64.

Overview

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Use conditional statements.

• Create loops using three different structures.

• Retrieve the names of files in a folder.

• Create breakpoints to debug long loops.

• Show progress while a macro executes a loop.

Walk outside and stand in front of your car. Look down at the tread on the right front tire. See that little piece of gum stuck to the tread? Well, imagine you're that little piece of gum. Imagine what it feels like when the car first starts to move. From the pavement, you climb higher and higher, as if you were on a Ferris wheel. Then you experience a pure thrill as you come back down the other side. (Who needs Disneyland, anyway?) But don't you think that by the five millionth revolution, you might start to get a little bored? Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack. It really could get old after a while.

Just about anything you do is interesting-the first few times you do it. Repetition, however, can bring boredom. When you start doing the same task over and over, you start wanting somebody-or something-else to take it off your hands. This chapter will teach you how to record a repetitive task as a macro and then turn it into a little machine that works tirelessly to improve your life.

 On the CD   This chapter uses the practice files  Flow.xls and  Orders.dbf that you installed from the book's CD-ROM. For details about installing the practice files, see 'Using the Book's CD ROM' at the beginning of this book.