VBA macro question

[Dee Gallo]

I have tried to use the macro recently shared for the box patterns, but my CX3 tells me that VBA is not available and I should install it using custom install. I tried to do this, but after re-installing CX3 it still seems unavailable. Research tells me VBA is standard on this version of CorelDraw and Paint. What am I missing? If anyone knows where I screwed up. please let me know! I would love to try making one of those cute boxes like Mrs. Wright's pencil case.

Thanks in advance, dee

[Mike Null]

Dee

I probably shouldn't respond without the answer at my fingertip but your pc and program will work with macros.

Did you go to programs, Cx3 on your D drive. In CX3 you will find a Draw folder. Open that and one of the folders will be titled GMS. paste the macro in that folder and reboot Corel.

You should be good to go.

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks, Mike, I did that a couple of times already but even though the macro is in the GMS folder, it says VBA is not available when I try to access it. There must be something else I'm missing.

thanks, dee

[Mike Null]

Why did you reinstall X3?

Did you go to tools, visual basic, play, select macro, run?

[Dee Gallo]

Yes, I went to TOOLS, Visual Basic - and that's as far as I got. If I click on PLAY, I get an alert box telling me VBA is not installed. It suggests reinstalling the program. Then, all other things like select macro, run, edit, etc. are greyed out. And PLAY is greyed out after that. I'm flummoxed.

Thanks for helping, dee

[Mike Null]

Dee

have you downloaded all the fixes for X3 from the corel web site.

You should be at 13.0.0.739. You can find this on the Help tab under "about corel draw".

[Dee Gallo]

Boy, Mike, you got me all excited, thinking I just needed to get updates or fixes... it turns out I am at the right version 13.0.0.739. I downloaded the service packs SP1 and 2, but when I went to install them, I was told the program does not exist so the patches cannot be installed. Hmmm. Very odd. I must have some screws loose. CorelDraw has worked just fine since I got it last November, but I never tried to use the macro thing before, so this could have been broken all along. I'm going to try calling Corel... I've got several hours to kill waiting on hold....

Thanks, dee

[Mike Null]

I would try two more things.

1. shut down Corel and reboot it holding down the F8 key. That will restore all factory defaults.

2. If that fails I would uninstall Corel and reinstall it. Then check to see that all the patches reinstalled with it.

[Kayne Gill]

Not sure if CX3 is the same as CX4 but on the cd I have is a directory
E:\Setup\CGS14\VBA in this directory is a file with the MSI extension (installation file). If you ran that file it may work, I ran it and it didn't do any harm, I am still able to run Macros.

[Roy Brewer]

I have tried to use the macro recently shared for the box patterns, but my CX3 tells me that VBA is not available

Dee,
Is there a chance you purchased the Academic version of CorelDRAW? If so, you will not have the VBA capability.

[Dee Gallo]

Yes, Roy, that's it. I came to the same conclusion after resetting and reinstalling and reading some of the posts on the Corel site. I find this odd, since the version(s) I have at work/school are also academic versions and we use the Roland macro all the time for the vinyl cutter. Must be a difference somehow.

Thanks for your help, it never ceases to amaze me how nice and generous people on this site are.

cheers, dee

[Dee Gallo]

After thinking about it, I realized that at work we bought Government contract academic versions, which must be different from academic/teacher versions. I am going to have to get a regular "personal" version when I upgrade my home program to X4...pay the big bucks, but it will be complete. This is a good heads up to those who are trying to buy the cheaper versions - you get what you pay for!

[Roy Brewer]

Yes, Roy, that's it. I came to the same conclusion after resetting and reinstalling and reading some of the posts on the Corel site. I find this odd, since the version(s) I have at work/school are also academic versions and we use the Roland macro all the time for the vinyl cutter. Must be a difference somehow.

Dee,
This is probably more than you want to hear, but it might be helpful to someone else. "Standard" macros require the VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) interpreter to be installed. This allows the operator to not only "interpret" (run) macros but to record &/or create them from scratch.

However, a Visual Basic programmer (of which Roland has many), can write a program and compile it into a "real," executeable program that simply calls the CorelDRAW functions (that is, an executable does not need to be interpreted). }}} BTW, this is not limited to VB; almost any programming language can be used to create an executable file that can add functionality to CorelDRAW; your Roland macro is an excellent example. {{{

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks for that explanation, Roy!

I thought the Cut Studio macro was simply a "shortcut" to open Roland's vinyl cutting driver/program. Being in the teaching end of things, I never look for things like macros, since I always torture my students and make them do everything the long hard way so they understand what goes into "making" computer graphics. For instance, they are never allowed to use clipart "straight", they have to alter it if they want to use it. Even that is discouraged, since they should be able to make their own graphics and illustrations. This macro came with the cutter and Roland automatically installed it into CorelDraw for me, so I figured this is how they wanted us to switch from creating the design to printing the design.

For now, I think we'll leave the VB to other more knowledgeable people. I have my hands full just filling job orders.

cheers, dee