My role as a consultant is to identify issues and find solutions for the people facing them. Sometimes data handling challenges have no readily available solutions – then if applicable I will create one. It may be an Excel spreadsheet application for analysis, a SQL query for collating content from complex database structures or a scheduled Powershell script for automated data transfer between systems – to name a few.
BITmarsh is a collection of useful pieces of generic code that I use in my projects. I share them in case you might find them useful as well. The business logic for a specific need is written case-by-case. Those remain confidential.
As a self-taught programmer I find inspiration and portions of code in the net. Unless I have basically rewritten a routine I will disclose the origin. A skilled professional programmer will most likely have a lot to say about my code. If that is the case then please do comment as I am eager to learn.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: These snippets are shared with absolutely no support or liability. If you are not willing to accept full responsibility for whatever happens when utilizing these functions then do not use them!
TERMS OF USE: You are free to use and deploy these snippets just as they are or modified in your own projects privately or within your company of employment. You may not publish or redistribute the code free or in a commercial product.
Excel – The Corporate Swiss Army Knife
Microsoft Excel© is my primary tool in client projects requiring a user interface. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language of Excel macros. In the hands of a skilled programmer – and even me – it is a powerful tool.
The routines shared here were written or revised on US English version of Excel 365 for Windows. Using these routines on a Mac will require some tweaking. Localized versions of Excel run macros written on an US English platform with some notable and often unexpected exceptions.
My clients use both English and Finnish versions of Microsoft Office and usually have Windows regional settings configured for Finland. Writing code that works regardless of regional settings takes some effort. Most fumbles happen when handling dates, times, the decimal sign and the thousand separator.
Also the operating system has a significant impact on the code. Depending on what you need to achieve VBA relies heavily on the dynamic libraries (DLLs in Windows) provided by your operating system and Office itself. All modules here are written in such a way that they only utilize Microsoft standard components without the need to install anything to the workstation.
BITmarsh is work in progress. The actual code release is pending.
