> Hi everybody. Well, I've spent the requisite 4+ hours looking in
> manuals, searching the Internet and this group, and I'm totally
> confused about how Excel works with regard to "databases" and forms
> and macros. I have moderate understanding of spreadsheets (e.g.
> lookup and formulas), but what's got me lost is defining areas and
> forms and getting the macro (button) to bring up a form. I'm using
> Excel 2003.
>
> So I'll start with some really basic stuff. In a spreadsheet, I've
> got the following 4column x 2row entries:
>
> NAME CITY PRICE DATE
> x y 6 7
>
> I've also done the following: Selected the first two rows and columns
> (2x2) and then invoked Insert/Name/Define, and entered "First2". Then
> I selected the other two rows and columns (2x2) and invoke Insert/Name/
> Define, and entered "Second2".
>
> What have I created? Are these considered "databases"? A "list
> table"? (as a Microsoft manual suggests) Or what?
> There is a pull-down at the upper left which has, in addition to the
> current cell (e.g. D8), two additional entries: "First2" and
> "Second2". Is that the only place they are listed, or is there some
> other place where these things are shown (and can be edited or
> deleted)?
>
> If I highlight the cell containing the "y", or the one below it, and
> invoke Data/Form, up pops a dialogue with:
> NAME, CITY, PRICE, DATE
>
> Why am I seeing PRICE and DATE since it's not part of the Named-
> Defined region?.
> Why does that happen for the cell below the "y" but not for the cell
> below that? (also for the cell to the right of the "7", and the one
> below that). Shouldn't the region be tightly defined so that the Form
> only pops up when you are inside it?
>
> I also created much further to the right a 2x2 block and Defined a
> Name, and if I select the a cell in the lower row, and then invoke
> Data/Form, then I get a clean 2-entry Form. So I'm of the impression
> that Forms are contextual (to a degree), and that you can have
> multiple Forms on a single sheet? Is that correct? Do they have
> names?
>
> Setting that aside, which isn't critical but is mysterious, I'll
> accept for now that I've got a form (or 2 or 3) of some sort active
> here.
>
> HERE'S THE BIG PROBLEM: I want to have a button that runs a macro
> that pops up a form for data entry. I've set the macro security to
> Medium, invoked Tools/Macro/RecordNewMacro (naming it "LoadDataForm"),
> then with a cell highlighted within the "First2" data block, invoked
> Data/Form, and up popped the box. I click on Close, and then stop the
> macro recording.
>
> Checking the macro, with the name LoadDataForm, there is something,
> but not much:
> Sub LoadDataForm ()
> ActiveSheet.ShowDataForm
> End Sub
>
> When I try and run it, I get the error message:
> ShowDataForm method of class Worksheet failed.
> I've also received that message on a sheet with only one region Name/
> Define(d), just in case there is a problem with multiple Form(s) on a
> sheet, if that's possible.
>
> I'm open to anything. Do I put into the macro something like:
> Range("B5").Select and then use a method for ActiveCell to get the
> Form? Tried ActiveSheet.ShowDataForm after the Range-Select, but
> that didn't work.
>
> Are there any webpages that tell you *exactly* what to do to create a
> macro for a Form? I've been following tips over at PC Answers, but
> I'm afraid I need explicit instructions, for every single click.
> (e.g. instructions like "Click inside the data you have entered" are
> imprecise. Inside means...? Excluding the label row?)
>