Introduction

Version 3.0.6 is available to download and supports all recent 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions of Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365.

The VBE Tools adds a number of enhancements to the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 Visual Basic Editor, each of which can be individually enabled in the Options dialog, shown below:

When a userform is active, the 'Control Nudger' toolbar is enabled. This allows us to move or size a control or group of controls one pixel at a time, giving us a very fine degree of control over their placement. The dropdown allows us to select between moving the control, or resizing it by moving the Top/Left or Bottom/Right edges. The VBE Tools also adds the ability to move or size controls using the keyboard. Holding down the Alt key while pressing an arrow key moves the control by one pixel in that direction. Similarly, holding down the Shift and Alt keys resizes the control by moving just the top or left edge and holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys resizes the control by moving just the bottom or right edge.

The Performance Tester adds a function call at the start and end of every VBA procedure, then measures how many times each function was called and how long was spent in each, allowing you to quickly pinpoint any performance bottlenecks in your VBA code. The results are shown in a new dockable window, can be copied to the clipboard, saved to a file and/or accessed through code.

The 'Record at Mark' option adds a new button to the Excel Developer ribbon, which allows you to record code directly into existing procedures: In the VBE, right-click where you want the recorded code to be inserted and choose Record at Mark > Mark position for recording In Excel, click the new 'Record at Mark' button and perform whatever actions you want recorded Click any of the 'Stop recording' buttons to insert the recorded code into your chosen procedure When you're finished, switch back to VBE and delete the recording position marker

The 'Rename Control and Code' option adds a new item to the pop-up menu for userform controls and ActiveX controls embedded on Excel worksheets. This feature updates the code behind the form to use the new name for the control. It also checks the entire VBProject for the control being used when qualified by the form name (e.g. changing frmTheForm.ctlTheOldName.Caption = "Hello" to frmTheForm.ctlTheNewName.Caption = "Hello"). Unfortunately, it also changes references to any other controls that have the same name followed by an underscore, so it will also change code references to other controls like ctlTheOldName_2 to ctlTheNewName_2. It doesn't change the name of the other control, though. This is the same behaviour as the VBE's 'Find whole word only' option, and is like that to support the correct updating of the control's event procedures, such as ctlTheOldName_Click. To avoid this issue when renaming many controls on a userform you should rename the control with the longest name first.

The 'Close All Document Windows' menu item on the Window menu provides a one-click way to close all undocked windows.

Whenever a code module is active, the main toolbar displays the size of the module (a count of all the characters in the module). The toolbar button is continually updated as the code is edited.

Pricing

The 30-day trial version of VBE Tools can be downloaded here.

A perpetual license can be purchased through our authorised reseller, FastSpring, for GBP £25.00 per user plus local sales taxes.
Smart Indenter and VBE Tools can be bought together at the reduced price of GBP £40.00 per user plus local sales taxes.

Discounts are available if purchasing multiple licenses:
20% off the total when buying 2 or more.
30% off the total when buying 6 or more.

Versions

Version 3.0 is a C# COM Addin for modern 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office

Version 2.0 of the VBE Tools is available for Office 2000/2002/2003 and might work with recent 32-bit versions if you can locate and install the VB6 run-times. This version can be found on the Office Automation web site