I am trying to find out how to distribute an excel file on the net in such a way that most users will be able to use it. I am aware of the Microsoft Excel Viewer (which can open Excel files without having Office installed), but it doesn't run VBA code, which is a necessity for this file. Moreover, there are some changes to the API in Office 2007 which make some parts of the file render incorrectly, so I would also prefer that the solution is applicable to Excel XP / 2003. Does anyone have any hints / tips on the different possible ways to do this?
R – Best way to distribute Excel spreadsheet with VBA
distributionexcelvba
Related Solutions
You can try this direct VBA
approach which doesn't require HEX editing. It will work for any files (*.xls, *.xlsm, *.xlam ...).
Tested and works on:
Excel 2007
Excel 2010
Excel 2013 - 32 bit version
Excel 2016 - 32 bit version
Looking for 64 bit version? See this answer
How it works
I will try my best to explain how it works - please excuse my English.
- The VBE will call a system function to create the password dialog box.
- If user enters the right password and click OK, this function returns 1. If user enters the wrong password or click Cancel, this function returns 0.
- After the dialog box is closed, the VBE checks the returned value of the system function
- if this value is 1, the VBE will "think" that the password is right, hence the locked VBA project will be opened.
- The code below swaps the memory of the original function used to display the password dialog with a user defined function that will always return 1 when being called.
Using the code
Please backup your files first!
- Open the file(s) that contain your locked VBA Projects
Create a new xlsm file and store this code in Module1
code credited to Siwtom (nick name), a Vietnamese developer
Option Explicit Private Const PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE = &H40 Private Declare Sub MoveMemory Lib "kernel32" Alias "RtlMoveMemory" _ (Destination As Long, Source As Long, ByVal Length As Long) Private Declare Function VirtualProtect Lib "kernel32" (lpAddress As Long, _ ByVal dwSize As Long, ByVal flNewProtect As Long, lpflOldProtect As Long) As Long Private Declare Function GetModuleHandleA Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpModuleName As String) As Long Private Declare Function GetProcAddress Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hModule As Long, _ ByVal lpProcName As String) As Long Private Declare Function DialogBoxParam Lib "user32" Alias "DialogBoxParamA" (ByVal hInstance As Long, _ ByVal pTemplateName As Long, ByVal hWndParent As Long, _ ByVal lpDialogFunc As Long, ByVal dwInitParam As Long) As Integer Dim HookBytes(0 To 5) As Byte Dim OriginBytes(0 To 5) As Byte Dim pFunc As Long Dim Flag As Boolean Private Function GetPtr(ByVal Value As Long) As Long GetPtr = Value End Function Public Sub RecoverBytes() If Flag Then MoveMemory ByVal pFunc, ByVal VarPtr(OriginBytes(0)), 6 End Sub Public Function Hook() As Boolean Dim TmpBytes(0 To 5) As Byte Dim p As Long Dim OriginProtect As Long Hook = False pFunc = GetProcAddress(GetModuleHandleA("user32.dll"), "DialogBoxParamA") If VirtualProtect(ByVal pFunc, 6, PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE, OriginProtect) <> 0 Then MoveMemory ByVal VarPtr(TmpBytes(0)), ByVal pFunc, 6 If TmpBytes(0) <> &H68 Then MoveMemory ByVal VarPtr(OriginBytes(0)), ByVal pFunc, 6 p = GetPtr(AddressOf MyDialogBoxParam) HookBytes(0) = &H68 MoveMemory ByVal VarPtr(HookBytes(1)), ByVal VarPtr(p), 4 HookBytes(5) = &HC3 MoveMemory ByVal pFunc, ByVal VarPtr(HookBytes(0)), 6 Flag = True Hook = True End If End If End Function Private Function MyDialogBoxParam(ByVal hInstance As Long, _ ByVal pTemplateName As Long, ByVal hWndParent As Long, _ ByVal lpDialogFunc As Long, ByVal dwInitParam As Long) As Integer If pTemplateName = 4070 Then MyDialogBoxParam = 1 Else RecoverBytes MyDialogBoxParam = DialogBoxParam(hInstance, pTemplateName, _ hWndParent, lpDialogFunc, dwInitParam) Hook End If End Function
Paste this code under the above code in Module1 and run it
Sub unprotected() If Hook Then MsgBox "VBA Project is unprotected!", vbInformation, "*****" End If End Sub
Come back to your VBA Projects and enjoy.
I've already encountered this problem on people using my in-house tools on new 64 bit machines with Office 2010.
all I had to do was change lines of code like this:
Private Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" _
(ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpOperation As String, ByVal lpFile As String, ByVal lpParameters As String, ByVal lpDirectory As String, ByVal nShowCmd As Long) As Long
To This:
#If VBA7 Then
Private Declare PtrSafe Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" _
(ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpOperation As String, ByVal lpFile As String, ByVal lpParameters As String, ByVal lpDirectory As String, ByVal nShowCmd As Long) As Long
#Else
Private Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" _
(ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal lpOperation As String, ByVal lpFile As String, ByVal lpParameters As String, ByVal lpDirectory As String, ByVal nShowCmd As Long) As Long
#End If
You will, of course want to make sure that the library you're using is available on both machines, but so far nothing I've used has been a problem.
Note that in the old VB6, PtrSafe isn't even a valid command, so it'll appear in red as though you have a compile error, but it won't actually ever give an error because the compiler will skip the first part of the if block.
Applications using the above code compile and run perfectly on Office 2003, 2007, and 2010 32 and 64 bit.
Best Answer
If VBA is a must then there really is no alternative to having the full client installed.
Pray to the FSM for Google to add scripting to Google Docs more quickly?