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Custom menus in Excel97 and later

In Excel97 and later, menus and toolbarbuttons can be manipulated with the CommandBar-object. Here are some example macros that will help you get started with the creation of your own menus:

Sub CreateMenu()
' creates a new menu.
' can also be used to create commandbarbuttons
' may be automatically executed from an Auto_Open macro or a Workbook_Open eventmacro
Dim cbMenu As CommandBarControl, cbSubMenu As CommandBarControl
    RemoveMenu ' delete the menu if it already exists
    ' create a new menu on an existing commandbar (the next 6 lines)
    Set cbMenu = Application.CommandBars(1).Controls.Add(msoControlPopup, , , , True)
    With cbMenu
        .Caption = "&My menu"
        .Tag = "MyTag"
        .BeginGroup = False
    End With
    ' or add to an existing menu (use the next line instead of the previous 6 lines)
    'Set cbMenu = Application.CommandBars.FindControl(, 30007) ' Tools-menu
    If cbMenu Is Nothing Then Exit Sub ' didn't find the menu...

    ' add menuitem to menu
    With cbMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlButton, 1, , , True)
        .Caption = "&Menu Item1"
        .OnAction = ThisWorkbook.Name & "!Macroname"
    End With

    ' add menuitem to menu
    With cbMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlButton, 1, , , True)
        .Caption = "&Menu Item2"
        .OnAction = ThisWorkbook.Name & "!Macroname"
    End With

    ' add a submenu
    Set cbSubMenu = cbMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlPopup, 1, , , True)
    With cbSubMenu
        .Caption = "&Submenu1"
        .Tag = "SubMenu1"
        .BeginGroup = True
    End With

    ' add menuitem to submenu (or buttons to a commandbar)
    With cbSubMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlButton, 1, , , True)
        .Caption = "&Submenu Item1"
        .OnAction = ThisWorkbook.Name & "!Macroname"
        .Style = msoButtonIconAndCaption
        .FaceId = 71
        .State = msoButtonDown ' or msoButtonUp
    End With

    ' add menuitem to submenu (or buttons to a commandbar)
    With cbSubMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlButton, 1, , , True)
        .Caption = "&Submenu Item2"
        .OnAction = ThisWorkbook.Name & "!Macroname"
        .Style = msoButtonIconAndCaption
        .FaceId = 72
        .Enabled = False ' or True
    End With

    ' add a submenu to the submenu
    Set cbSubMenu = cbSubMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlPopup, 1, , , True)
    With cbSubMenu
        .Caption = "&Submenu2"
        .Tag = "SubMenu2"
        .BeginGroup = True
    End With

    ' add menuitem to submenu submenu
    With cbSubMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlButton, 1, , , True)
        .Caption = "&Submenu Item1"
        .OnAction = ThisWorkbook.Name & "!Macroname"
        .Style = msoButtonIconAndCaption
        .FaceId = 71
        .State = msoButtonDown ' or msoButtonUp
    End With

    ' add menuitem to submenu submenu
    With cbSubMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlButton, 1, , , True)
        .Caption = "&Submenu Item2"
        .OnAction = ThisWorkbook.Name & "!Macroname"
        .Style = msoButtonIconAndCaption
        .FaceId = 72
        .Enabled = False ' or True
    End With

    ' add menuitem to menu
    With cbMenu.Controls.Add(msoControlButton, 1, , , True)
        .Caption = "&Remove this menu"
        .OnAction = ThisWorkbook.Name & "!RemoveMenu"
        .Style = msoButtonIconAndCaption
        .FaceId = 463
        .BeginGroup = True
    End With
    Set cbSubMenu = Nothing
    Set cbMenu = Nothing
End Sub

Sub RemoveMenu()
' may be automatically executed from an Auto_Close macro or 
' a Workbook_BeforeClose eventmacro
    DeleteCustomCommandBarControl "MyTag" ' deletes the new menu
End Sub

Private Sub DeleteCustomCommandBarControl(CustomControlTag As String)
' deletes ALL occurences of commandbar controls with a tag = CustomControlTag
    On Error Resume Next
    Do
        Application.CommandBars.FindControl(, , CustomControlTag, False).Delete
    Loop Until _
        Application.CommandBars.FindControl(, , CustomControlTag, False) Is Nothing
    On Error GoTo 0
End Sub

Sub Macroname()
' used by the menuitems created by the CreateMenu macro
    MsgBox "This could be your macro running!", vbInformation, ThisWorkbook.Name
End Sub

On the page CommandBars you can find the tool CommandBar Face ID that can help you find the different symbols associated with the different Face ID numbers. You will also find the tool CommandBar Tools that will help you to find the ID numbers of the built-in CommandBar controls. The page also includes more examples on how to create menus and submenus.

Document last updated 2000-02-05 12:47:00