Excel.Tips.Net Welcome toExcel.Tips.Net

Helpful Links

Tips.Net Home
ExcelTips Home
Ask an Excel Question
Make a Comment

Tips.Net Store

ExcelTips FAQ
ExcelTips Premium

Learn Access Now
Free Printable Forms

Beauty Tips
Car Tips
Cleaning Tips
College Tips
Cooking Tips
Excel2007 Tips
ExcelTips
Family Tips
Gardening Tips
Health Tips
Home Tips
Legal Tips
Money Tips
Organizing Tips
Pest Tips
Pet Tips
Wedding Tips
Word2007 Tips
WordTips

Advertise on the
ExcelTips Site

Newest Tips

Recording a Macro

Adding a Little Animation to Your Life

Converting a Range of URLs to Hyperlinks

Making the Formula Bar Persistent

Engineering Calculations

Digital Signatures for Macros

Fixing the Decimal Point

 

Creating and Naming a Worksheet Using a Macro

Summary: You can use macros to make your common Excel tasks easier and faster. For instance, if you routinely need to create new worksheets based on an existing worksheet, you might want to use a macro to perform the task. Here's a couple of suggestions for just such a macro. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

Jeff would like to create a copy of his "master" worksheet, prompt for a name of the new worksheet, and move it to the end of the tabs, all from within a macro. He tried to record a macro to do this, but it didn't work.

The fact that the recorded macro didn't work isn't terribly surprising. When you record a macro, you tell Excel to record the steps you take. Those steps (in this instance) included the naming of the worksheet, so that name was recorded in the macro. Try to run the macro a second time, and you will get an error because the worksheet you are trying to create on the second pass was already created on the first.

In this case you have to write a macro manually. You can start with recording the process, and you will get a code like the following:

Sub Macro1()
    Sheets("Master").Select
    Sheets("Master").Copy After:=Sheets(3)
    Sheets("Master (2)").Select
    Sheets("Master (2)").Name = "NewMaster"
End Sub

Note that the code places the worksheet (after the third sheet) and then always names it the same thing. There's a lot to change here. What you want to do is change it to something like the following:

Sub CopyRename()
    Dim sName As String
    Dim wks As Worksheet
    Worksheets("Master").Copy after:=Sheets(Worksheets.Count)
    Set wks = ActiveSheet
    Do While sName <> wks.Name
        sName = Application.InputBox _
          (Prompt:="Enter new worksheet name")
        On Error Resume Next
        wks.Name = sName
        On Error GoTo 0
    Loop
    Set wks = Nothing
End Sub

This macro will copy the worksheet named "Master" to the end of sheet list (no matter how many sheets you have in the workbook) and continue to prompt for a new worksheet name until a valid name is entered.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3898) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

More Power! For some people, the prospect of creating macros can be scary. Those who conquer their fears, however, find they become much more confident and productive once they learn how to make Excel do exactly what they want. ExcelTips: The Macros is an invaluable source for learning Excel macros. You are introduced to the topic in bite-sized chunks, pulled from past issues of ExcelTips. Learn at your own pace, exactly the way you want.
 
Check out ExcelTips: The Macros today!