Excel VBA Programming For Dummies, 6th Edition

Chapter 4

Introducing the Excel Object Model

IN THIS CHAPTER

Learning the Excel Object Model and its hierarchy

Understanding how to access properties and methods

Discovering resources to help you code

The purpose of Excel VBA is to manipulate Excel. Some of the code you write will be VBA language constructs — aspects of the language that are common to all programming languages. The rest of the code you write will be specific to Excel. In this chapter, you learn about the Excel Object Model. The object model is the gateway into all the objects that make up Excel. Manipulating these objects is what Excel VBA programming is all about.

Working with the Excel Object Model

The Excel Object Model is computer code that Microsoft wrote that defines how VBA interacts with Excel. In it, Microsoft has defined hundreds of objects whose names you would recognize as elements of the Excel user interface, like Workbook, Worksheet, or PivotTable. An object is nothing more than computer code that defines properties, methods, and events. It is the unique combination of properties, methods, and events that defines an object. Properties and methods are discussed later in this chapter and events are ...