Microsoft Project Version 2002 Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))

Chapter 31

If you've read Chapter 27, "Automating Your Work with Macros," or if you've ever created a macro in Microsoft Project, you already know that Visual Basic for Applications is one of the most powerful features of Microsoft Project. But there is much more to VBA (as it is more commonly called) than creating macros to automate repetitive, tedious, or complex tasks.

Although Visual Basic for Applications is used to collectively describe the programming language and environment included with Microsoft Project, the language itself is Visual Basic. For the remainder of this chapter, Visual Basic is used to refer to the language and its elements.

For additional information about Visual Basic, see Chapter 30, "Understanding the Visual Basic Language."

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• Edit or expand upon macros you have recorded.
• Find and fix errors in your macro code.
• Create your own forms and dialog boxes for user interaction.
• Access Microsoft Project features from other programs, such as Microsoft Office and Visio, or even from Web pages.
• Use external libraries to provide additional capabilities to your macros.

For more information about working with external data and other items outside the VBA environment, see Chapter 32, "Working with Microsoft Project Data."

Before you can tap into the power of Visual Basic for Applications, though, you need to learn more about the Visual Basic Editor and development environment.