Mac Excel 2008: Macros? - macos

I know this isn't directly programming related, but at the same time...
Mac Excel 2008 doesn't support VBA or Macros... which I need for a class...
Does anybody know of a solution? I need a way to write simple macros on Mac in Excel-- if it's possible.
Please don't give vague answers if you don't know for sure. This is a serious question. :)

If you really need to write proper macros, you're SOL with 2008 and would be better off finding a copy of 2004 or Office for Windows. If you just need to write code to control the app, Microsoft's suggested replacement for macros in Mac Office is the native Applescript.

If you're into archeology, Mac Excel 2008 supports XLM macros (a.k.a Excel 4.0 macros). You'll have a hard time finding relevant documentation about XLM, as it appears to have gone out of fashion many years ago.
You can create a sheet macro through the "insert sheet" wizard (there's a Excel 4.0 Macro Sheet option).
Then you can download the docs from Microsoft: link.
Here's a simple one:
IsFormula<br>
=ARGUMENT("aCell",8)<br>
=RETURN(GET.CELL(48, aCell))<br>
You can then use the macro in a formula, e.g. =IsFormula(A1)

Related

are there feature differences in c# and vb for excel plugins?

I am creating an excel plugin for the first time. Visual Studio gives 2 options to create an excel plugin: VB or C#. I don't know either language. Are there any limitations w/ either when creating excel plugins? I just don't want to get too far into the project and then realize that only VB will do this and/or only C# will do that...in other words, can I create ALL the same functionality w/ a VB excel plugin as w/ a C# excel plugin?
Short answer: No, there are no limitations.
In .Net, you can choose to code in VB.net or C#. They are both CLR languages. Before C# 4.0, COM Interop was simply easier to work with using VB.Net, but now they are both just fine. It boils down to personal choice. Choose one and try it out! ^^
If you don't know either of these languages and need to decide which one to learn, definitely go for C#. It is just a better language, hands down. While I don't know an answer to the specific question you are asking, I'm certain that if there are any differences (which is very unlikely), it would be in favor of C#.

Free Alternative to VB6 (easy gui building and programming)

I wonder if anyone knows any free alternative to VB6.
I need (or want), some easy gui building and ability to program.
I have no problem with learning any program language, I just want the gui building to be as easy as possible.
Thnx in advance
Sorry, I wasn't really clear before, I was trying to stay way from Microsoft... open source would be great, but freeware is also OK.
Why not try anything different? Do you know Delphi? Nice, clean and easy with a lot of adapters an wrappers. The free version is Lazarus.
http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/
Visual Basic Express or C# Express perhaps?
A newer option we have is B4J, which is not open source but it is free.
The programming language is somewhere between VB and VB.Net, perhaps closest to the abandoned Jabaco language. It targets Java and JavaFX so the resulting programs are cross-platform, but the development tools require Windows today.

Latex plugin for visual studio 2010

I am looking for a latex plugin for Visual Studio 2010 (preferably free) .
Features it must have:
Code folding
Syntax highlighting
AUTOCOMPLETION
Error Handling
I do not think there is anything available for VS.
As an alternative, I use eclipse with the texlipse plugin. It has all of the features on your list. I do not use windows but ubuntu with eclipse, R, MySQL and Sweave is sufficient to cater for all my data connection, management, manipulation, analytical and reporting needs. All the tools listed are available on Windows with sufficient connectivity to SQLserver with RODBC.
I do not think that there's anything that comes close to what you want to do. But as far as I know, you can - in principle - use Visual Studio with any programming language. If you have enough time to configure it properly.
You can create your own LaTeX-specific language service. Moreover, you would have to create own build rules.
But since I think that is too much work, I recommend TeXnicCenter, a freeware program that has syntax highlight, autocompletion and error handling. I'm not sure about code folding, but I think it does not have this.
Another freeware is LEd (LaTeX Editor), that should have all the features you like, but as far as I remember, I was not that happy with code completion.
A good choice for a LaTeX Editor is TeXWorks. You should try it, since there is no LaTeX support for Visual Studio.
Actually I think MS VS has been developed as a programmers 'editor'. Of course it's much more than just an editor, but editing (la)tex files doesn't fit into this model. So it's better not to waste the time and to try other solutions. I suggest open-source Lyx which is available on Linux and Windows (and AFAIK on Mac OS) platforms and easy to use. Just try it while waiting for other (possibly better) answers.
Visual Studio Code with LaTeX extension is available. It is free of charge as well.

