SUMMARY
Lotus 1-2-3 allows the use of the "?" (the question mark [without
quotation marks]) to temporarily suspend macro execution while waiting
for your input. Microsoft Excel, however, does not allow halting the
macro to wait for your input without using an INPUT() or similar
command.
To mimic the "?" in a Lotus macro, the following macro segment can be
used to halt a macro to wait for your input, without using an INPUT()
or related function:
On.time sub-macro to halt macro and wait for user input
=ON.TIME(NOW()+0.0000000001,"(reference to resume calling macro)")
=SEND.KEYS("{f2}")
=RESTART()
=RETURN()
The RESTART() function tells the macro not to return to the calling
macro. This method is used because the ON.TIME() function is used to
restart the macro in a specified amount of time.
This same method can be used to bring up a dialog box for which Excel
does not provide a macro command, such as the Formula Notes dialog
box. A modification to the SEND.KEYS() function to bring up the
desired dialog box is all that is needed.
=ON.TIME(NOW()+0.0000000001,"(reference to resume calling macro)")
=SEND.KEYS("(%r)n")
=RESTART()
=RETURN()
NOTE: the information above also applies to version 5.0 and later only when
using version 4.0 macro language.