I wonder if anyone can recommend resources (books and or etc.) that will help
me make the transition from the XML Macro language to Excel's visual basic. I
consider myself a very competent writer of XML Macros but at Office 2003 and
Mac OSX Tiger I'm beginning to worry how much longer I can expect my Macros
to run.

You have at least through Excel 12 on the Windows side for XLM support. MS
has not committed beyond that and in fact I believe they've indicated that
is the end. So the good news is that you probably have until your customers
switch to Excel 13, perhaps 2009 or 2010 at the earliest.

The bad news is that no one ever wrote a book on going from XLM to VBA, but
it's really not that bad. Like many other developers 10 or so years ago I
had to go from Excel 4 macros to VBA and it wasn't all that difficult. Once
you get over the initial hurdles you'll find it really is far superior to
XLM. My very first impression was that VB was very wordy compared to XLM.
While that is true it often takes less code to do something in VB,
incongruous as that may seem. One reason is that you do not have to select
an object/sheet/range, etc to operate on it. And having a separate
coding/debugging environment in the VBE is a huge plus.

There was a Help file included in Excel 5 or 95 that has a section on XLM
and VBA equivalents. I found this very useful in my transition. It's name
is XLMACR8.HLP. If you want a copy left me know.

Another thing in your favor is that there are a lot of good books on Excel
VBA out there and, although they do not discuss transitioning from XLM, they
do a good job of introducing you to VB and getting you started (and more).

--
Jim
"Martin" wrote in message
...
|I wonder if anyone can recommend resources (books and or etc.) that will
help
| me make the transition from the XML Macro language to Excel's visual
basic. I
| consider myself a very competent writer of XML Macros but at Office 2003
and
| Mac OSX Tiger I'm beginning to worry how much longer I can expect my
Macros
| to run.

Btw, in case anyone is wondering...

Martin asked about the "XML Macro language" but I'm sure from the context
that he meant "XLM Macro language".

Visual Basic of Applications (VBA) was introduced as a macro language with
Excel 5 (in late 1993). Prior to that the macro language in Excel didn't
need a special name since there was nothing to distinguish it from. But
with VBA's arrival the older macro language was referred to as "Excel 4
macros" or "XL4 macros" or, much more rarely, "XLM".

The reason for using "XLM" as a name was because, prior to Excel 5, Excel
did not support multi-sheet workbooks as we know them today. Generally each
worksheet was its own file. XL4 macros were housed on a special kind of
sheet called a "macro sheet". To distinguish a macro sheet from a regular
worksheet they were saved in files with an XLM extension instead of XLS.

--
Jim
"Martin" wrote in message
...
|I wonder if anyone can recommend resources (books and or etc.) that will
help
| me make the transition from the XML Macro language to Excel's visual
basic. I
| consider myself a very competent writer of XML Macros but at Office 2003
and
| Mac OSX Tiger I'm beginning to worry how much longer I can expect my
Macros
| to run.

Many thanks for the encouraging thought about the timeline (I assume it is
the same for MacOS).

Thanks also for your encouraging comments. I have in facvt bought two books
about VBA but in both cases I seem to have bought books that assume a
knowledge that I don't have. Is there an introductory book that you are
comfortable recommending.

My computer cannot find the file XLMACR8.HLP so I would appreciate if you
could email it to me.

"Jim Rech" wrote:

You have at least through Excel 12 on the Windows side for XLM support. MS
has not committed beyond that and in fact I believe they've indicated that
is the end. So the good news is that you probably have until your customers
switch to Excel 13, perhaps 2009 or 2010 at the earliest.

The bad news is that no one ever wrote a book on going from XLM to VBA, but
it's really not that bad. Like many other developers 10 or so years ago I
had to go from Excel 4 macros to VBA and it wasn't all that difficult. Once
you get over the initial hurdles you'll find it really is far superior to
XLM. My very first impression was that VB was very wordy compared to XLM.
While that is true it often takes less code to do something in VB,
incongruous as that may seem. One reason is that you do not have to select
an object/sheet/range, etc to operate on it. And having a separate
coding/debugging environment in the VBE is a huge plus.

There was a Help file included in Excel 5 or 95 that has a section on XLM
and VBA equivalents. I found this very useful in my transition. It's name
is XLMACR8.HLP. If you want a copy left me know.

Another thing in your favor is that there are a lot of good books on Excel
VBA out there and, although they do not discuss transitioning from XLM, they
do a good job of introducing you to VB and getting you started (and more).

