Project #7: Working with the Screen Updating Property

 Project #7: Working with the Screen Updating Property

The ScreenUpdating property in Excel VBA controls whether the screen is updated during macro execution. By default, Excel updates the screen to show changes made by macros. However, in some cases, this constant screen updating can slow down macro execution. By temporarily disabling screen updating, we can improve macro performance and provide a smoother user experience.

Here's how we can utilize the ScreenUpdating property in the existing macro:

Sub ImportMultipleTextFiles() 
 Dim fileNames As Variant 
 Dim fileName As Variant 
 Dim fileContent As String 
 Dim dataArray() As String 
 Dim dataRange As Range 
 Dim newSheet As Worksheet 
 Dim i As Long 
 ' Disable screen updating to improve performance
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False
    
    ' Prompt user to select multiple text files
    fileNames = Application.GetOpenFilename("Text Files (*.txt), *.txt", , "Select Multiple Text Files", , True)
    
    If IsArray(fileNames) Then 
 ' Loop through each selected file
        For Each fileName In fileNames 
 ' Add a new worksheet for each file 
 Set newSheet = ThisWorkbook.Sheets.Add(After:=ThisWorkbook.Sheets(ThisWorkbook.Sheets.Count))
            newSheet.Name = "Imported Data from " & Right(fileName, Len(fileName) - InStrRev(fileName, "\")) 
 ' Open text file for reading
            Open fileName 
For Input As #1
            fileContent = Input$(LOF(1), #1)
            Close #1 
 ' Split file content into lines
            dataArray = Split(fileContent, vbCrLf)
            
            ' Determine the range to import data
            Set dataRange = newSheet.Cells(1, 1).Resize(UBound(dataArray) + 1, 1) 
 ' Import data into new worksheet 
 For i = 0 To UBound(dataArray)
                dataRange.Cells(i + 1, 1).Value = dataArray(i)
            Next i
        Next fileName 
 ' Clear the clipboard
        Application.CutCopyMode = False
        
        MsgBox "Text files imported successfully and clipboard cleared." 
 Else 
 MsgBox "No files selected. Import canceled." 
 End If 
 ' Re-enable screen updating
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True 
End Sub

In this modified macro:

Before starting the file import process, we set Application.ScreenUpdating to False to disable screen updating. This improves macro execution performance by preventing Excel from updating the screen for each change made by the macro.

After completing the file import process, we set Application.ScreenUpdating back to True to re-enable screen updating. This ensures that the screen is updated normally after the macro execution is finished.

By utilizing the ScreenUpdating property in this way, we can optimize macro performance and provide a smoother user experience during the execution of the macro.