When you run a recorded macro, it may work great, except it keeps referring back to the original worksheet. It also refers back to the original data range. Both of these situations can be remedied by editing of the recorded macro.

In How To: Fix a Recorded Macro I showed how to make a recorded macro more efficient by omitting and combining statements and eliminating the selection of objects during macro execution. This is a more specific example that makes the macro independent of the conditions (active sheet and selection) when it was recorded.

In this example, a macro is recorded after data is selected to capture the steps required to insert a chart object in the active worksheet. This recording was made in Excel 2003; the steps in 2007 are similar, and I’ll cover them in another post.

Here is our original data in C7:F13 of Sheet1:

The Recorded Macro

I recorded this simple macro while creating the chart, without changing any formatting:

Sub Macro1()
'
' Macro4 Macro
' Macro recorded 3/16/2009 by Jon Peltier
'

'
    Charts.Add
    ActiveChart.ChartType = xlXYScatterLinesNoMarkers
    ActiveChart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets("Sheet1").Range("C7:F13")
    ActiveChart.Location Where:=xlLocationAsObject, Name:="Sheet1"
End Sub
 

The worksheet name and selected range appear hard-coded in this macro. No matter what sheet is active or what range is selected, the chart will always appear on Sheet1 using the data in C7:F13 of Sheet1.

I will describe a couple ways to change this, both involving variables which are declared and assigned before the chart is created.

Fixing the Macro with String Variables

The sheet name and range address are present in the recorded macros as simple text. We can define string variables to contain the sheet name and the range address, as shown in this fixed macro.

Sub Macro1a()
'
' Macro4 Macro
' Macro recorded 3/16/2009 by Jon Peltier
' Fixed to use text variables for sheet and range

'
    Dim sSheetName As String
    Dim sDataRange As String

    sSheetName = ActiveSheet.Name
    sDataRange = Selection.Address

    Charts.Add
    ActiveChart.ChartType = xlXYScatterLinesNoMarkers
    ActiveChart.SetSourceData Source:=Sheets(sSheetName).Range(sDataRange)
    ActiveChart.Location Where:=xlLocationAsObject, Name:=sSheetName
End Sub
 

Fixing the Macro with Object Variables

We can also use object variables, that is, a worksheet object for the active sheet and a range object for the data, as in the following fixed up macro.

Sub Macro1b()
'
' Macro4 Macro
' Macro recorded 3/16/2009 by Jon Peltier
' Fixed to use object variables for sheet and range

'
    Dim wksData As Worksheet
    Dim rngData As Range

    Set wksData = ActiveSheet
    Set rngData = Selection

    Charts.Add
    ActiveChart.ChartType = xlXYScatterLinesNoMarkers
    ActiveChart.SetSourceData Source:=rngData
    ActiveChart.Location Where:=xlLocationAsObject, Name:=wksData.Name
End Sub
 

By adding only a few lines of code, the recorded macro has been made much more flexible. The choice whether to use string or object variables is not important in this case. In more complex procedures, one or the other approach may be advantageous, if a particular variable type is more useful later in the procedure.

Related Posts:

• Recorded Macro Error with Bubble and Stock Charts
• How To: Fix a Recorded Macro
• Label Last Point – Updated Add-In
• How To: Record Your Own Macro
• How To: Use Someone Else’s Macro
• How To: Assign a Macro to a Button or Shape
• Count Bold Cells in a Range
• Extend Range to Add New Series (VBA)
• Quick VBA Routine: XY Chart with Axis Titles
• Forms Controls and ActiveX Controls in Excel