--
Jim
"Martin" wrote in message
...
|I wonder if anyone can recommend resources (books and or etc.) that will
help
| me make the transition from the XML Macro language to Excel's visual
basic. I
| consider myself a very competent writer of XML Macros but at Office 2003
and
| Mac OSX Tiger I'm beginning to worry how much longer I can expect my
Macros
| to run.

I don't know a thing about the Mac versions of Excel so I have no idea what
that timeline is.

I haven't actually read a Excel VBA teaching book in many years. I always
thought there were no better books than John Walkenbach's though. His
"Dummies" book may be just the ticket<g:

http://www.j-walk.com/ss/books/index.htm

When you hit a hurdle though you shouldn't hesitate to ask here for help.

I've send the help file to you at . I
wasn't sure whether you could actually receive a file there so let me know
if it doesn't come though (via email).

--
Jim
"Martin" wrote in message
...
| Many thanks for the encouraging thought about the timeline (I assume it is
| the same for MacOS).
|
| Thanks also for your encouraging comments. I have in facvt bought two
books
| about VBA but in both cases I seem to have bought books that assume a
| knowledge that I don't have. Is there an introductory book that you are
| comfortable recommending.
|
| My computer cannot find the file XLMACR8.HLP so I would appreciate if you
| could email it to me.
|
| "Jim Rech" wrote:
|
| You have at least through Excel 12 on the Windows side for XLM support.
MS
| has not committed beyond that and in fact I believe they've indicated
that
| is the end. So the good news is that you probably have until your
customers
| switch to Excel 13, perhaps 2009 or 2010 at the earliest.
|
| The bad news is that no one ever wrote a book on going from XLM to VBA,
but
| it's really not that bad. Like many other developers 10 or so years ago
I
| had to go from Excel 4 macros to VBA and it wasn't all that difficult.
Once
| you get over the initial hurdles you'll find it really is far superior
to
| XLM. My very first impression was that VB was very wordy compared to
XLM.
| While that is true it often takes less code to do something in VB,
| incongruous as that may seem. One reason is that you do not have to
select
| an object/sheet/range, etc to operate on it. And having a separate
| coding/debugging environment in the VBE is a huge plus.
|
| There was a Help file included in Excel 5 or 95 that has a section on
XLM
| and VBA equivalents. I found this very useful in my transition. It's
name
| is XLMACR8.HLP. If you want a copy left me know.
|
| Another thing in your favor is that there are a lot of good books on
Excel
| VBA out there and, although they do not discuss transitioning from XLM,
they
| do a good job of introducing you to VB and getting you started (and
more).
|
| --
| Jim
| "Martin" wrote in message
| ...
| |I wonder if anyone can recommend resources (books and or etc.) that
will
| help
| | me make the transition from the XML Macro language to Excel's visual
| basic. I
| | consider myself a very competent writer of XML Macros but at Office
2003
| and
| | Mac OSX Tiger I'm beginning to worry how much longer I can expect my
| Macros
| | to run.
|
|
|

Hello Jim,
I doubt he can receive mail at that address, but he can download the file
from

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;143466

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Jim Rech" wrote in message
...
I don't know a thing about the Mac versions of Excel so I have no idea
what
that timeline is.

I haven't actually read a Excel VBA teaching book in many years. I always
thought there were no better books than John Walkenbach's though. His
"Dummies" book may be just the ticket<g:

http://www.j-walk.com/ss/books/index.htm

When you hit a hurdle though you shouldn't hesitate to ask here for help.

I've send the help file to you at . I
wasn't sure whether you could actually receive a file there so let me know
if it doesn't come though (via email).

--
Jim
"Martin" wrote in message
...
| Many thanks for the encouraging thought about the timeline (I assume it
is
| the same for MacOS).
|
| Thanks also for your encouraging comments. I have in facvt bought two
books
| about VBA but in both cases I seem to have bought books that assume a
| knowledge that I don't have. Is there an introductory book that you are
| comfortable recommending.
|
| My computer cannot find the file XLMACR8.HLP so I would appreciate if
you
| could email it to me.
|
| "Jim Rech" wrote:
|
| You have at least through Excel 12 on the Windows side for XLM
support.
MS
| has not committed beyond that and in fact I believe they've indicated
that
| is the end. So the good news is that you probably have until your
customers
| switch to Excel 13, perhaps 2009 or 2010 at the earliest.
|
| The bad news is that no one ever wrote a book on going from XLM to
VBA,
but
| it's really not that bad. Like many other developers 10 or so years
ago
I
| had to go from Excel 4 macros to VBA and it wasn't all that difficult.
Once
| you get over the initial hurdles you'll find it really is far superior
to
| XLM. My very first impression was that VB was very wordy compared to
XLM.
| While that is true it often takes less code to do something in VB,
| incongruous as that may seem. One reason is that you do not have to
select
| an object/sheet/range, etc to operate on it. And having a separate
| coding/debugging environment in the VBE is a huge plus.
|
| There was a Help file included in Excel 5 or 95 that has a section on
XLM
| and VBA equivalents. I found this very useful in my transition. It's
name
| is XLMACR8.HLP. If you want a copy left me know.
|
| Another thing in your favor is that there are a lot of good books on
Excel
| VBA out there and, although they do not discuss transitioning from
XLM,
they
| do a good job of introducing you to VB and getting you started (and
more).
|
| --
| Jim
| "Martin" wrote in message
| ...
| |I wonder if anyone can recommend resources (books and or etc.) that
will
| help
| | me make the transition from the XML Macro language to Excel's visual
| basic. I
| | consider myself a very competent writer of XML Macros but at Office
2003
| and
| | Mac OSX Tiger I'm beginning to worry how much longer I can expect my
| Macros
| | to run.
|
|
|

