Controlling document in excel

If you’re working on a project or a monthly reporting process, document control can be the most time-consuming activity.  Often there are so many documents that it is difficult to keep up with all the inputs and revisions flying about all over the place.  Which documents have we got?  Which documents are missing?  Have we got the latest version of this or that?  When was a document revised, or superseded by a new version?  Aaaahhhhhh!  Too many questions.  This is why I created a Document Control Template for Excel, it enables me to keep track of documents for all important processes.  If you think I’m just talking about using a spreadsheet like a list, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  It’s so much more than that.

By using the Document Control Template, which I am about to share with you, it is possible to

• “Check in” documents – moving and re-naming documents into specific folders with specific file names
• See at a glance the documents which have been received or are missing
• Keep track of the “current” version, and retain copies of all previous versions of a file
• Delete old files without needing to find it in the folder structure
• Open of files in their default application with a single click
• “Roll-over” the Document Control Template for the next period/version
• Work with all file types, not just Excel workbooks

The biggest benefit of using a Document Control Template is knowing the specific file path of each document.  As it then becomes possible to use other automation macros, such as consolidating workbooks, merging PDFs, or printing specific schedules of each workbook.  This automation is much harder or impossible if = the exact file path of each document is now known.

Much of the code for the Document Control Template can be found in the VBA Code Snippets library.  To find out more information on any of the VBA code below, follow these links.

• Selecting a file using the File Dialog Box
• Find out if a file is already open by you or another user
• Copy, move, rename, delete and confirm existence of files
• Create, delete, rename and confirm existence of folders

Introducing the Document Control Template for Excel

Download the Document Control Template

You do not need to download the file to create your own Document Control Template, all the instructions and VBA code are in the sections below.  But, it will be much easier to follow along if you have the Template downloaded.  If you just want to get stuck right in,  you can download the file and ignore the second part of this article.

Download the file: Document Control Template

Disclaimer:
Whilst I try to create safe and reliable templates and add-ins, I can (and often do) make mistakes.  Please backup copies of your files before opening this template or running any VBA code.  If you do find any bugs or errors, please let me know using my contact page.

By using any templates, add-ins, downloads or information from the site, you agree that I will not be held liable for any type of damages, and use is entirely at your own risk.

Using the Document Control Template?

Below is a screenshot from the Document Control Template, each feature is described below.

Check In Button:
To ‘Check In’ a file, select a cell with a valid file path (e.g. Cells E15-E19) then click the Check In button.  A file selection window will open, navigate to the location where the file is currently saved, click Open.  For this button to work a “valid file path” is where the folder exists, but the file name does not.  The selected file is automatically moved to the file path selected in the cell.

Open Button:
Select a cell containing a valid file path (e.g. Cells E15-E19), then click the Open button.  For this button to work a “valid file path” is where both the folder and file exist.  The file will open within its default application.

Update Button:
The Update button functions in a similar way to the Check In button.  The key difference being the file must already exist in the selected location.  The existing file is renamed to include the day and time it was replaced, then the new file is renamed to the file name in the selected cell.

Delete Button:
Select a cell containing a valid file path, where the folder and file already exist, click Delete.  The file will be deleted.

Cell Variables:
Cells B7 and B8 are variables.  These are used to construct the file path in Cell B9.  If the year or period changes, so does the file path.  This makes the template useful for any regular reporting cycles, just change the variables and subsequent files are saved in a new location.

Existence:
Cells B15-B19 displays TRUE or FALSE to indicate if a file already exists in the location shown in Cells E15-E19.

File Path & File Name:
In my template, the File Path (Cells C15-C9) is based on the value in Cell B9.  However, the file path could be unique for each file, and could incorporate other variables.

The file names (Cells D15-D19) are the names which the files will be renamed to.

Warning messages

Using invalid file paths will trigger warning messages similar to the one below.

The VBA code also checks to ensure the file is not already open by another user.

There are many ways this file could be used, it is up to you to work with it and see what you can achieve.

Create your own Document Control Template

If you’re interested in making your own Document Control Template from scratch, or if you’re a VBA fan, then all the necessary steps and code are contained below.

VBA Code for the Document Control Template

Copy the code below into a Module within the Visual Basic Editor.  I won’t go through the code line by line, there are comments within the code provide some guidance.  Or check out the articles in the VBA Code Snippets Library for further information.

