VBA Rubberducking

this

7:00 PM

On mine, the underscore is right next to backspace

and thus is 2nd farthest key for my right pinky to reach

Vogel612

for me it's right next to the right shift, soo ..

or rather: between right shift and period / colon

Mathieu Guindon

@IvenBach gotta admit seeing comments with words like "implicit access modifiers" and "use meaningful names" on SO lately, fills me with joy =)

Wow @FunThomas, will you squeak if I squeeze you? Except for the redundant instruction separator, everything you mentioned is a Rubberduck code inspection! — Mathieu Guindon 42 secs ago

Duga

[rubberduck-vba/Rubberduck] IvenBach opened issue #5318: Implicitly accessing hidden global class inspection

> **What**
Bring to the users attention that they're implicitly accessing a member.
Inspection: CodeQuality.

**Why**
Using `WorksheetFunction.FooBar` or anything else that's on the hidden `Global` member deprives users of knowing *where* they're accessing the member from. Them knowing that a hidden member is providing this member educates them.

**Example**
This code should trigger the inspection:

```vb
Public Sub Foo()
Debug.Print WorksheetFunction.Text(2 / 16, "# ??/??")
End

[rubberduck-vba/Rubberduck] IvenBach added label enhancement to issue #5318: Implicitly accessing hidden global class inspection

Cyril

iGuessThatWorks_but_i_undersstand_that_dependng_on_frequesncy_of_use_and_commonality_that_one_is_fast_than_the_other

Duga

[rubberduck-vba/Rubberduck] IvenBach added label up-for-grabs to issue #5318: Implicitly accessing hidden global class inspection

[rubberduck-vba/Rubberduck] IvenBach added label feature-inspections to issue #5318: Implicitly accessing hidden global class inspection

IvenBach

7:10 PM

@this butifyoudon'tcareaboutanyspacesorcapitalizationyoucantypeevenfaster.

Cyril

underscore is shift+space for me, but i think that's a profile thing

@IvenBach true

Vogel612

@IvenBach ew,nothat'shardIneedtoactuallyconsciouslydecidetonotpressthespacebar

IvenBach

^

Cyril

@Vogel612 preplanning for project? check!

IvenBach

Using the spacebar is just so ingrained it's kissing-your-sister-nasty not to use it.

Cyril

7:11 PM

@IvenBach depends where you're from

Hosch250

Obviously you never had a sister.

Cyril

it may even be preferable

IvenBach

^^ Uh.....

Hosch250

Don't worry, I've not kissed mine since I was about 3.

Cyril

hosch knows how to hillbilly

IvenBach

7:12 PM

LOL

Cyril

@Hosch250 daddy put a stop to the tongue once and for all... it was not appropriate for walmart

IvenBach

I have no siblings so I can make those kinds of jokes ignorantly.

Hosch250

I've never been lovey to my siblings since about then. Parents either.

I am to my pets. My dog gets kissed, and is allowed to kiss me on the mouth.

Cyril

@Hosch250 i hear you; i have a mother and a father and when i need their attention, they have names

Hosch250

My family hates it, but meh.

Cyril

7:14 PM

my son likes to kiss on the mouth... it's a little gross, but we need to cut him of that habit before he starts school

Hosch250

LOL.

Cyril

gross like, he's a snot-nosed kid and it gets in your mustache

Hosch250

If I ever get a wife, I'll probably be all lovey over her too, but most humans I've seen are unattractive and disgusting.

Cyril

trying to get him to do a goodnight kiss on the cheek

@Hosch250 have you tried getting out of minnesota? rimshot

Hosch250

Actually, yes.

I'm saving up to go to the Dakotas.

Feeds

7:16 PM

Not actual size, except technically at one spot near the left.

Cyril

copy; was teasing, but glad to see a desire for change

Duga

[rubberduck-vba/Rubberduck] retailcoder created comment on issue #5318: Implicitly accessing hidden global class inspection

> I'd call that ImplicitlyQualifiedMemberCallInspection I think

Mathieu Guindon

@Cyril lol

Cyril

oh, how're you holding up that way, @MathieuGuindon? i've heard you're supposed to be like -20 C from the polar vortex

or at least toronto; not "quite" you

IvenBach

Who's pretty knowledgeable about creating new inspections? I should start learning how to make them so I can tackle my own requests.

Mathieu Guindon

7:23 PM

I've made a few

Hosch250

@MathieuGuindon That's an understatement, LOL.

@IvenBach It's super easy. Just implement a couple interfaces.

Only trouble is you need to manually build the project every time you change something to test it.

