p.s. the current framework is 3.5, so I would go with that framework. It's built off the same framework/CLR as 2.0, but has added functionality.
Main Topics
Browse All Topics
Loading Advertisement...
Question
Moving from an Excel GUI to C# Winform
Hi,
At work we have 2 applications. Firstly there was a C#, .NET 2.0 Winform with Java Server side strategic application. Later another tactical application was developed with Excel VBA GUI and Java Server side. Now management want to merge the two. From a server perspective it will require some work, but as they are both in Java, it is relatively easy and obvious what needs to be done.
Users love the slickness of the C# GUI and have asked to stick with that over Excel. Therefore we are looking for an easy way of taking our logic in Excel / VBA and importing / porting it to C#. Also the reason Excel was origionally used was, the functionality involved lent itself to an Excel Grid quite nicely. Therefore Excel Grid functionality is also desirable in the new C# GUI - more than a standard grid - a grid that supports formula, similar to Excel
I was wondering if anyone has any advice or knowledge of any tool free, or otherwise, that would make the job easier.
Thanks in advance
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get
Instant Access to this Solution
- Plus...
- 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
- Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
- Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
- Never be left without tech help again
Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.
- "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
- "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
- "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.
See what Experts Exchange can do for you.
Got a question?
We've got the answer.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
Need individual assistance?
Our experts are ready to help.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Want to learn from the best?
Read articles from industry experts.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Working on a long term project?
Store your work and research.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Trusted by the world's most respected brands.
Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Free Tech Articles
-
WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
-
SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
-
Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
-
Create a Win7 Gadget
This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
-
Outlook continually prompting for username and password
There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
-
Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...
Cloud Class Webinars
- Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
- Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
- IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
- Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
- Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
- How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...
Join the Community
Give a Little. Get a Lot.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
Answers
Free tools? nope. A good paid tool or component actually is Spreadsheet gear which does exactly what you want. In any event you can't simply port over VBA code to C# code. This will require reprogramming. A component that you would be utilizing is the DataGrid control(most likely). You will be doing it from scratch as well.
If you want to make things easier, you can make a VB6 dll and use com interop in C# to call the VB6 methods, however that's only if you have separated the business logic with the presentation logic in VBA.
-->code in vb.net...there may be a VBA to VB converter...and for sure there's a VB to C# converter
Omego, I assumed that I only had to specify vb.net once since my statement was a corollary, explaining why the author may want to start in vb.net. And I think it may be a good idea still to start off in a language that he's familiar with and then convert it over. I'm sure there are lots of language converters...parsers/etc.
The user specified free tools, so most converters are free...
I agree with him using VB.NET, however I am not sure he is allowed to make that call. In any event you can't easily port VBA to VB.NET. 1st he would need a VB6 project, then he would need a solid business layer in his VBA(since it's VBA I doubt it) so the data could still be called. It's just too much to convert.
Hi,
Thanks for the feed back. Tools like Spreadsheet gear seem like something that could be very useful and cut out a lot of work and hassle. Spreadsheet gear allows use of cell formula which would be a dream (simply plug it in!)
To avoid any confusion both existing apps are java server-side. The new app would also be java server-side, which should ease integration.
The VBA is for presentation, but like anything, there is some business logic nestled in there too, for ease of implementation (at the time)
Sounds like VBA -> VB.NET -> C# is a non-runner. So is writing the VBA presentation in C# from scratch (using a tool like Spreadsheet gear) the easiest and most viable option?
Any other advice?
you don't have to use spreadsheet gear. It depends on how much time you have to devote. You can do everything manually with a datagrid control or a custom one you make yourself, it's more work and time though. In any event which way you go is up to you. You may want to do a financial calculation to see if it's better to spend time doing it with the stock .NET framework or spending $999 per developer on spreadsheetgear. Also you would have to do VBA -> VB6 DLL project -> VB.NET -> C#, so you missed a step ;).
3 Ways to Join
Business Accounts
- Perfect for organizations
- Multiple users
- Save over 36%
- Create a Business Account
Answer for Membership
- Earn free access
- Showcase your knowledge
- No credit card required
- Sign Up to Answer
Loading Advertisement...
by: silemonePosted on 2009-10-27 at 09:33:45ID: 25674430
well I would offer if you don't already, get the free Visual Studios version so that you can do things graphically...also, maybe you can first churn out your code in vb.net...there may be a VBA to VB converter...and for sure there's a VB to C# converter (I use it all the time)...also since you wrote VBA, you may be more comfortable using VB.
I'm a bit confused with you're using Java and they are both in Java...so I can't say anything on that since til that's cleared up...however, C# is modeled after java, so if there's any changing Java code to a C# version, it should be simple enough...