I doubt he can receive mail at that address

Yeah it bounced. He emailed me and I sent the file to him and then that
bounced! 'Attachment too big'. So I emailed him the link that you found
too and that bounced too with a recipient unknown error. This is harder
that you'd think!

Btw, the XLMACR8.HLP I have is one year newer and 200k bigger than the one
at the end of your link. I have no idea how they are different or where
mine came from but I'm sure the older one is fine, if I can just get through
to Martin (or he comes back here).

--
Jim
"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
| Hello Jim,
| I doubt he can receive mail at that address, but he can download the file
| from
|
| http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;143466
|
| --
| Regards,
| Tom Ogilvy
|
| "Jim Rech" wrote in message
| ...
| I don't know a thing about the Mac versions of Excel so I have no idea
| what
| that timeline is.
|
| I haven't actually read a Excel VBA teaching book in many years. I
always
| thought there were no better books than John Walkenbach's though. His
| "Dummies" book may be just the ticket<g:
|
| http://www.j-walk.com/ss/books/index.htm
|
| When you hit a hurdle though you shouldn't hesitate to ask here for
help.
|
| I've send the help file to you at . I
| wasn't sure whether you could actually receive a file there so let me
know
| if it doesn't come though (via email).
|
| --
| Jim
| "Martin" wrote in message
| ...
| | Many thanks for the encouraging thought about the timeline (I assume
it
| is
| | the same for MacOS).
| |
| | Thanks also for your encouraging comments. I have in facvt bought two
| books
| | about VBA but in both cases I seem to have bought books that assume a
| | knowledge that I don't have. Is there an introductory book that you
are
| | comfortable recommending.
| |
| | My computer cannot find the file XLMACR8.HLP so I would appreciate if
| you
| | could email it to me.
| |
| | "Jim Rech" wrote:
| |
| | You have at least through Excel 12 on the Windows side for XLM
| support.
| MS
| | has not committed beyond that and in fact I believe they've
indicated
| that
| | is the end. So the good news is that you probably have until your
| customers
| | switch to Excel 13, perhaps 2009 or 2010 at the earliest.
| |
| | The bad news is that no one ever wrote a book on going from XLM to
| VBA,
| but
| | it's really not that bad. Like many other developers 10 or so years
| ago
| I
| | had to go from Excel 4 macros to VBA and it wasn't all that
difficult.
| Once
| | you get over the initial hurdles you'll find it really is far
superior
| to
| | XLM. My very first impression was that VB was very wordy compared
to
| XLM.
| | While that is true it often takes less code to do something in VB,
| | incongruous as that may seem. One reason is that you do not have to
| select
| | an object/sheet/range, etc to operate on it. And having a separate
| | coding/debugging environment in the VBE is a huge plus.
| |
| | There was a Help file included in Excel 5 or 95 that has a section
on
| XLM
| | and VBA equivalents. I found this very useful in my transition.
It's
| name
| | is XLMACR8.HLP. If you want a copy left me know.
| |
| | Another thing in your favor is that there are a lot of good books on
| Excel
| | VBA out there and, although they do not discuss transitioning from
| XLM,
| they
| | do a good job of introducing you to VB and getting you started (and
| more).
| |
| | --
| | Jim
| | "Martin" wrote in message
| | ...
| | |I wonder if anyone can recommend resources (books and or etc.) that
| will
| | help
| | | me make the transition from the XML Macro language to Excel's
visual
| | basic. I
| | | consider myself a very competent writer of XML Macros but at
Office
| 2003
| | and
| | | Mac OSX Tiger I'm beginning to worry how much longer I can expect
my
| | Macros
| | | to run.
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|