Question

how can I find sheets(i).selection.address WITHOUT using Activate method

Asked by: rberke

Sub t()
' how can I find sheets(i).selection.address WITHOUT using Activate method?
' Currently, I Activate  the sheet, get the selection.address, then Activate my original sheet.
' It is a minor problem, but I find it annoying.

' Here are examples that demonstrate several attempts that don't work


' example #1 works, but it uses the Activate method
For i = 1 To Sheets.count
Sheets(i).Activate
Debug.Print Selection.Address
Next i

' example #2 doesn't abort, but it doesn't work. For obvious reasons, it always reports the active sheet's address.
For i = 1 To Sheets.count
Debug.Print Sheets(i).Application.Selection.Address
Next i

' example #3 gives "object doesn't support this property or method". This is because Selection is a property of the application, NOT the workbook or the worksheet.
For i = 1 To Sheets.count
Debug.Print Sheets(i).Selection.Address
Next i


End Sub

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Asked On
2008-07-18 at 08:36:33ID23577198
Topic

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software

Participating Experts
2
Points
250
Comments
15

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Answers

 

by: spattewarPosted on 2008-07-18 at 08:39:15ID: 22036974

how do you do the selection? And do you run this macro after doing the selection?

 

by: spattewarPosted on 2008-07-18 at 08:42:06ID: 22037011

I think you have to use the activate method to activate the sheet for which you want the selection address. Becuase for each sheet you can have a different selection done.

 

by: rberkePosted on 2008-07-18 at 08:46:36ID: 22037058

OK, here are more instructions.

open a new workbook. in sheet 1 select cells a1:a2.   in Sheet 2 select cells a1:c2

run the example.

Then, (and please do not be insulted by the next comment) if you don't understand my question at that point, the chances are that you you won't be able to answer my question.



 

by: rberkePosted on 2008-07-18 at 08:47:28ID: 22037066

yeah, I agree, I think it MUST be done with activate.  But Expert-exchange often answer my impossible questions, so I thought it was worth a try

 

by: rberkePosted on 2008-07-18 at 08:48:34ID: 22037079

I will give you points unless someone comes up with a better answer.

 

by: zorvekPosted on 2008-07-18 at 08:51:06ID: 22037104

The current selection applies only to the active sheet. Although Excel does remember the selection on inactive sheets, there is no way to recover that information through the Excel object model. The only workaround is to store the selection information ourselves in an accessible location as the user is working in the workbook.

Kevin

 

by: zorvekPosted on 2008-07-18 at 08:57:04ID: 22037158

Here is just such a workaround using VBA in the workbook. The solution below solves this problem by storing the most recently selected selection and active cell in named variables. The code below, when added to the ThisWorkbook code module, saves this information every time a selection is made on a worksheet.

[Begin Code Segment]

Private Sub Workbook_SheetSelectionChange(ByVal Sh As Object, ByVal Target As Range)
   Sh.Names.Add "Selection", Target
   Sh.Names.Add "ActiveCell", ActiveCell
End Sub

[End Code Segment]

The code below, when added to a worksheet module, allows the information stored with the code above to be retrieved as a worksheet property.

[Begin Code Segment]

Public Property Get ActiveCell() As Range
   On Error Resume Next
   Set ActiveCell = Me.Range(Me.Names("ActiveCell"))
End Property

Public Property Get Selection() As Range
   On Error Resume Next
   Set Selection = Me.Range(Me.Names("Selection"))
End Property

[End Code Segment]

With the above code in place, the sample code below illustrates how to access a worksheet's selection and active cell even when it is not active and without activating it.

   Set InactiveWorksheetSelection = Sheets("Sheet1").Selection
   Set InactiveWorksheetActiveCell = Sheets("Sheet1").ActiveCell

Kevin

 

by: rberkePosted on 2008-07-18 at 09:16:59ID: 22037391

Of course, I suppose I could use a udf.  But, probably not worth it. I am closing this problem.

Function Sheet_Selection(ws As Worksheet) As Range
Dim lastsheet As Worksheet
Set lastsheet = ActiveSheet
ws.Activate
Set Sheet_Selection = Selection
lastsheet.Activate
End Function

 

by: rberkePosted on 2008-07-18 at 09:19:52ID: 22037416

Kevin,  as usual, you are way ahead of me.  That is a very nice solution. It is so elegant I think I am going to submit it to the Microsoft wishlist email address.  The only downside is that it allows me to write programs that work fine for me, and then fail when I share my code with someone else.

Still very slick indeed

 

by: zorvekPosted on 2008-07-18 at 09:19:53ID: 22037417

At least turn off screen updating ;-)

Kevin

 

by: zorvekPosted on 2008-07-18 at 09:21:16ID: 22037436

Don't submit MY solution to Microsoft. The real wish here is to expose the selection on inactive worksheets.

Kevin

 

by: rberkePosted on 2008-07-18 at 12:54:44ID: 22039219

I was kind of joking.  Although I may very well submit a request that they implement .selection as part of their Worksheet object model.  total waste of time of course, but I do things like that from time to time.

I am closing the problem and thanks for your help.

 

by: rberkePosted on 2008-07-18 at 12:59:25ID: 31478085

The "real" answer, and the first answer is "you can't really do what you want to do".  Kevin's workaround is very educational and may come in handy for other projects, but it is serious overkill for my current needs.  I will continue to simply activate the sheet that i need, then reactivate the original sheet.

 

by: rberkePosted on 2008-07-18 at 12:59:46ID: 22039258

The "real" answer, and the first answer is "you can't really do what you want to do".  Kevin's workaround is very educational and may come in handy for other projects, but it is serious overkill for my current needs.  I will continue to simply activate the sheet that i need, then reactivate the original sheet.

 

by: rberkePosted on 2009-10-23 at 12:46:04ID: 25647786

rberke

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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