XL2000: Macro Doesn't Function on Multiple Sheets in Group Mode (213431)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 2000
This article was previously published under Q213431

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, when you use a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications procedure to perform an action while worksheets are selected in group mode, the action performed may only be performed on one of the worksheets instead of on every worksheet in the selection.

This behavior may also occur if you use a Visual Basic Standard or Professional Edition procedure to perform an action while worksheets are selected in group mode in Microsoft Excel.

For example, if you use a Visual Basic procedure to select multiple worksheets, and you check spelling in the selected worksheets, if you use the Change All button to change a word that is found on all of the selected worksheets, the word is only changed on the active worksheet.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because some of the Visual Basic commands in Microsoft Excel perform an action on one worksheet at a time, even if the equivalent menu command performs the action on all selected sheets.

WORKAROUND

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/partner/referral/

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS

To work around this behavior, you must loop through each sheet in the selection individually in your procedure or script to perform the action as in the following examples. (Note that the following example uses the Spelling command to demonstrate the workaround. This example can be modified to work with other commands.)
  1. Start Excel.
  2. Ensure that there are at least three worksheets open.
  3. Type the word Tesst into cell A1 of each worksheet.
  4. Press SHIFT and then select each worksheet tab to group the worksheets.
  5. Press ALT+F11 to start the Visual Basic editor.
  6. On the Insert menu, click Module.
  7. In the module sheet, type the following code:
    Sub SpellCheck()

   ' Dimension variable x as Object type
   Dim x as Object
   ' Group select Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3 worksheets.
   ' Note that there are other methods for selecting multiple sheets.
   Sheets(Array("sheet1", "sheet2", "sheet3")).Select

   ' Perform spell check on each selected sheet.
   ' Note that the Change All button will only change
   ' words on one worksheet, but the spell checker dialog
   ' will appear once for each sheet selected.
   For Each x In ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets
      x.CheckSpelling CustomDictionary:="CUSTOM.DIC", _
         IgnoreUpperCase:=False, AlwaysSuggest:=True
   Next x

End Sub
  8. Press ALT+F11 to return to Excel.
  9. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
  10. In the Macro name list, click SpellCheck, and then click Run. The spell checker steps through each worksheet.

MORE INFORMATION

You can also use Visual Basic, Standard, or Professional Edition to create procedures to perform actions on grouped worksheets as in the following examples.

NOTE: The following example assumes that the worksheets that you want to spell check are already selected in the active workbook in Microsoft Excel before you run this procedure. 

Sub XL_SpellChk_Selection ()
   ' Dimension variables
   Dim xl As Object, NumSheets as Integer, x as Integer
   ' Activate Microsoft Excel and assign to variable xl
   Set xl = GetObject(, "Excel.Application.5")
   NumSheets = xl.activewindow.selectedsheets.count

   For x = 1 to numSheets
      ' Note that the following command should be entered on one line
      xl.ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets.Item(x).CheckSpelling "CUSTOM.DIC",
        False, True
   Next x

   Set xl = Nothing
End Sub
NOTE: The following example selects the worksheets, one at a time, that you want to spell check (Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3 in this example) in the active workbook in Microsoft Excel, and spell checks each sheet individually. 
Sub XL_SpellChk()
   ' Dimension variables
   Dim xl As Object, n As Integer, wksheet()
   ' Dimension wksheet variable as array with 3 elements
   ReDim wksheet(3)
   ' Assign worksheet you want to spell check
   ' as elements of wksheet array
   wksheet(1) = "sheet1"
   wksheet(2) = "sheet2"
   wksheet(3) = "sheet3"
   ' Activate Microsoft Excel and assign to variable xl
   Set xl = GetObject(, "Excel.Application.5")
   For n = 1 To 3
      ' Display Spell Checker dialog, once for each sheetname in array
      xl.Sheets(wksheet(n)).CheckSpelling "CUSTOM.DIC", False, True
   Next n
   Set xl = Nothing
 End Sub

REFERENCES

For more information about selecting worksheets, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type select sheets in a workbook in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/11/2006
Keywords:kbdtacode kbinterop kbprb kbProgramming KB213431
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