Option Explicit

Function doesFileExist(filePath) As Boolean

'Make the calculation volatile, forcing recalculation when used as
'a worksheet function
Application.Volatile

doesFileExist = Dir(filePath) <> ""

End Function

Function doesFolderExist(folderPath) As Boolean

'If blank cell selected will cause error: return false
'If not blank, then check for folder existence
If folderPath = "" Then

    doesFolderExist = False

Else

    doesFolderExist = Dir(folderPath, vbDirectory) <> ""

End If

End Function

Function IsFileOpen(fileName As String)

Dim fileNum As Integer
Dim errNum As Integer

'Allow all errors to happen
On Error Resume Next
fileNum = FreeFile()

'Try to open and close the file for input.
'If Error it means the file is already open
Open fileName For Input Lock Read As #fileNum
Close fileNum

'Get the error number
errNum = Err

'Do not allow errors to happen anymore
On Error GoTo 0

'Check the Error Number
Select Case errNum

    'errNum = 0 means no errors, therefore file closed
    Case 0
        IsFileOpen = False

    'errNum = 70 means the file is already open
    Case 70
        IsFileOpen = True

    'Something else went wrong
    Case Else
        IsFileOpen = errNum

End Select

End Function

Sub DocControlCheckIn()
'Assign this Macro to the Check In button

FileActions ("CheckIn")

End Sub

Sub DocControlOpen()
'Assign this Macro to the Open button

FileActions ("Open")

End Sub

Sub DocControlDelete()
'Assign this Macro to the Delete button

FileActions ("Delete")

End Sub

Sub DocControlUpdate()
'Assign this Macro to the Update button

FileActions ("Update")

End Sub

Sub FileActions(action As String)

Dim folderPath As String
Dim errorCount As Integer
Dim fileName As String
Dim positionOfSlash As Integer
Dim msgAns As Long

'Check if selection is blank
If Selection.Value = "" Then errorCount = errorCount + 1

'Get the folder path from the selected cell, by finding final backslash
positionOfSlash = InStrRev(Selection.Value, "")
If positionOfSlash >= 1 Then
    folderPath = Left(Selection.Value, positionOfSlash)
Else
    folderPath = Selection.Value
    errorCount = errorCount + 1
End If

'Check if the folder path exists
If doesFolderExist(folderPath) = False Then errorCount = errorCount + 1


'Display error message for selecting a cell with an invalid file path
If errorCount >= 1 Then
    MsgBox "The selected cell does not contain a valid file path.", _
        vbExclamation, "Document Control Template"
    Exit Sub
End If

'Check if file is already open
If IsFileOpen(Selection.Value) = True Then
    MsgBox Selection.Value & " is already open by your or another user.", _
        vbExclamation, "Document Control Template"
    Exit Sub
End If

Select Case action

    'Delete file if it exists, includs confirmation to delete
    Case "Delete"
         If doesFileExist(Selection.Value) = True Then
             msgAns = MsgBox("Are you sure you wish to delete " & _
                 Selection.Value & "?", vbYesNo, "Document Control Template")
             If msgAns = vbYes Then
                 Kill Selection.Value
             End If
         Else
             MsgBox Selection.Value & " cannot be deleted as it does not exist.", _
                 vbExclamation, "Document Control Template"
             Exit Sub
         End If


    'Check In the file if the file does not already exist
    Case "CheckIn"
        If doesFileExist(Selection.Value) = True Then
            MsgBox "Unable to Check In " & Selection.Value & _
                " as the file already exists", vbExclamation, _
                "Document Control Template"
            Exit Sub
        Else
            Call saveFileInLocation(Selection.Value)
        End If


    'Open the file if it exists
    Case "Open"
        If doesFileExist(Selection.Value) = True Then
            CreateObject("Shell.Application").Open (Selection.Value)
        Else
            MsgBox "Unable to open " & Selection.Value & _
                " as the file does not exist.", vbExclamation, _
                "Document Control Template"
            Exit Sub 
        End If


    'Update the file if it exists
    Case "Update"
        If doesFileExist(Selection.Value) = True Then
            fileName = folderPath & Mid(Left(Selection.Value, _
                InStrRev(Selection.Value, ".") - 1), Len(folderPath) + 1) & "_" & _
                Format(Now(), "yymmddhhmmss") & _
                Mid(Selection.Value, InStrRev(Selection.Value, "."))
            Name Selection.Value As fileName
            Call saveFileInLocation(Selection.Value)
        Else
            MsgBox "Unable to update " & Selection.Value & _
                " as the file does not already exist.", vbExclamation, _
                "Document Control Template"
            Exit Sub
        End If


