Rating: 
Summary: Very Useful Book
Review: Full of usable and practical advice. It seems like every subject with which I needed help could be found immediately in the index and the related text focused on the problem exactly. Easily the most useful computer book I've purchased to date.
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Summary: Don't do VBA without it!
Review: This is a great book! I have struggled through Microsoft Press books looking for more substantial examples but they're mostly fluff. Also, their books are almost all straight from the help files that come with their development tools (VB included). I find their help files, not typically helpful. I have the entire 6 volumne set of the VB Office manuals and it's mostly just an alphabetical index, not too useful when you're trying to figure out to apply the 1000s of VB functions. Every section of this book told me things I couldn't find elsewhere. It doesn't teach you VB (there's enough of that out there), but it teaches you how to use it with tons of real life examples. I like the many tips and gotchas that it highlights too.
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Summary: If you're serious about getting the full power of Excel
Review: I wrote an earlier review and this only increases my star rating from 5!No question about the utility of this book if you're serious about getting the full power from Excel. I bought it when it was first released and have read it cover to cover twice. It also serves as a constant source of reference because VBA is hands on and mere reading only gives you the guide to what can be done. When you need to do it - go back to the book and the basics are there. Well written with occasional sparkling humour. No padding or extensive copying from online help. Criticisms? Perhaps needs extending to more advanced areas but if you have absorbed the full text you should be able to develop on your own with the assistance of News Groups where John is a non-self promoting contributor.
Rating: 
Summary: Very thorough, but ....
Review: John Walkenbach IS the Excel king but...he needs to better address the real power behind Excel 2000's integration with the web and Universal Data Access (UDA). When your Excel custom application is ready for interface with unlimited data sources, you'll need to look elswhere. True, he does discuss earlier Excel methods of retrieving data, but these methods are so outdated. ADO and MDAC is how you'll want to feed your Excel appl with data. This subject deserves its own chapter not a passing couple of statements. Don't even bother with ODBC, DAO, Jet, or RDO. You'll do yourself a favor by learning ADO & MDAC but that's when you'll move beyond the scope of this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not tutorial
Review: I previously rated this book at four stars, but the more I use it the less I like it. The main problems are organization and insight. Information is scattered throughout the book, and its utility is not apparent. The reader must invent just what might work, and guess just where in the book the igredients of solution are stashed. If you can't visualize an approach (and guess when Walkenbach thought about it while writing the book) you will not find what you need. An example is the Input Box. First, it is placed in the chapter "Introducing UserForms", but it is not a UserForm, and we're never told. In time one comes to see that a VBA subroutine has to be used to get an Input Box. By using the online help, one can find a code example to produce an Input Box. Then Walkenbach distinguishes between Excel's and VBA's Input Box method. But the code example on p. 357 is a snipit: you have to figure out how to incorporate it into a functioning subroutine. Unfortunately this pattern is repeated: debugging is scattered about, error handling is an afterthought, exchanging data between VBA and the spreadsheet is buried under "The Range Property" on p. 155 (for writing), buried (without discussion) as a line in a code example on p. 166 (for reading), and used (without comment) in an array example much later on p. 287. This book is a series of examples and many useful informational items, but it's just not tutorial for most subjects. Wells and Harshbarger, "Microsoft Excel 97 Developer's Handbook" does much more for imagining how the various elements can be combined in useful applications.
Rating:
Summary: Lives up to it's name
Review: As a high-end user for Excel I recently took a VB 6 programming class at my local Jr. Collge, hoping to get some good VBA education. While the class was invaluable, this book is a MUST for anyone who creates complex Excel spreadsheets and wants to incorporate powerful macro's and VBA code. A solid knowledge of Visual Basic 6 is helpful, but not required, if you want to get the most from this book. I've looked for a great VBA book for several months and this one is the best I've found. If you're already a professional developer, then I seriously doubt you'll like the book because it devotes a lot of space to the fundamentals of VBA and programming.
Rating:
Summary: Elizabeth Boonin he ain't
Review: As an Excel '97 user, my interest is engineering applications, and using VBA to supplement spreadsheet computations. Although it's out of date, and often at a much more introductory level, Elizabeth Boonin's "Using Excel Visual Basic" shows a much clearer understanding of the learner's questions. For example, she has Chapter 12 "How do you get all that stuff from Excel into VBA and back?" You'll be able to figure this out from Walkenbach, but you will have to develop your own "search and find" method to locate what you need: it's not organized that way. Likewise, Walkenbach talks about debugging in snipits scattered throughout the book, while Boonin collects this topic in one chapter: "Fixing your code", where you can find a clear discussion of the whole subject. Getz and Gilbert "VBA Developer's Handbook" also have a more coherent discussion of debugging. Another gripe: combining different morsels to actually do something requires trial and error splicing. Bottom line: I recommend this book, but wish it were less a scattergun approach.
Rating:
Summary: Excel_ent, well structured source for excel
Review: I had a few VBA books at home, but none of those have been a great help to me. While others go too deap not covering all the topics, others only scratch the surface. Other problem is that mostly books are about VBA in general, so there are much about powerpoint, access and word. Haven't been able to find a good book about excel VBA before this. When I got a serious job developing excel-solutions, I knew that I have to get a better resource. I found this book by amazon reviews and must say that this is one of the best books I have ever seen. The book is smartly structured by topics (great when you don't want to read it all through), So when you want to find about charts or userforms or commandbars, there is one chapter just for that and nothing else. Finding needful information is easy and fast. Secondly, while the book cover all the excel related issues, it dont go all that deep and text is kept quite short. you can find helpful facts easyly and read the rest from VBA help files. As a summary, high price but all worth it.
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Summary: The best book available for Excel VBA
Review: I spent a great deal of time (and money) trying to find a good book on VBA for Excel until I found this book. It is well organized, well written and covers an incredible amount of useful material. This book managed to answer the questions I had while opening doors to things I didn't even know Excel was capable of. Another tip: whatever you do, stay away from Excel 2000 Developer's Handbook by Marion Cottingham. Horrible, disorganized and confusing book!
Rating:
Summary: The Best There Is on Excel VBA
Review: You can buy any of a dozen books that introduce you to VBA as it pertains to the entire MS Office suite, and they introduce you to the basics. This book, though, is strictly about Excel VBA! I have been looking for a book like this for a long time. Additionally, he does justice to the Win32 API and Class Modules which I have NEVER seen in any other book of this type. Whether you are a beginner or an intermediate then this is the book you NEED! Lots of good source code on the CD too.
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