Importing Excel spreadsheet data into another Excel spreadsheet containing VBA

Question

We need to write an Excel spreadsheet with VBA code in it; the code reads and performs operations on the data in the first worksheet.

The user will be receiving spreadsheets containing data but that do not contain the VBA code. We need to be able to import the data from the spreadsheets containing the data into the spreadsheet containing the VBA code automatically. The worksheets containing the data have the same column format and datatypes as the worksheet of the spreadsheet containing the data.

Ideally, you would open the spreadsheet containing the VBA code, be presented with a UI allowing the user to navigate to the spreadsheet containing the data, click OK and the data will be imported.

How would you go about doing this? It has to be done using VBA in Excel spreadsheets.

Many thanks.

Answer 1

This should get you started: Using VBA in your own Excel workbook, have it prompt the user for the filename of their data file, then just copy that fixed range into your target workbook (that could be either the same workbook as your macro enabled one, or a third workbook). Here's a quick vba example of how that works:

' Get customer workbook...
Dim customerBook As Workbook
Dim filter As String
Dim caption As String
Dim customerFilename As String
Dim customerWorkbook As Workbook
Dim targetWorkbook As Workbook

' make weak assumption that active workbook is the target
Set targetWorkbook = Application.ActiveWorkbook

' get the customer workbook
filter = "Text files (*.xlsx),*.xlsx"
caption = "Please Select an input file "
customerFilename = Application.GetOpenFilename(filter, , caption)

Set customerWorkbook = Application.Workbooks.Open(customerFilename)

' assume range is A1 - C10 in sheet1
' copy data from customer to target workbook
Dim targetSheet As Worksheet
Set targetSheet = targetWorkbook.Worksheets(1)
Dim sourceSheet As Worksheet
Set sourceSheet = customerWorkbook.Worksheets(1)

targetSheet.Range("A1", "C10").Value = sourceSheet.Range("A1", "C10").Value

' Close customer workbook
customerWorkbook.Close