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Visual basic equivalent for Mac?

G

grizzelda73

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 26, 2018
31
2
Can I first apologise for my posting I've barely had the account for a week and this is my 3rd ask, I was curious to know if Apple had a similar application to Visual basic for applications which accompanied my edition at least of MS Office XP (2001) enabling the writing of macros for the app's Word Excel, Outlook & Access.
Ps. Can I also ask who the 'watch this thread' checkbox refers to below.
 
Unsure what you're asking for here - mind elaborating? Are you, for example, asking if there's some really old 2001 app that you can run on a MacBook Pro today that has VBA functionality:eek:, or you wondering if it's available in newer apps today?

I'd it's the latter then yes, Office 2016 for Mac has VBA functionality (albeit with some small, but annoying, differences).
 
grizzelda73 said:
was curious to know if Apple had a similar application to Visual basic for applications which accompanied my edition at least of MS Office XP (2001) enabling the writing of macros for the app's Word Excel, Outlook & Access,
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The current Mac versions of Word and Excel include Visual BASIC for Applications (Under Tools -> Macro).

Be warned - there's no version of MS Access for the Mac and while there are Mac databases, there's nothing really like Access (feel free to add "fortunately" to that if you're an RDB whizz). If you're a heavy Access user, that's one of the few good reasons to stick with a PC.

As others have mentioned, Apple's equivalent is AppleScript and the "Automator" application.
 
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As noted above by @theluggage VBA is available is available for Office 2016. No Access however.

Really depends on what you're trying to do. If it's just automating workflow it might meet your needs, as AppleScript also might. If it's more serious number crunching, perhaps not.
 
Sorry... Windows is really the only true way here..

While its possible with Office and Visual Basic functionality, its just not going to be the same as Microsoft. You can script it yourself (translation) to Apple, but why should you ? That takes all the fun out of writing VB in the first place, not to you'll increase your troubleshooting skills more when it does go wrong. and it will...

Noting cross platform code ever works right does it?

There is nothing like the real thing... This is why i keep a Windows virtual machine handy for other stuff too
 
theluggage said:
The current Mac versions of Word and Excel include Visual BASIC for Applications (Under Tools -> Macro).

Be warned - there's no version of MS Access for the Mac and while there are Mac databases, there's nothing really like Access (feel free to add "fortunately" to that if you're an RDB whizz). If you're a heavy Access user, that's one of the few good reasons to stick with a PC.

As others have mentioned, Apple's equivalent is AppleScript and the "Automator" application.
Click to expand...
No, in my ignorance I first thought Access would be one of the simplest programs to use, I mean how difficult can a database app be after using Lotus Approach.
 
TiggrToo said:
Unsure what you're asking for here - mind elaborating? Are you, for example, asking if there's some really old 2001 app that you can run on a MacBook Pro today that has VBA functionality:eek:, or you wondering if it's available in newer apps today?

I'd it's the latter then yes, Office 2016 for Mac has VBA functionality (albeit with some small, but annoying, differences).[/QUOTE
In amongst the reply posts I was alerted to the AppleScript app which I hadn't known about that alone gives some idea of my ignorance to all things MacOS, Thanks all.
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[doublepost=1520743631][/doublepost]
Weaselboy said:
If you select watch this thread, you will get a forum alert when someone replies.
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Thanks.
[doublepost=1520743770][/doublepost]
kryten2 said:
All the apps you mentioned except Access are scriptable by AppleScript.

Info: VBA to AppleScript Transition Guide
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Thanks for your help.
[doublepost=1520744255][/doublepost]
Tech198 said:
Sorry... Windows is really the only true way here..

While its possible with Office and Visual Basic functionality, its just not going to be the same as Microsoft. You can script it yourself (translation) to Apple, but why should you ? That takes all the fun out of writing VB in the first place, not to you'll increase your troubleshooting skills more when it does go wrong. and it will...

Noting cross platform code ever works right does it?

There is nothing like the real thing... This is why i keep a Windows virtual machine handy for other stuff too
Click to expand...
Yes a more succinct original post would have saved the efforts of about six or seven people, I've certainly learned something but have also revealed my deficiency in all matters Apple. Thank you.
 
If you're not absolutely tied to MS Office and VBA, I recommend trying LibreOffice instead. It has powerful scripting capabilities and there are several database connectors available.
 
If you need a scriptable relational database then Filemaker (an Apple product) is OK. A big advantage is that its data files work in Windows and macOS (just like Word files). A big disadvantage is that conversion of data from MS Access is tedious and you will need to start from scratch with scripts/programming.
 
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