Excel training class and Outlook file request system updates

May 3, 2008 – 4:04 am by JP

I’ve been mentioning the Excel training class for some time now, finally the curriculum is coming together and I finally got off my lazy butt and have almost completed the handouts and sample worksheets. I am hoping with fingers crossed to have this finally completed by the end of next week. Then I have to start taking public speaking classes to learn how to present this material in a way that won’t put people to sleep. For practice, try explaining to someone an INDEX/MATCH array in a way that makes it sound fun!

In other news, the file request code I have been working on for Outlook is coming along quite nicely. It consists of three subs in a standard module, and the event code which would be placed in ThisOutlookSession. It’s designed for business users (AKA “office drones like me”) with network shares, who have better things to do than act as a human file server pushing files around all day. Let your lazy co-workers do it themselves! It would make you a hero while at the same time give you less work to do! Here are some of the features:

Request from, or submit files to, another user’s computer or network share
C: drive is blocked, but you can create a folder on your desktop called “Shared” and place files in there that you want others to have access to (or place files in)
Friendly error messages in case of malformed requests (i.e. invalid path, no attachments).
Requestor can CC: others, and the code will send the requested file (along with confirmation email), to each of the recipients of the original message. However, ugly error messages are sent back to the original requestor only.
It also includes a built-in Help system, via the event code where users get an email back with instructions on how to request or send files to a folder. The instructions are also included at the bottom of every confirmation email.

All file sends and requests are logged to a .CSV file, the location and filename of which you can change as needed. The filename is passed as an argument to the function, so for example, you could update the code to write to different log files depending on whether someone was sending a file, or requesting a file. However the code as it stands will distinguish between the two when logging the request. Errors are also logged.

It’s almost like a Kazaa or Limewire type setup where you have a shared folder and you trade files with other users, only in this case it’s via email. And (hopefully, in your case) it’s legal.

Enjoy,
JP

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