Automatic Object Naming

yoko

Active Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2006
Messages
349
I've been having problems where I make an object on a sheet and its given an automatic name...

For example I create a text box using a macro, it will be named "text box 1" I get the problem when I macro grabs text box 1 and moves it but after I've run the macro a few times text box 1 is now text box 10 or something.

How can I add a line of code that when the macro runs and creats a text box it names it something that I set that will be consistant.

Code:
ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddTextbox(msoTextOrientationHorizontal, 47.25, 100.5, _
        209.25, 84.75).Select
    Selection.Characters.Text = "Hello world"
    With Selection.Font
        .Name = "Arial"
        .FontStyle = "Regular"
        .Size = 10
        .Strikethrough = False
        .Superscript = False
        .Subscript = False
        .OutlineFont = False
        .Shadow = False
        .Underline = xlUnderlineStyleNone
        .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic
    End With
    Selection.ShapeRange.IncrementLeft 18#
    Selection.ShapeRange.IncrementTop 13.5
    ActiveSheet.Shapes("Text Box 1").Select

So Add a line saying something like

ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddTextbox.name = "my new text box name"

As you can see form the above code the last line says .

ActiveSheet.Shapes("Text Box 1").Select

but if that macro was run twice it wouldnt be text box 1 any more...

Hope that makes sence sorry its a bit long winded!
 

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You can use an object variable to keep track of your shape:

Code:
Sub Test()
    Dim Sh As Shape
    Set Sh = ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddTextbox(msoTextOrientationHorizontal, 47.25, 100.5, _
        209.25, 84.75)
    With Sh
        .Name = "MyShape"
        With .TextFrame.Characters
            .Text = "Hello world"
            With .Font
                .Name = "Arial"
                .FontStyle = "Regular"
                .Size = 10
                .Strikethrough = False
                .Superscript = False
                .Subscript = False
                .OutlineFont = False
                .Shadow = False
                .Underline = xlUnderlineStyleNone
                .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic
            End With
        End With
        .Select
    End With
    With Selection.ShapeRange
        .IncrementLeft 18#
        .IncrementTop 13.5
    End With
End Sub
 
Upvote 0
Great stuff cheers.

Can you explain to me the:

Code:
Dim Sh As Shape 
    Set Sh = ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddTextbox(msoTextOrientationHorizontal, 47.25, 100.5, _ 
        209.25, 84.75) 
    With Sh 
        .Name = "MyShape"

I understand what the .name does but what does Dim sh as shape, set Sh and with Sh do?

Many thanks
 
Upvote 0
The first line declares a variable named Sh as type Shape.

The AddTextbox method returns a TextBox (Shape) object. The Set keyword is used to assign the returned Shape to the object variable.

Thereafter you can use the object variable in place of the actual object.
 
Upvote 0
Ah I see thats quite interesting.

So why cant we just do.

Code:
ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddTextbox(msoTextOrientationHorizontal, 47.25, 100.5, _ 
        209.25, 84.75) 
        .Name = "MyShape"
         With .TextFrame.Characters 
            .Text = "Hello world" 
            With .Font 
                .Name = "Arial" 
                .FontStyle = "Regular" 
                .Size = 10 
                .Strikethrough = False 
                .Superscript = False 
                .Subscript = False 
                .OutlineFont = False 
                .Shadow = False 
                .Underline = xlUnderlineStyleNone 
                .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic 
            End With 
        End With 
        .Select 
    End With 
    With Selection.ShapeRange 
        .IncrementLeft 18# 
        .IncrementTop 13.5 
    End With 
End Sub

Would that not create a shape with the name as "MyShape"?

Cheers.
 
Upvote 0
No it wouldn't. In your original code you applied the Select method to the shape returned by the AddTextbox method, then used the Selection object. The first line above will casue a compile error, because the arguments for the AddText method are in parentheses, and VBA expects the result to be assigned to a variable or passed to another method.

Using the result in a With clause works though:

Code:
Sub Test()
    With ActiveSheet.Shapes.AddTextbox(msoTextOrientationHorizontal, 47.25, 100.5, _
            209.25, 84.75)
        .Name = "MyShape"
         With .TextFrame.Characters
            .Text = "Hello world"
            With .Font
                .Name = "Arial"
                .FontStyle = "Regular"
                .Size = 10
                .Strikethrough = False
                .Superscript = False
                .Subscript = False
                .OutlineFont = False
                .Shadow = False
                .Underline = xlUnderlineStyleNone
                .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic
            End With
        End With
        .Select
    End With
    With Selection.ShapeRange
        .IncrementLeft 18#
        .IncrementTop 13.5
    End With
End Sub
 
Upvote 0

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