How to handle events for Excel by using Visual Basic .NET

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Microsoft Excel

Summary

This step-by-step article describes how to handle Microsoft Office Excel 2003 and Microsoft Office Excel 2007 events from an Automation client that you develop by using Visual Basic .NET.

Create an event handler

You can create an event handler with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET 2003 or with Visual Basic .NET 2002 in either of the following ways. How you create an event handler with Visual Basic .NET depends on how you want to associate the event handler with events:

  • Typically, you create an event handler by using the Handles keyword with the WithEvents keyword. When you declare a variable by using the WithEvents keyword, Visual Basic .NET automatically connects to the events of that object at run time. To handle a specific event for that object, add the relevant handler by using the Class list and the Method list of the Visual Studio .NET environment while you are in Code view.
  • With the AddHandler keyword, Visual Basic .NET provides a second way to handle events. The AddHandler keyword and the RemoveHandler keyword, permit you to start and to stop event handling for a specific event dynamically.

Create the Visual Basic .NET Automation client

The following steps demonstrate how to use either way to handle Excel events from an Automation client that is developed by using Visual Basic .NET:

  1. Start Visual Studio .NET 2002 or Visual Studio .NET 2003. On the File menu, click New, and then click Project. Under Visual Basic Projects, select Windows Application.

    By default, Form1 is created.

  2. Add a reference to the Microsoft Excel Object Library. To do this, follow these steps:

    1. On the Project menu, click Add Reference.
    2. On the COM tab, locate Microsoft Excel 11.0 Object Library, and then click Select.
    3. Click OK in the Add References dialog box to accept your selections. If you receive a prompt to generate wrappers for the libraries that you selected, click Yes.

  3. On the Project menu, select Add Module. In the list of templates, select Module, and then click Open. Paste the following code in the new module:

       '==================================================================
   'Demonstrates Using a Delegate for Event Handling
   '==================================================================

Private xlApp As Excel.Application
   Private xlBook As Excel.Workbook
   Private xlSheet1 As Excel.Worksheet
   Private xlSheet2 As Excel.Worksheet
   Private xlSheet3 As Excel.Worksheet
   Private EventDel_BeforeBookClose As Excel.AppEvents_WorkbookBeforeCloseEventHandler
   Private EventDel_CellsChange As Excel.DocEvents_ChangeEventHandler

Public Sub UseDelegate()
      'Start Excel and then create a new workbook.
      xlApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
      xlBook = xlApp.Workbooks.Add()
      xlBook.Windows(1).Caption = "Uses WithEvents"

'Get references to the three worksheets.
      xlSheet1 = xlBook.Worksheets.Item(1)
      xlSheet2 = xlBook.Worksheets.Item(2)
      xlSheet3 = xlBook.Worksheets.Item(3)
      CType(xlSheet1, Excel._Worksheet).Activate()

'Add an event handler for the WorkbookBeforeClose event of the
      'Application object.
      EventDel_BeforeBookClose = New Excel.AppEvents_WorkbookBeforeCloseEventHandler( _
            AddressOf BeforeBookClose)
      AddHandler xlApp.WorkbookBeforeClose, EventDel_BeforeBookClose

'Add an event handler for the Change event of both Worksheet 
      'objects.
      EventDel_CellsChange = New Excel.DocEvents_ChangeEventHandler( _
            AddressOf CellsChange)
      AddHandler xlSheet1.Change, EventDel_CellsChange
      AddHandler xlSheet2.Change, EventDel_CellsChange
      AddHandler xlSheet3.Change, EventDel_CellsChange

'Make Excel visible and give the user control.
      xlApp.Visible = True
      xlApp.UserControl = True
   End Sub

Private Sub CellsChange(ByVal Target As Excel.Range)
      'This is called when a cell or cells on a worksheet are changed.
      Debug.WriteLine("Delegate: You Changed Cells " + Target.Address + " on " + _
                        Target.Worksheet.Name())
   End Sub

Private Sub BeforeBookClose(ByVal Wb As Excel.Workbook, ByRef Cancel As Boolean)
      'This is called when you choose to close the workbook in Excel.
      'The event handlers are removed and then the workbook is closed 
      'without saving changes.
      Debug.WriteLine("Delegate: Closing the workbook and removing event handlers.")
      RemoveHandler xlSheet1.Change, EventDel_CellsChange
      RemoveHandler xlSheet2.Change, EventDel_CellsChange
      RemoveHandler xlSheet3.Change, EventDel_CellsChange
      RemoveHandler xlApp.WorkbookBeforeClose, EventDel_BeforeBookClose
      Wb.Saved = True 'Set the dirty flag to true so there is no prompt to save.
   End Sub

