Copying Data from External workbook based on headers not in order to another workbook

Question

I hope this is the right place to ask this question as I am on the verge of going crazy. I am so rusty and I have zero experience with VBA (only with C++, java)

The problem: I am trying to copy data from one workbook to another.

Lets say I have a workbook (called DATA) with several worksheets filled with data. Each column of data has a unique heading (all headings on the same row).

On the other hand I have another workbook (called REPORT) with one worksheet that contains only the heading of the data (in one row). They are not in the same order as in DATA workbook. For example I have 3 headings in REPORT worksheet that can be found in different worksheets in DATA workbook.

I need to loop through all the worksheets in the DATA workbook and copy paste the whole column to the REPORT worksheet when the same heading is found.

This image may help to understand. Explanation

Thanks ALOT for your help in advance. I have searched alot for this code but found similar stuff but didnt manage to understand any .

First attempt at doing it, but getting an error of Run-time error '1004'. Any help?

Dim MyFile As String
Dim ws As Worksheet

''Workbook that contains one worksheet with all the headings ONLY NO DATA
Dim TargetWS As Worksheet
Set TargetWS = ActiveSheet
Dim TargetHeader As Range

''Location of Headers I want to search for in source file
Set TargetHeader = TargetWS.Range("A1:G")

''Source workbook that contains multiple sheets with data and headings _
not in same order as target file
Dim SourceWB As Workbook
Set SourceWB = Workbooks("Source.xlsx")
Dim SourceHeaderRow As Integer: SourceHeaderRow = 1
Dim SourceCell As Range

''Stores the col of the found value and the last row of data in that col
Dim RealLastRow As Long
Dim SourceCol As Integer

''Looping through all worksheets in source file, looking for the heading I want _
then copying that whole column to the target file I have
For Each ws In SourceWB.Sheets
    ws.Activate
    For Each Cell In TargetHeader
     If Cell.Value <> "" Then
            Set SourceCell = Rows(SourceHeaderRow).Find _
                (Cell.Value, LookIn:=xlValues, LookAt:=xlWhole)
         If Not SourceCell Is Nothing Then
                SourceCol = SourceCell.Column
                RealLastRow = Columns(SourceCol).Find("*", LookIn:=xlValues, _
                SearchOrder:=xlByRows, SearchDirection:=xlPrevious).Row
                If RealLastRow > SourceHeaderRow Then
                 Range(Cells(SourceHeaderRow + 1, SourceCol), Cells(RealLastRow, _
                    SourceCol)).Copy
                 TargetWS.Cells(2, Cell.Column).PasteSpecial xlPasteValues
                 End If
         End If
      End If
    Next
Next

Answer 1

Your question didn't specify what part of the problem you're actually stuck on, so I'll assume you don't know how to start. Note that nobody on here is going to provide you with the full working solution to your problem - that's upto you to figure out.

A few tips to get you to start working:

1. The first question you're going to ask yourself with problems involving multiple workbooks is typically going to be which workbook am i going to attach my macro to?

In your case, the REPORT Workbook looks like a saner option, since you probably want someone to be clicking on something in the report in order to generate it. You could also argue the other way around though.

2. Once you have chosen where to put your VBA, you have to establish a reference to the other workbook.

You either have to load the other Excel file from disk using Workbooks.Open , or have both Workbooks be open at the same time in your Excel Instance, which I'd recommend for you because it's easier. In this case simply establish the reference using the Workbooks object.

Dim exampleRefToDATA As Workbook: Set exampleRefToDATA = Workbooks("data.xlsx") ' or index

3. Then, cycle through each Worksheet

using something like For Each ws As WorkSheet In exampleRefToDATA.WorkSheets as your For Loop

4. In that Loop, loop through the first column using something like

For Each allName As Range In ws.Range(... for you to figure out ...)

5. In this Loop, you'll have to look if that name is in your REPORTS sheet by doing another loop like

For Each thisName As Range in Range(... seriously, there's enough on stackoverflow on how to properly iterate over the used range of a row ...)

Note how this Range() call is Equivalent to ActiveWorkbook.ActiveWorkSheet.Range , which is your Reports sheet.

6. Then just check for equality and copy the row over if necessary. Again, copying a row has also been covered here before.

Hope this was helpful for you.