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XL2000: How to Control the Appearance of the Mouse Pointer While a Macro Runs

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Summary

In Microsoft Excel 2000, you can use the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Cursor property to control the appearance of the mouse pointer while a macro is running. In versions of Excel earlier than 7.0, you do not have the ability to change the way the mouse pointer is displayed.

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More information

You can use the Cursor property to display the mouse pointer as an arrow, an hourglass, an I-beam (displayed when editing text), and the default pointer. The following built-in constants correspond to each of the available cursor shapes: 
   xlNorthwestArrow    The northwest-arrow pointer
   xlWait              The hourglass pointer
   xlIBeam             The I-beam pointer
   xlNormal            The default pointer
Note that when you type the constant for the I-beam pointer, the letter that follows the "xl" prefix is an "I" (for I-beam).

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Cursor Property Example

Type or paste the following code in a Visual Basic module sheet to illustrate the various mouse pointer shapes: 
Sub ChangePointer()

    ' Display dialog box indicating mouse pointer will change.
    MsgBox "Click OK to display mouse pointer as hourglass."

    ' Display mouse pointer as hourglass.
    Application.Cursor = xlwait

    ' Wait so mouse pointer change will be noticeable.
    Application.Wait Now + TimeValue("0:0:03")
    MsgBox "Click OK to display mouse pointer as arrow."

    ' Display mouse pointer as arrow
    Application.Cursor = xlNorthwestArrow

    ' Wait so mouse pointer change will be noticeable.
    Application.Wait Now + TimeValue("0:0:03")

    MsgBox "Click OK to display mouse pointer as I-beam."

    ' Display mouse pointer as I-beam.
    Application.Cursor = xlIBeam

    ' Wait so mouse pointer change will be noticeable.
    Application.Wait Now + TimeValue("0:0:03")

    MsgBox "Click OK to return mouse pointer to normal."

    ' Return mouse pointer to normal display.
    Application.Cursor = xlNormal

End Sub
Note that because the Cursor property is not automatically reset when the macro stops running, you need to reset the mouse pointer by setting the Cursor property to the xlNormal value before your macro stops.

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References

For more information about the Cursor property, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type cursor property in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

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Keywords: KB213424, kbhowto

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Article Info
Article ID : 213424
Revision : 8
Created on : 11/23/2006
Published on : 11/23/2006
Exists online : False
Views : 285