If you are writing VBA code in 32-bit Excel, this keyword should not be used.įunction GetSystemDirectory Lib “kernel32”: This tells VBA that GetSystemDirectory is the name of Windows API that will be used in your VBA code and this Windows API is located in a library called “kernel32”.Īlias “GetSystemDirectoryA”: This means within the “kernel32” library, the Windows API’s actual name is GetSystemDirectoryA. PtrSafe: By adding PtrSafe after the Declare keyword, it makes this API work with 64-bit Excel. Let’s try to break this down into plain English.ĭeclare: A Windows API declaration always start with the “Declare” keyword. Here is an example: Declare PtrSafe Function GetSystemDirectory Lib 'kernel32' _Īlias 'GetSystemDirectoryA' (ByVal lpBuffer As String, ByVal nSize As Long) As Long The Library location of the the Windows API function. The Window API function name you would like to use.Ģ. The declaration statement will tell the VBA virtual machine 3 important pieces of information.ġ. How to declare a Windows API functionĪ Windows API function must be declared correctly at the top of a VBA code module.

Windows API declarations are always placed at the top of a VBA code module. In such cases, a VBA program is able to invoke an Windows API by declaring the Windows API function at the top of a VBA code module. For example, VBA does not have a function to measure time in milliseconds but it is available in Windows API (I will write a tutorial on microsecond timer in VBA). Often times a VBA programmer may not be able to find a suitable Excel or a native VBA language function to perform a task but is available within the Windows APIs. Fortunately, the Windows API has always exposed a large part of the underlying structure of the Windows operating systems to VBA programmers too! Why VBA programmers need this? The Windows Application Programming Interface ( Windows API) is a set of functions within the Microsoft Windows operating system that are available to Windows programmers.

Most useful Windows APIs for VBA programming (2021 edit).

Will Windows API in VBA work on MacOS? (2021 edit).

How to Deal with 32-bit Excel and 64-bit Excel (2021 edit).

Practical Windows API Tips for the VBA Programmer.

Excel for mac vba to call a subroutine