Because it doesn't automatically detect changes to that project because it isn't directly referenced, or something like that.

IIRC, it's copied using a post-build script.

IvenBach

Isn't a manual build required anyways? What am I not understanding?

Mathieu Guindon

nope, that was before Vogel flipped the dependencies around

ignore @Hosch250, he hasn't touched RD for too long :)

Vogel612

@IvenBach it used to be that the inspections were loaded like a plugin

so when you F5'd they were not automatically built, because the project was not referenced anywhere

IvenBach

Wholly ignorant as to how plugin's work.

Hosch250

7:26 PM

@MathieuGuindon LOL.

Vogel612

that's no longer true, so it's automatically built when you F5 debug

plugins are loaded after the program is started, which implies that the executable can't link against the plugin.

this in turn means that you can't have a compile-time dependency from the entry-point to the plugin.

and that means that when you build the entry-point, the plugin isn't automatically built as well

IvenBach

@MathieuGuindon Another thing I forgot about .doccls exports. When you export the project they don't export with any attributes. When you export them individually they do include them. status-by-design?

Vogel612

sounds likea bug TBH

Mathieu Guindon

the bug would be them exporting with attributes.. they won't import back, so they shouldn't be there in the exported file

IvenBach

Mkay. Opening ticket.

Vogel612

7:31 PM

okay, ignore me, I evidently have no clue what I'm talking about

IvenBach

Do any of us?

Mathieu Guindon

@Vogel612 hm?

Duga

[rubberduck-vba/Rubberduck] IvenBach opened issue #5319: Exported doccls files include attributes

> **Rubberduck version information**
Version 2.4.1.20935
OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.18362.0, x64
Host Product: Microsoft Office 2013 x86
Host Version: 15.0.5023.1000
Host Executable: EXCEL.EXE

**Description**
Exporting a project leaves out attributes for .doccls files. When a single document is exported the attributes are included.

**To Reproduce**
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
1. Export a newly created Excel workbook.
2. Review the .doccls files to see that no attributes ar

[rubberduck-vba/Rubberduck] IvenBach added label bug to issue #5319: Exported doccls files include attributes

IvenBach

Hoorei for cobaloration!

Mathieu Guindon

and that just made me realize the VBA macro that's exporting modules for source control, has the exact same bug

One more thing - the VBIDE API will export module/member attributes for document modules, but since they can't be imported back in, they shouldn't be exported at all - FYI Rubberduck's bulk-export functionality doesn't have this problem, but exporting individual modules does — Mathieu Guindon ♦ 59 secs ago

FreeMan

8:08 PM

@this I was wondering what was wrong with liquid crystal displays. Then it hit me.

@Hosch250 hates people

this

@FreeMan well, LCDs are the LCDs of monitors...

Cyril

@this that... hurts to read

IvenBach

@Vogel612 got log -p -# is another one I like.

Vogel612

what's the -# do?

IvenBach

1, 2, 3, ...

With my derpy brain if I see -1 I think that's the only argument that flag can take.

The -# registers as 'Any Number'.

git log -S "FooBar" checks for commits that include the string. One I already have some uses for.

I've nobody else to share this cool functionality with.

FreezePhoenix

8:25 PM

Hi again :)

IvenBach

@IvenBach Setting up an alias for this is harder than I'd thought.

Cyril

8:42 PM

private var as boolean defaults to true?!

Mathieu Guindon

@Cyril huh, in what world?

Cyril

it's supposed to be false... but in something i just wrote, it's defaulting to true

IvenBach

Boolean initialize as false.

Mathieu Guindon

 #define TRUE FALSE // happy debugging suckers

^ ?

Cyril

i cannot figure out why... just did a quick test:

private var as boolean

sub
    debug.print var
end sub

shows up as false, but when i put it into a larger subroutine, it just showed up as true

IvenBach

8:43 PM

@MathieuGuindon What's your address Mug? That's durty...

Cyril

...wait, i think i know my problem... i didn't set it to false when i exited the sub, after testing a true condition... gdi

Mathieu Guindon

@Cyril something tells me there's more to this "larger subroutine" story ;-)

