclusions.

Kind regards,
Dennis