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Workbook Download
This is a zipped Excel Workbook to go with this lesson.
UserForms
Order of Events
The
first Event that will fire when you either "Show"
or "Load" your UserForm is
the "Initialize" Event.
This will occur immediately after the UserForm is loaded, but
before it is shown (visible). It is important to understand that, if the
UserForm was already Loaded (but not visible) the Initialize
Event would not
fire by using the Show Method. This is because the UserForm would already be
loaded into memory. This means that the Show Method will Load a
UserForm, if it's not already, but will only make it visible if already
loaded.
The
next Event that will fire is the "Activate"
event. It is important that you know the difference between "Initialize"
and "Activate".
While "Activate" will
occur if you "hide" then re-show a UserForm, the "Initialize"
Event will not. This is
because the UserForm has not been unloaded from memory. So this means that the Initialize
Event will only fire when the UserForm is loaded
into memory, while the Activate Event
will fire whenever the UserForm is
made visible.
Focus
The
term Focus is described by Excel as:
The
ability to receive mouse clicks or keyboard input at any one time. In the
Microsoft Windows environment, only one window, form, or control can have this
ability at a time. The object that "has the focus" is normally
indicated by a highlighted caption or title bar. The focus can be set by the
user or by the application.
In
Excel 2000 UserForms now have a new Property called "ShowModal".
This is a Boolean Property as it can either be set to True or False
with the default being True. If the Property is left set
as "True", the user will not
be able to shift Focus to any other Objects except the Controls of the UserForm
itself. This means that while the UserForm is visible, the user will not
be able to select cells on a Worksheet. If the Property is set to
"False", the User will be
able to select cells and operate menu bar options on a Worksheet. When
designing UserForms for other users, I would strongly recommend leaving the
default as "True" otherwise the user will be able to make changes that
you have no control over.
As
a simple exercise to get you acquainted with UserForms I would like you to
insert a UserForm as a shell and code it so that it is Loaded into memory and
visible by clicking a CommandButton that is attached to a Worksheet I would
also like you to give your UserForm a meaningful name and set up a
"Cancel" button so that your form is
unloaded from memory when this button is clicked.
I
will keep this first lesson simple to allow you to ask any questions relating to
what we have discussed.
Please find attached a Workbook with four buttons on a Worksheet that will hopefully help you understand the Events and use of Keywords we have discussed. After using each button take a look at the code for each.