Cyril

got myself worked up without describing what i'm doing to myself

cus it's global... yeah

Mathieu Guindon

bittenByGlobals++;

IvenBach

git config --global alias.pickaxe 'log -S' is failing when I try to use git pickaxe "FooBar"

@Vogel612 Any ideas git guru?

I know it's there. git config --global --list tells me so.

Mathieu Guindon

8:48 PM

wouldn't you need a space between the -S and the closing '?

IvenBach

I've tried that and same error.

Mathieu Guindon

#noclue

besides the only git alias worth making is git fukitall or git nukedis

IvenBach

> Fatal: No such path 'FooBar' in HEAD

Mathieu Guindon

interesting... you must not be too far off

IvenBach

Explicitly writing it out git log -S "FooBar" with either " or ' works.

Felt I've done enough due diligence to work it out myself before asking.

Rather than using static cell references that are prone to breaking I use named ranges. Rather than using FooSheet.Range("Bar") everywhere I use a property for the sheet itself: Public Property Get Bar() as Range.

The problem I'm running into is that I have to navigate between workbooks. My dev workbook contains the named range. I may have to do a fix on one that doesn't have it. Is it sensible to use a unit test to check the named range exists?

'Module TestNamedRangeExist.bas
'@TestMethod("Uncategorized")
Private Sub FooSheet_Bar_Exists()
    On Error GoTo TestFail

    'Arrange:
    Dim namedRange As Range
    Set namedRange = Sheet36.Names("Bar").RefersToRange

    'Act:

    'Assert:
    Assert.IsTrue Not namedRange Is Nothing

TestExit:
    Exit Sub
TestFail:
    Assert.Fail "Test raised an error: #" & Err.Number & " - " & Err.Description
End Sub

Mathieu Guindon

9:06 PM

it's kind of an integration test, but if the absence of a "Bar" name breaks stuff, then it's a good test to have

IvenBach

'@TestMethod("Integration") being the more appropriate annotation then.

Mathieu Guindon

:+1:

or '@TestMethod("HostDocumentValidation"), or similar

IvenBach

My previous test of counting the number of named ranges on a sheet was a failure from the start. #GottaStartSomewhere

`@TestMethod("HostDocumentContainsPrerequisitesForFunctionality") is a bit verbose but tolerable for present-Iven

Slight verbosity trumps ambiguity.

Mathieu Guindon

lol I find that a wee bit over-specific, but you do you :)

the VBE - it's right for me

okay i should probably stop using answering questions on SO as a way to procrastinate on my own work

its so easy to justify :(

IvenBach

9:14 PM

Lurking in chat is my downfall. I learn so much from it that it's too invaluable to give up.

Mathieu Guindon

@theVBE-it'srightforme same :)

the VBE - it's right for me

@MathieuGuindon you didnt answer the part about performance/unreliability :(

im actually curious

Mathieu Guindon

and I won't either

the VBE - it's right for me

im honestly just curious because i dont exactly know what obsolete means in the context

Mathieu Guindon

it's ...hard. sometimes I get sniped and burn a whole afternoon on SO. then I spend the evening catching up work

IvenBach

9:18 PM

That eases my own nerd-sniping regrets.

Mathieu Guindon

oh, you mean the Call keyword thing

the VBE - it's right for me

oh loool

i just realized what the purpose of that link was

Mathieu Guindon

there's an inspection for that

my biggest problem with Call is that I've never seen it used consistently

the VBE - it's right for me

@MathieuGuindon wait what is sniping

Mathieu Guindon

a XKCD reference

I first saw this problem on the Google Labs Aptitude Test. A professor and I filled a blackboard without getting anywhere. Have fun.

the VBE - it's right for me

9:21 PM

oh lololol that is funny

well its unfair for you

when you know so much about vba

SmileyFtW

@MathieuGuindon love the hat...

Mathieu Guindon

:)

"Warm Welcome (Secret Hat)"

SmileyFtW

@MathieuGuindon - BTW, I am dipping my toes in the C# pool... but then with what I've learned from you & this chat and SO VBA is still very tempting... and then I get sniped... LOL

"New feed items" is my enemy...

thank goodness for multiple monitors

Mathieu Guindon

@SmileyFtW the alternative would be to have them be posted in the actual chat transcript... which could be even more disruptive :)

at least the ticker feed can be dismissed once in a while

SmileyFtW