  4. Add another module to the project, and then paste the following code in the module:

       '==================================================================
   'Demonstrates Using WithEvents for Event Handling
   '==================================================================

Private WithEvents xlApp As Excel.Application
   Private xlBook As Excel.Workbook
   Private WithEvents xlSheet1 As Excel.Worksheet
   Private WithEvents xlSheet2 As Excel.Worksheet
   Private WithEvents xlSheet3 As Excel.Worksheet

Public Sub UseWithEvents()
      'Start Excel and then create a new workbook.
      xlApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
      xlBook = xlApp.Workbooks.Add()
      xlBook.Windows(1).Caption = "Uses WithEvents"

'Get references to the three worksheets.
      xlSheet1 = xlBook.Worksheets.Item(1)
      xlSheet2 = xlBook.Worksheets.Item(2)
      xlSheet3 = xlBook.Worksheets.Item(3)
      CType(xlSheet1, Excel._Worksheet).Activate()

'Make Excel visible and give the user control.
      xlApp.Visible = True
      xlApp.UserControl = True
   End Sub

Private Sub xlApp_WorkbookBeforeClose(ByVal Wb As Excel.Workbook, _
     ByRef Cancel As Boolean) Handles xlApp.WorkbookBeforeClose
      Debug.WriteLine("WithEvents: Closing the workbook.")
      Wb.Saved = True 'Set the dirty flag to true so there is no prompt to save
   End Sub

Private Sub xlSheet1_Change(ByVal Target As Excel.Range) Handles xlSheet1.Change
      Debug.WriteLine("WithEvents: You Changed Cells " + Target.Address + " on Sheet1")
   End Sub

Private Sub xlSheet2_Change(ByVal Target As Excel.Range) Handles xlSheet2.Change
      Debug.WriteLine("WithEvents: You Changed Cells " + Target.Address + " on Sheet2")
   End Sub

Private Sub xlSheet3_Change(ByVal Target As Excel.Range) Handles xlSheet3.Change
      Debug.WriteLine("WithEvents: You Changed Cells " + Target.Address + " on Sheet3")
   End Sub

  5. Add the following to the top of both Module1.vb and Module2.vb:

    Imports Microsoft.Office.Interop

    Note The exact name for the Office namespace may differ depending on the version of the Office Primary Interop Assembly (PIA) that is registered in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) when the reference is added to the solution. If you receive a build error message on this statement, check the name as it appears in Solution Explorer (under References) and then change the name as appropriate.

  6. In Solution Explorer, double-click Form1.vb to display the form in Design view.

  7. On the View menu, select Toolbox to display the Toolbox, and then add two buttons to Form1. Change the Text property of Button1 by typing Use WithEvents. Then change the Text property of Button2 by typing Use Delegates.

  8. On the View menu, select Code to display the Code window for the form. Add the following code to the Click event handlers for the buttons:

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
      ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        UseWithEvents()
    End Sub

Private Sub Button2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
      ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
        UseDelegate()
    End Sub

Test the code

  1. Press CTRL+ALT+O to display the Output window.

  2. Press F5 to build and to run the program.

  3. On the form, click Use WithEvents.

    The program starts Excel and then creates a workbook with three worksheets.

  4. Add any data to cells on one or more worksheets. Press the ENTER key after each change. Examine the Output window in Visual Studio .NET to verify that the event handlers are called.

  5. Quit Excel.

  6. On the form, click Use Delegates.

    Again, the program starts Excel and then creates a workbook with multiple worksheets.

  7. Add any data to cells on one or more worksheets. Press the ENTER key after each change. Examine the Output window in Visual Studio .NET to verify that the event handlers are called.

  8. Quit Excel and then close the form to end the debug session.

Troubleshooting

When you test the code, you may receive the following error message:

An unhandled exception of type 'System.InvalidCastException' occurred in interop.excel.dll

Additional information: No such interface supported

References

For additional information about Microsoft Office development with Visual Studio .NET, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site:

Microsoft Office Development with Visual Studio

For additional information about automating Excel from Visual Basic .NET, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

302094 HOWTO: Automate Excel from Visual Basic .NET to fill or to obtain data in a range by using arrays