Hmmm, there seems to be many who feel that a useful, time-saving, tool is beneath them. I can never understand this. I use VBA all the time, in Excel, Word, Project, and PowerPoint. I've used VBA to zip files or add to zip files. I've used VBA to temporarily replace one's hosts file to test a new server rather then to inflict it on everyone before it was tested. This removed any possible user problems with those who don't understand the format and function of the hosts file and eliminated the need to develop 1-time documentation to update DNS references in the file. VBA was also used to return the file to it's original state. I've cut code in Adpac, COBOL, Easytrieve, Ramis, PL1, Fortran, Rexx, Focus, VB, VB.Net, JavaScript,and other languages and have used IDMS, IMS, DB2, Access, Oracle, SQL server, MySQL and other DBMS tools. I've used mainframe JCL to establish a TSO session which launched a Clist to open a file. The Clist then launched an Edit macro to parse that file out into sub-files and then use the IBM Send Utility to send the individual files to users that were identified in the data. I completed a project estimated to take over 2000 hours in 70 hours by using the COBOL Report Writer. All these were tools used to solve a business problem. It seems to me that to discount the use of a tool that can easily solve business problems and can do so quickly is optical rectosis. It's as bad as insisting that online CICS screens be modified to pull 2 disparate IMS databases together when a few "on request" reports will do the job in a very small fraction of the time. I'd say that one will just become a more valuable asset to a firm if one delves into VBA and other tools designed to save time and solve problems. This is FAR better than to stubbornly insist that these tools are beneath the hallowed opinions you have of yourselves. LOL

modified on Friday, February 18, 2011 3:24 PM

One of my most used DOS prompt functions I use is Attrib. Using the correct parameters with the redirect (>) sign and a file names gives me a quick listing of directory contents. Then there are the various PF Keys to make the prompt more useful: F1 retypes the previous command one character at a time F2 brings up a dialog and asks “Enter the char to copy up to:” F3 retypes the last command in full F4 brings up a dialog and asks “Enter char to delete up to:” F5 as for F3 F6 Print EOF character (Ctrl+Z) F7 brings up a dialog of all the recent command history F8 brings up each of the most recent commands, one at a time F9 brings up a dialog and asks “Enter command number:” Hooray for DOS!!!!! Jeff