no it can't... not until I've checked them out..

Mathieu Guindon

9:25 PM

what do we say to the ticker of death? "not today"

this

Using call keyword is like using a call sign to pick up call girls.

the VBE - it's right for me

@MathieuGuindon so sometimes its used and then in seemingly equivalent cases its not?

SmileyFtW

Ticker Anonymous?

Mathieu Guindon

@theVBE-it'srightforme the logic I hear is "it makes it easier for me to see procedure calls" ...which makes no sense, because basically everything is a procedure call

this

if we mean ticker = that annoying popdown linking to various SO threads, I really wish it didn't overflow on top of the chat

Mathieu Guindon

9:26 PM

I've never seen Call MsgBox("some message") either

SmileyFtW

I have...

Mathieu Guindon

and the one and only legit use-case for a Call keyword is a bloody edge case, too

fetches 2x4...

:)

SmileyFtW

seen it... not used it

Mathieu Guindon

lol

SmileyFtW

it was confusing to me many moons ago when parens in VBA were necessary and when not... hence my venturing into Call()

I since learned...

Mathieu Guindon

9:30 PM

@this I can make it a chat feed, but I believe we went with a ticker to avoid flooding the transcript with SO's carp

this

yeah wouldn't want that.

IvenBach

That would be much more disruptive.

this

It's mainly the overflowing behavior that I really dislike

IvenBach

Get a vertical monitor. I don't register it at the top anymore.

Mathieu Guindon

or we can ditch it altogether, and then my workday productivity would skyrocket

IvenBach

9:31 PM

^ It's been decided.

this

but but we won't get to see your vein pop out!!

Mathieu Guindon

and my monthly tag ranking would go inversely proportional

this

@IvenBach I may get a diagonal monitor just in spite.

2

IvenBach

Go for a circular monitor.

SmileyFtW

separate floating pane that can be dragged to another monitor space outside of main chat pane?

IvenBach

9:33 PM

Makes you feel claustrophobic in a submarine.

this

LOL. Bonus if it comes with that metal ring

and you can open it and smell the briny sea

Mathieu Guindon

floods keyboard, oops

@ticker "please download my broken macro-enabled workbooks" ya, nope.

SmileyFtW

I want to d'load the internet in Excel. I am new to VBA. How to do it?

the VBE - it's right for me

@MathieuGuindon oh yeah. i think it is realistically stylistic more than anything. just like sometimes when writing english you'll use contractions or not, or in spanish omit the pronouns or not, etc.

i mean from the perspective of the person writing it. whether that is correct or not, of course... :)

what is the one edge case where it is actually necessary?

Mathieu Guindon

Public Sub Test()
    DoSomething: DoSomething
End Sub

Private Sub DoSomething()
    Static i As Long
    i = i + 1
    Debug.Print i
End Sub

what's the output of Test?

(note: indentation is intentionally misleading)

Public Sub Test()
DoSomething: DoSomething
End Sub

Private Sub DoSomething()
    Static i As Long
    i = i + 1
    Debug.Print i
End Sub

^ would look like this in the VBE

output is 1, not 1 followed by 2: DoSomething is only invoked once

the first DoSomething in DoSomething: DoSomething isn't a procedure call, but a line label!

SmileyFtW

9:46 PM

I don't get the ":"

Mathieu Guindon

Public Sub Test()
    Call DoSomething: DoSomething
End Sub

^ fixes it

@SmileyFtW good. forget it exists!

SmileyFtW

LOL

the VBE - it's right for me

oh goodness i cant even track that

this

@MathieuGuindon I believe with the default VBE setting, you won't even notice the difference in coloring.

Mathieu Guindon

line labels are colored the same as any other identifier, so yeah

SmileyFtW

9:47 PM

Looking it up now <VEG>

this

Try stepping through the code with the Test.

SmileyFtW

oooo... yeah.. forgot Liine Label

this

but that's not the only use for the colon

the VBE - it's right for me

wait you can call a procedure twice in the same line like that?

this

again, try and step through both variant (one withour the Call and with)

Mathieu Guindon

9:48 PM

so there: the only place Call actually serves a real purpose, is when you're abusing instruction separators

SmileyFtW

where's that 2x4?

Mathieu Guindon

@theVBE-it'srightforme the : token is dual-purposed; 1) it separates multiple instructions on the same logical line of code, and 2) it marks a named line label

