109.

Overview

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Create custom toolbar buttons.

• Create custom menu commands.

• Create custom command buttons.

• Create worksheet and workbook event handlers.

My grandmother used to embroider names on outfits for us with her sewing machine. She had a powerful old sewing machine, with lots of pulleys, levers, and loops. When she changed the thread, she had to poke the new thread up, over, and through countless turns, spools, and guides, before even getting to the needle. I still don't know how she managed embroidering the names. She'd move levers and twist the fabric, and the names somehow appeared. She was very good, and the results were beautiful. Few people could create embroidered names the way she did.

Now even I can embroider names onto clothes. I flip the thread around a couple of guides and the machine is threaded. I type in the name, select the lettering style, and push another button to embroider the name. The machine sews in all directions so I don't even have to turn the fabric. Anyone can use a sewing machine these days.

One purpose of macros is to make your own life simpler. An even more important purpose might be to enable others to accomplish tasks that they wouldn't be able to do without your help. In this chapter and the chapters that follow, you'll learn how to make macros easy for others to use.

 On the CD   This chapter uses the practice file  Events.xls 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.