I
IanDigby
Amateur programmer seeks guru!
I have tried a couple of times to migrate my complex VBA programs to .NET
without success. What stops me every time is that a .NET add-in (VSTO or
Shared) doesn't have a spreadsheet handy, like a .xla does, for doing your
business calculations on.
The way I have been working to model the business calculations in the .xla
(add-in) worksheet/s using standard Excel formulae, then hook up the UserForm
controls to the worksheet cells programmatically.
Especially when the business calculations are complex, it's so convenient to
work this way. Then if the user changes a value in one UserForm control, the
VBA code can re-calculate the worksheet/s and get the updated value for
another control. Using ADO it's easy to hook it all up to databases.
My question is, in moving to .NET/VSTO, how and where am I going to model
the business calculations/formulae? OK if this an add-in for one workbook
only, but what about shared add-ins? I am a self-taught programmer through
VBA and it's really hitting me now that I don't have the core developer
skills. Do I use business object classes and if so, how are they wired up to
the Windows form controls? OK I understand and can use datasets and partial
classes but their events relate to the underlying data, not the form
controls.
I hope this all makes sense, and thank anyone who can shed light for me.
Ian Digby
I have tried a couple of times to migrate my complex VBA programs to .NET
without success. What stops me every time is that a .NET add-in (VSTO or
Shared) doesn't have a spreadsheet handy, like a .xla does, for doing your
business calculations on.
The way I have been working to model the business calculations in the .xla
(add-in) worksheet/s using standard Excel formulae, then hook up the UserForm
controls to the worksheet cells programmatically.
Especially when the business calculations are complex, it's so convenient to
work this way. Then if the user changes a value in one UserForm control, the
VBA code can re-calculate the worksheet/s and get the updated value for
another control. Using ADO it's easy to hook it all up to databases.
My question is, in moving to .NET/VSTO, how and where am I going to model
the business calculations/formulae? OK if this an add-in for one workbook
only, but what about shared add-ins? I am a self-taught programmer through
VBA and it's really hitting me now that I don't have the core developer
skills. Do I use business object classes and if so, how are they wired up to
the Windows form controls? OK I understand and can use datasets and partial
classes but their events relate to the underlying data, not the form
controls.
I hope this all makes sense, and thank anyone who can shed light for me.
Ian Digby