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Chapter 11: Automatic Procedures and Events
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You can quickly access a sheet’s code window by right-clicking on the sheet’s
tab and selecting View Code.
The following example shows a simple procedure that is executed whenever
a particular sheet is activated. This code simply pops up a message box that
displays the name of the active sheet:
Private Sub Worksheet_Activate()
MsgBox “You just activated “ & ActiveSheet.Name
End Sub
Here’s another example that activates cell A1 whenever the sheet is activated:
Private Sub Worksheet_Activate()
Range(“A1”).Activate
End Sub
Although the code in these two procedures is about as simple as it gets,
event-handler procedures can be as complex as you like.
The following procedure (which is stored in the Code window for the Sheet1
object) uses the Deactivate event to prevent a user from activating any other
sheet in the workbook. If Sheet1 is deactivated (that is, another sheet is activated),
the user gets a message and Sheet1 is activated.
Private Sub Worksheet_Deactivate()
MsgBox “You must stay on Sheet1”
Sheets(“Sheet1”).Activate
End Sub
By the way, I don’t recommend using procedures, such as this one, that
attempt to take over Excel. These so-called “dictator” applications can be
very frustrating and confusing for the user. Rather, I recommend training the
user how to use your application correctly.
Activate and deactivate
events in a workbook
The previous examples use events associated with a specific worksheet. The
ThisWorkbook object also handles events that deal with sheet activation and
deactivation. The following procedure, which is stored in the Code window
for the ThisWorkbook object, is executed when any sheet in the workbook is
activated. The code displays a message with the name of the activated sheet.