the VBE - it's right for me

@MathieuGuindon wait does that mean you can use it to add multiple items to a dictionary on a single line

this

I suppose so but... do you want to write ~~obscene~~ obscure code?

Mathieu Guindon

it means if your entire program fits 1024 characters then you can chain it all up in a single line of code, yes

this

9:51 PM

FWIW, this is what you'd see if you update the VBIDE's horrid color scheme:

Mathieu Guindon

and then...

1 min ago, by SmileyFtW

where's that 2x4?

this

the VBE - it's right for me

well i would only want to do it if i only had to invoke .Add once

Mathieu Guindon

@this ah, clever

@theVBE-it'srightforme rule of thumb, you want 1 instruction per logical line of code

the VBE - it's right for me

when there are a preset like 5 things that need to be added it feels wasteful sometimes having each on a separate line

Mathieu Guindon

9:52 PM

regardless of the language

the VBE - it's right for me

oh

this

with the default color scheming, you have to really squint to see the difference between keywords & identifiers, and line labels (as well as literal) are all different.

Mathieu Guindon

in C# you'd use ; to separate instructions

the VBE - it's right for me

but its a general principle for clarity not to do that?

Mathieu Guindon

still, you'd eat a 2x4 in the forehead if you shoved several on the same line of code.

@theVBE-it'srightforme yes. in a pretty much language-agnostic way.

this

9:53 PM

in most programming languages, the whitespaces has no meaning.

VB and Python both are the oddballs in that newline has a meaning

Mathieu Guindon

*exceptions: whitespace-lang brainfuck and others

hm, 2 more brainfuck questions on CR and we start having tag badges for it

this

There's a reason why there's obscure C / C++ contest; you can write really wacky code abusing the fact that you don't need to use whitespace to terminate statements. Some has made an ASCII art out of their code.

SmileyFtW

If you've got multiple .Add lines seems to be begging for a loop

the VBE - it's right for me

its multiple add lines because its a preset thing of data

Mathieu Guindon

ah but then, what's data doing in code? ;-)

this

9:55 PM

Writing an obfuscated VB code is much harder. Possible but not to the same extent as C/C++

SmileyFtW

<G>

Mathieu Guindon

separate the data from the code, and poof, problem solves itself!

the VBE - it's right for me

where does the data go?

this

in a table.

says the database guy

Mathieu Guindon

~~in a database~~ in Excel!

lol

this

9:55 PM

NOOOOO

the VBE - it's right for me

i know excel is a database :3

Mathieu Guindon

LOL

the VBE - it's right for me

okay

this

gets out 4x6

the VBE - it's right for me

wait its not?

i mean

brb editing

Mathieu Guindon

9:56 PM

I mean, the host document makes a ~~good~~ easy place to store data. text files work too, and ideally, yes, a database

the VBE - it's right for me

that edit haha

this

In Excel, I suppose you can hide a sheet that contains only data to be used for logicizing

Mathieu Guindon

to be clear: Excel totally sucks as a database

the VBE - it's right for me

well yeah i knew that too

but i thought it technically was one

Mathieu Guindon

meh

SmileyFtW

9:57 PM

@MathieuGuindon Which article on your WP site has that example of pulling data from a table - Proxy WS...?

this

Doesn't stop people from using it like one.

Mathieu Guindon

"There is no worksheet"

the VBE - it's right for me

so data means anything? like even configuration data?

SmileyFtW

I learned a great deal from that one

this

@theVBE-it'srightforme I guess if you redefined the word "database" to mean "a data store" then literally anything is a database.

the VBE - it's right for me

9:58 PM

i was thinking when designing this it was just easier to have it preset in the code

only for certain things

this

However, when people say database, they almost usually mean relational database, which has an engine and querying support.

Mathieu Guindon

@theVBE-it'srightforme yes. basically what you want to do is, instead of tweaking a constant in code, tweak a knob or change a setting in some hidden sheet, and bam the code just runs with it

SmileyFtW

I used to think that too... LOL

Mathieu Guindon

typically I'd use ListObject tables on hidden sheets

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