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Changing the Name of a Module in Microsoft Excel
In Microsoft Excel, you can rename a module by activating the module,
clicking to the right of
(Name) in the
Properties window of the Visual Basic Editor, typing a new module name, and pressing ENTER.
You can also programmatically change the name of a module by using code
similar to the following:
ActiveWorkbook.Modules("Module1").Name = "Module7"
Limitations for Naming Modules in Microsoft Excel
In Microsoft Excel, module names can include the following characters:
- Alphanumerics (A-Z, a-z, 0-9)
- Underscore characters (_)
Illegal characters (characters that cannot be used in module names) include
the following:
- Spaces ( )
- Exclamation points (!)
- Periods (.)
- Question marks (?)
- Commas (,)
- Any other nonalphanumeric characters
NOTE: Some characters that are illegal in Microsoft Excel are acceptable in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel.
Module names cannot exceed 31 characters in length.
Module names cannot start with a numeric character (0-9) or an underscore
character (_). Module names must start with an alphabetical character (A-Z,
a-z).
If you try to rename a module so that its name includes illegal characters,
you will receive the following error message:
Not a legal object name: 'module name'
where
module name is the name of the active module sheet.
Names of Modules That You Created in Earlier Versions of Microsoft Excel
If you open a workbook that contains modules with names that include
characters that are illegal in Microsoft Excel, the modules and the
macros they contain are still available.
None of the modules are renamed by Microsoft Excel. However, if a
module's name contains an exclamation point, the exclamation point is
replaced on the screen by a question mark. However, the actual name of the
module does not change.
For example, if you open a Microsoft Excel 5.0 or 7.0 workbook that
contains the following three modules, Microsoft Excel may change the
module names. The following table illustrates how the module names would
appear.
Original Module name that appears
module name in the Project Window
---------------------------------------------
Module!1 Module?1
My Module My Module
xyz.Module xyz.Module
Microsoft strongly recommends that you rename such modules so that their
names do not include any illegal characters. For example, in the table
above, rename the module from Module!1 to Module1 or Module_1.
Note that renaming modules may require that you modify your Visual Basic
macro code wherever it refers to a module by name.
Exporting or Importing Modules with Names That Contain Illegal Characters
In Microsoft Excel, you can export a Visual Basic module to a separate
file by activating the module and clicking
Export File on the
File menu. This works even if the module name includes illegal characters.
However, when you click
Import File on the
File menu and attempt to import a file, you may receive the following error message:
Not a legal object name: 'module name'
where
module name is the name of the module.
This problem occurs if the VB_Name attribute in the file contains any
illegal characters.
To work around this problem, follow these steps:
- On the Start menu, click Run. In the Open box,
type Notepad, and click OK.
- In Notepad, click Open on the File menu. Select the
file you want to import into Microsoft Excel, and click
Open.
The first line of the file should look similar to the following
example:
Attribute VB_Name = "Module 1"
- Change the name inside the quotation marks to a name that does not
contain any illegal characters. For example, use Module1 or Module_1.
- When you are done, click Save on the File menu. Then,
click Exit on the File menu.
NOTE: If your Visual Basic module is very large, you may need to edit it using Wordpad or another text editor.