Question

Clear user input fast, without losing formulae VBA in Excel

Asked by: prameson

I have a workbook with quite a few sheets which require user input.  I want a quick way (using VBA) to clear user input without touching formulae.  Ideally I don't want to get into defining ranges as the sheets can change often.  I was using ".SpecialCells(xlCellTypeConstants, xlNumbers).ClearContents" which works well, and is fast, but will not work if the user enters a formula.

The background colour of the input cells are a different colour to the formulae, and they are "unlocked" - is there any way I can use these attributes in Specialcells, or in some other fast way to select and clearcontents?

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Asked On
2003-09-01 at 03:33:04ID20725526
Tags

excel

,

unlocked

,

user

,

vba

Topic

Miscellaneous Programming

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
12

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Answers

 

by: bruintjePosted on 2003-09-01 at 03:37:58ID: 9260795

>>>but will not work if the user enters a formula

what do you mean do you need to remove formulas too?

then use

.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeFormulas, xlNumbers).ClearContents

 

by: bruintjePosted on 2003-09-01 at 03:38:45ID: 9260797

sorry without losing the formula you mean the value of the formula? else explain a bit more about it

 

by: pramesonPosted on 2003-09-01 at 04:11:34ID: 9260912

I need to remove formulas that users may enter, while leaving "locked" template formulas.  This is why I don't think I can use specialcells, unless I can stipulate "unlocked" cells, or use the background colour somehow.

 

by: stsanzPosted on 2003-09-01 at 04:42:15ID: 9261026

Build a range of all the input cells you want to clear (the range can be constituted of consecutive cells or not), and clear the range.

 

by: stsanzPosted on 2003-09-01 at 04:51:51ID: 9261077

example:
Worksheets("Sheet1").Range("A1,A3,B3").ClearContents

Specify all the cells to clear separated by comma.

 

by: bruintjePosted on 2003-09-01 at 04:56:51ID: 9261096

this leaves an option like

select all formulas in the sheet, then unprotect and only empty the unlocked ones

Sub t1()
Dim c As Range
  ActiveSheet.Unprotect
  Cells.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeFormulas, xlNumbers).Select
  For Each c In Selection
    If Not c.Locked Then c.Value = ""
  Next
  ActiveSheet.Protect
End Sub

 

by: pramesonPosted on 2003-09-01 at 05:06:32ID: 9261143

I don't want to have to loop through all the cells if I can help it - I am really looking for a solution (which may not exist) where I can select all unlocked cells in one go without defining a range, and clear contents for that selection.

 

by: bruintjePosted on 2003-09-01 at 05:30:59ID: 9261252

you exclude all viable options, so that leaves only the most probable to try and optimize

 

by: bruintjePosted on 2003-09-01 at 05:31:35ID: 9261257

btw with the loop you only loop through formula cells, and you can still do the others with the specialcells

 

by: hykesPosted on 2003-09-01 at 12:38:08ID: 9263205

Hi.
You best bet is probably use this code below to take advantage of the different background color of the input cells. Assume A1:Z100 covers all the cells in your worksheet, you background color is yellow.

Dim c As Range
For Each c In Range("A1:Z100").Cells
    If c.Interior.ColorIndex = 6 Then c.ClearContents
Next

It is very fast to finish this operation. Let me know if it works for you.

 

by: bruintjePosted on 2003-09-01 at 12:44:33ID: 9263230

it looks like a check on locked or not, it is a loop

what is asked is not possible but all variations otherwise are posted now, makes for a good PAQ

 

by: pramesonPosted on 2003-09-02 at 01:28:45ID: 9265648

thanks all for your answers - I didn't quite get thw answer I hoped for, but seems that what I wanted wasn't possible - the combination of clear special cells on numbers and then loop on the formulae to see if they are locked does ssem to be the best solution.  Thanks again.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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