How can I generate GUIDs in Excel?

vba excel guid
abw333 picture abw333 · Aug 11, 2011 · Viewed 77.7k times · Source

I have an excel file with one order on each row, and I want each order to have a unique identifier, so there will be a Unique ID column. Every time I fill a row, I want Excel to automatically populate the Unique ID column for me. I did some research and was pointed in the direction of GUIDs. I found the following code: 

Function GenGuid() As String
Dim TypeLib As Object
Dim Guid As String
Set TypeLib = CreateObject("Scriptlet.TypeLib")
Guid = TypeLib.Guid
' format is {24DD18D4-C902-497F-A64B-28B2FA741661}
Guid = Replace(Guid, "{", "")
Guid = Replace(Guid, "}", "")
Guid = Replace(Guid, "-", "")
GenGuid = Guid
End Function

but I am not sure how I can implement it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Answer

NekojiruSou picture NekojiruSou · Aug 31, 2012

The following Excel expression evaluates to a V4 GUID:

=CONCATENATE(DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0,4294967295),8),"-",DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0,6553‌​5),4),"-",DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(16384,20479),4),"-",DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(32768,49151‌​),4),"-",DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0,65535),4),DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0,4294967295),8))

-or (depending on locale setting/decimal and list separators)-

=CONCATENATE(DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0;4294967295);8);"-";DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0;65535);4);"-";DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(16384;20479);4);"-";DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(32768;49151);4);"-";DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0;65535);4);DEC2HEX(RANDBETWEEN(0;4294967295);8))

Note that the first character of the third group is always 4 to signify a V4 (pseudo-random number generated) GUID/UUID per RFC 4122 section 4.4.

Also note that the first character of the fourth group is always between 8 and B per the same RFC.

Standard disclaimer: the resulting GUIDs/UUIDs are not cryptographically strong.

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