Mastering VBA for Microsoft® Office 2010

Chapter 30. Accessing One Application from Another Application

So far, this book has shown you how to work with VBA to perform actions within a VBA host application, such as Word or Access. But you might sometimes (perhaps often) need to communicate between applications as well. This chapter shows you the tools for contacting and manipulating one application from another: Automation, data objects, Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), and SendKeys.

In this chapter you will learn to do the following:

• Use Automation to transfer information

• Use the Shell function to run an application

• Use data objects to store and retrieve information

• Communicate via DDE

• Communicate via SendKeys

Understanding the Tools Used to Communicate Between Applications

Most VBA host applications ...