Quick and simple programming language

Is there someone that can suggest me a programming language that allows you to write quickly GUI programs (on windows platform)?
P.S. I am interested on only languages that do not rely on virtual machines and then have a compiler that produces executable code directly on the machine
I would go with AutoIT, it's a very easy to learn windows scripting language with tons of functionalities: http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/index.shtml
I'm using it to automate some tasks, but it can do way more than that.
EDIT
Just to make things a little bit clearer for everybody:
You can create new applications using AutoIT and the Aut2Exe compiler provided. The .exe files created are stand-alone, thus require no other files but the files that you might need in your app. Everything is free and the AutoIT scripting language has a BASIC-like syntax.
The GUI that you'll use are standard Windows controls. Among the functionalities you have the possibility to automate keystrokes/mouse movements, call the Windows API and external .dlls, manipulate windows and processes and through user created libraries (called UDFs) you can even acces local databases, manage networking tasks, encryption, archiving and many more.
All I can say is that it's worth take a look and the first app I built with AutoIT was done in roughly 8 hours since I started learning. It took a folder as the source and copied everything in a chosen directory, copying files in folders named as the date when the files were created. So the destination directory would have a series of subfolders like:
11.11.2010
whatever.txt
whatever.png
12.11.2010
archive.zip
and so on. Just 8 hours and got me rid of a lot of effort ordering the files myself.
Any .NET will probably be what you're after.
Start with VB.NET which is now called Visual Basic CCYY eg (Visual Basic 2005, Visual Basic 2008, Visual Basic 2010).
If you want something not using .NET framework, you might as well go back to older version of VB and if you want something compilable that'd be like C++ with their MFC (Microsoft Foundation Class).
You need to give more info on the type of gui and what you're using it for. This could be accomplished with Microsoft Access forms and VBA, or you could make an HTML Application (.hta).
I'll put in a vote for Delphi. You can easily write applications by dragging and dropping components on to a form and doing minimal coding in Pascal, which isn't hard to learn. Later, if you decide to go deeper, you can do pretty much whatever you want. And it compiles to native executable code.
Is an executable bundler, that combines the script with the framework/interpreter, good enough?
If so, you might look at Tcl/Tk or Lua.
http://www.powerbasic.com/
http://www.powerbasic.com/aboutpb.asp
Seems like it has a RAD GUI and of course it's BASIC, plus it compiles down to .exe (as I understand it.) Might be worth checking out.
A 'quick and simple' language will only allow you to do 'quick and simple' things - and for those, having a VM or not wont make much of a difference to you.
For quick and simple & native code, about all I can think of is RealBasic. Its cross platform Windows/Mac/Linux. I find their IDE to be difficult to work with due to its inflexibility and the help system last I looked wasnt that great, but the underlying language isnt bad and does compile to native code. So it might do the trick for you.

Visual-small size language

I need to develop a simple Windows application with 6 or 7 forms. Its main purpose is to manage files and launch a external program.
These are my wishes, in descending importance order
Free
Be Visual, I mean, the possibility to paint forms and object in the screen.
Possibility to carry it in a USB pen-drive.
I need a light/small size language, not a very complex one. My program is going to have very few forms and its functionality is simple.
Is there any language that meet this wishes? If not, is there any commercial one?
I would use Visual C# Express if I were you.
As others have suggested, C# isn't a bad choice.
Personally I'd use wxPython. If you want a GUI to help you lay out the forms, wxDesigner is very good.
Take a look at Visual Basic Express. IMNTBHO, the learning curve for VB.Net is shallower than the C# equivalent.
Failing that (as much as it pains me to say this) take a look at MS-Access (and a runtime install for carrying it around with you). It's not free, but it's also not terribly expensive. The learning curve is even shallower than VB.Net.
You mentioned wanting your program to be portable on a USB drive, so the previous answers suggesting C# and VB.Net are good as long as all of the machines you'll be using your program on have the .Net framework installed.
If you need to run your program on systems without .Net, you'll need to look at programming environments that can either make a native .exe or can wrap scripts in an executable. Which of those is right depends on your needs and programming experience, but I'd take a look at Lazarus/Free Pascal, C++, or Python (with py2exe).
Visual Studio Express editions seems good for your requirement.
Check: http://www.microsoft.com/Express/
Another vote for Lazarus/Free Pascal. It works from stick, and generates (on Windows 32/64/CE) standalone binaries, and you have full access to the windows api and other windwos specific gadgets (COM)
I'd recommend Turbo Explorer. It's a free RAD IDE that'll generate native win32 apps in C++ or Delphi without the need for a managed framework like .NET.
It couldn't be simpler to use. Just drag and drop your components on your form, compile, and run.
I'd ordinarily push for C# or something on the .NET framework but the stipulation of running on a flash disk means you need something that compiles natively. In addition to Lazarus/FreePascal mentioned above you might also want to investigate CodeGear Delphi

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