End Select

'Recalculate sheet.  This should force the doesFileExist function in
'Cells B15-B19 to recalculate to show correct TRUE/FALSE value
ActiveSheet.Calculate

End Sub

Sub saveFileInLocation(savePath As String)

Dim dialogBox As FileDialog
Dim selectedFile As String

Set dialogBox = Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogOpen)

'Do not allow multiple files to be selected
dialogBox.AllowMultiSelect = False

'Set the title of the DialogBox
dialogBox.Title = "Select a file"

'Show the dialog box and assign full file path and file name to variable
If dialogBox.Show = -1 Then
    selectedFile = dialogBox.SelectedItems(1)
End If

'Check if the selectedFile is already open
If IsFileOpen(selectedFile) = True Then
    MsgBox selectedFile & " is already open by your or another user.", _
        vbExclamation, "Document Control Template"
    Exit Sub
End If

'Catch errors when moving file to final location
On Error Resume Next

'Rename the file
Name selectedFile As savePath

If Err.Number <> 0 Then

    MsgBox "Unable to Check In the file"

End If

On Error GoTo 0


End Sub

Creating the buttons on the worksheet

There are 4 main actions within the VBA code above; Check In, Open, Update, Delete.  Create a button for each action.  From the Developer Ribbon click Insert -> Form Controls -> Button (Form Controls). Click and draw a rectangle on the worksheet.  This creates a new button.  Allocate each button created to the 4 macros

• Check In – Macro: DocControlCheckIn
• Open – Macro: DocControlOpen
• Update – Macro: DocControlUpdate
• Delete – Macros: DocControlDelete

Screen shot below shows how to create a button and allocate a Macro.

Right click on the Button to edit the text to your requirements.

File paths

The last thing required to create the template are cells with folder and file paths.  How you create these paths is up to you, in my template I have chosen to use Year and Month as variables to construct the file path.  This enables the document to be used for a monthly process. File paths must be valid.  For Open, Delete and Update the specified file must already exist in that location, for Check In, the folder must exist, but the file does not exist.

File paths must be valid.  For Open, Delete and Update the specified file must already exist in that location, for Check In, the folder must exist, but the file most not exist.

Check for existence

The VBA code includes a User Defined Function, which checks for a file’s existence.

=doesFileExist(E15)

In the User Defined Function above the file path is contained in Cell E15.  The function will return TRUE if the file exists and FALSE if it does not.

Save the Template

The final step is to save the file you have created as a macro enabled workbook, an .xlsm file type.

Conclusion

There was a lot of code in there, but keep referring back to the original document, and it should all makes sense.  Having a document control template has saved me hours of time every month, I hope it will give you similar benefits too.

Document properties are bits of information that describe and identify a workbook, such as a title, author name, subject, and keywords in the workbook.

View Document Properties

Here’s how to view a workbook’s properties…

1. Click the File tab.

   

2. Click Info.

   

The right side of the Info tab in Backstage view displays the workbook’s properties.

Edit Properties

Some workbook properties are updated automatically, but you must manually update others.

1. Click the File tab.

   

2. In the Info tab of Backstage view, click in the property field you want to edit.
3. Add in the necessary information and click outside the field when you’re finished.

   

4. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for any additional fields you want to add or change.
5. Click the leftarrow to leave backstage view when you’re done.

Adding an Author is another property that’s helpful to edit so you know who owns the file.

1. In the Info tab of Backstage view, click in the Author field.
2. Click the Search the address book button.

   

   The Address Book dialog box displays and shows your available contacts.
3. Select an author from the contacts list.
4. Click To.
5. Click OK.

   

The contact you selected is assigned as the workbook’s author.

Advanced Properties

There are also some advanced properties you can edit that don’t show up on the Info page.

1. Click the Properties button.
2. Select Advanced Properties button.

   

   Here you see some of the properties we’ve already modified and some that aren’t visible by default on the Info page.

3. Click in the field you want to edit.
4. Add the property information.
5. Click OK.

   

The properties are added to the workbook. You can click Show All Properties to see them.

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