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• Designing User Entry Forms For Manual Data Entry Processing
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In order to create a proper excel data entry form, we should maintain accurate data in the table so that it will be easier for the end user to add, view and edit it. Let’s see in this example how to create a normal employee data entry form in excel which is shown below. Now we have created an employee database with their designation and KRA. List of forms and data entry usability guidelines. Fields in data entry screens contain default values when appropriate and show the structure of the data and the field length. When a task involves source documents (such as a paper form), the interface is compatible with the characteristics of the source document.

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A User Form is a custom-built dialog box that makes a user data entry more controllable and easier to use for the user. In this chapter, you will learn to design a simple form and add data into excel.

Designing User Entry Forms For Manual Data Entry Processing

Step 1 − Navigate to VBA Window by pressing Alt+F11 and Navigate to 'Insert' Menu and select 'User Form'. Upon selecting, the user form is displayed as shown in the following screenshot.

How to add a UserForm to aid data entry in Excel. When you need a user-friendly data input process, create an Excel UserForm. Users who are unfamiliar with Excel will find these forms much. Jan 02, 2017 From complex ERP systems to Facebook, applications make meaning out of input. The form — in its many manifestations — provides a gateway for user submission. This article illustrates 13 different ways to present forms and explores the future of data input. Simple modals work well for forms with.

Step 2 − Design the forms using the given controls.

Step 3 − After adding each control, the controls have to be named. Caption corresponds to what appears on the form and name corresponds to the logical name that will be appearing when you write VBA code for that element.

Step 4 − Following are the names against each one of the added controls.

Step 5 − Add the code for the form load event by performing a right-click on the form and selecting 'View Code'.

Step 6 − Select ‘Userform’ from the objects drop-down and select 'Initialize' method as shown in the following screenshot.

Step 7 − Upon Loading the form, ensure that the text boxes are cleared, drop-down boxes are filled and Radio buttons are reset.

Step 8 − Now add the code to the Submit button. Upon clicking the submit button, the user should be able to add the values into the worksheet.

Step 9 − Add a method to close the form when the user clicks the Cancel button.

Step 10 − Execute the form by clicking the 'Run' button. Enter the values into the form and click the 'Submit' button. Automatically the values will flow into the worksheet as shown in the following screenshot.

In today’s example we’ll introduce data entry with the help of the UserForm. Using UserForm can considerably improve the interaction with our users. Furthermore this way we can assist them to execute particular steps.

They play a very important role in the automatization of Excel. In these days none of the business dashboards can be imagined without Form Controls.

Let’s say a few words about today’s task. At times data entry can be very boring and by this can incline users to mistakes. We’ll design a form that based on three data (Name, Age, Job title) will upload a “database”.

Exactly as you can see on the picture below!

What can exactly be seen on the picture?

Three label, three text fields. And another thing, the Command Button. We’ll assign to this a simple macro that will store input data.

How to create a UserForm to aid data entry?

Let’s start! The first step is to enter the Visual Basic Editor form the ribbon or by pressing the Alt+F11 buttons.

Open the VBA Editor. If the Project Explorer is not visible, click View, Project Explorer. Click Insert, and select the Userform.

After this place the fields and their names onto this form.

Now insert the names of the fields by clicking on the Label Control button:

As next step follow the TexBox belonging to the names. This option enables the data insertion.

Change any elements and attributes of our form by right-clicking on them and then choose the Properties window.

As next step we have the option for example to set the fonts, size and colors.

We can be all creative regarding the designs. We can make any kind we’d like or what we need for a given task.

Now we will place another button on this form. The purpose of this is to fix the given data on one Excel table.

We do this by inserting the CommandButton from the Controls:

Let’s see what the data entry form looks like now:

The user interface is ready! Data input will be a lot easier from now on. But we still have one very important thing to do.

Because for the next step we have to determine the code behind it.

In this example this would run by clicking on the “Add to list” button.

Let’s right click the CommandButton.

From the drop down menu choose the View Code command. In the next chapter we’ll show how to assign a short VBA code to this.

Adding Logic to Button in a Form

Let’s clear what do we expect from the code after clicking on the button?

Our expectation will be that it inserts the values of the UserForm into the determined cells of the determined rows.

For this we have to know where the next empty line in the table is.

After the insertion we have to equal the appropriate cells to the input values of the appropriate fields.

To begin let’s define two variables.

The first one with Integer type by the name rw to determine the current, still empty rows.

The second one by the name ws and with type Worksheet.

This will determine which worksheet our form will refresh / update the cells.

We can already set the calues of the latter variable onto Sheet1.

Use the Range Find method to determine the starting value of our rw variable.

In our case we have to use the ws.Cells.Find method, because we are looking amongst the cells of Sheet1 that contains anything (What:=”*”).

We search by rows (SearchOrder:=xlRows) for the row containing the last (SearchDirection:=xlPrevious) value (LookIn:=xlValues).

Than we add one to this number to find the first empty row:

rw = ws.Cells.Find(What:=”*”, SearchOrder:=xlRows, SearchDirection:=xlPrevious, LookIn:=xlValues).Row + 1

And from this point on our task is basically easy.

The written value in the field must be equal with the rw variable. We store the number of the cells in the rw variable.

We can find out the names of our fields from the UserForm Properties window in case we did not use standard names for them.

Therefore, ws.Cells(rw, 1).Value (this is the cell of Sheet1 first empty row in the first column) be equal to Me.TextBox1.Value which is the value was given into our first field.

Me always refers to the parent object that we “have” our code.

In this case it refers to UserForm, but if we was to write our code on a Sheet, that it would refer to that.

Create User-Feedback MessageBox

Here might be subservient to inform the user what happened to the input data, so with the help of the MsgBox command we can write a massage out for him.

At this time on the popup massage window there should be only one OK button (vbOKOnly parameter) but of course with the help of the other parameters of the MsgBox we can tune this to our liking.

MsgBox “Stored!”, vbOKOnly

If it is done we can delete the input values from our fields. We can do this because they are already in the appropriate cells.

The solution is easy:

We make the value of the Me.TextBox1.Value equal to nothing.

After this is useful to bring back the cursor to the first field with the help of the SetFocus parameter.

Error handling – How can we do this?

Basically we have to endeavor to write the codes with minimal possible errors.

For this it is useful to insert an “If” branching so in case of empty cells the UserForm will do nothing. Our goal is to only store the data if all the cells / fields are filled out! The following short code will alert the user for insufficient data.

Simply turn our thoughts to the code, namely

1. Put (If) after the removal of spaces (Trim)
2. Values of the first fields (Me.TextBox1.Value)
3. Equal to nothing (= “”)
4. then (Then)
5. write a massage (MsgBox “Please fill the field!”),
6. then exit (Exit Sub)
7. and with this we can close the “If” branching (End If).

The VBA code:

What else is there left to do? To determine how to start the UserForm.

Here we can set events or key-combinations also.

Designing User Entry Forms For Manual Data Entry Memes

In our example we choose the simplest solution. We assign the startup of the code to a CommandButton.

Under the Ribbon Developer tab the Controls section can be found.

Let’s insert a button with the help of the Insert command:

By double clicking on the button in Desingn Mode we get over to the Visusal Basic Editor.

We only need to show the UserForm named by us DataEntryForm command for the “Click” event.

Here is the code snippet:

And we are done!

After clicking on the button the UserForm opens. After filling this out the data gets into the appropriate cells.

Conclusion:

Our today’s data input showcase example was a very simplified task.

But it was perfect or us to demonstrate: It is worth to use Excel for serious tasks and the VBA help us to create interactive form for excel dashboard.

We hope you got into the mode for VBA programming. We recommend that everyone start building their own little project! Download the VBA example!

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