VBE_Extras adds a whole load of functionality (see What is VBE_Extras) to the standard VBE. But sometimes, rather than the major areas of functionality, it's just the little things that it does that make me smile. Here's an example.
Wouldn't it be great if, when opening a VBA Project in the VBE, your cursor position could be automatically restored to the location it was at when you closed that same VBA Project? I think it would be great ... saving me from having to remember (sometimes failing ...) where I was working within that Project, then having to jump to the right Module, then the right Procedure, then the right line within that Procedure, then the right column within that line.
I reckon that, if there were a way to automatically restore the location it'd save me ... ooooh ... say, maybe 15 or 20 seconds every time (every single time ...) I re-open a VBA Project. I reckon, at the very least, I do that 10 times a day. So an automated solution would save me something around 3 minutes per day. That's 15 minutes per week (I try not to work weekends!). And that's nearly 12 hours per year assuming you have a few weeks off here and there.
I thought to myself, well, I'd even pay for such a solution. Maybe other people would too? I then thought ... hold on, I develop a tool that adds this sort of functionality to the VBE ... yes, called VBE_Extras. So ... I added that functionality.
Here's an example using Access (this functionality works across all of the applications that VBE_Extras supports: Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint as well as Access).
The 'Store / restore cursor location' functionality needs to be switched on in the Settings (in the 'Other' tab ... to open the Settings, in the main VBE menu click on Extras then Settings). And, obviously, before a cursor location can be restored it first needs to be stored, so test it by open a Project, moving the cursor somewhere memorable, then close and re-open the Project.
If you open a Project and don't see the 'found a saved cursor location' dialog then make sure that when you previously closed the Project, the cursor wasn't in the 'default location' (i.e. the location that the cursor is positioned at, by default, when a Project is opened) ... the dialog won't appear when this is the case as there is nowhere to move the cursor to (it is already at the last saved location).
This functionality works across multiple Projects ... it doesn't just store / restore the cursor for the last Project you had opened, but for all Projects. Additionally, if you switch on 'Restore when a Project is unlocked' (in the same tab of the Settings dialog) then it will also work when the Project is unlocked (i.e. when password protection is removed) ... as soon as you unlock the Project, you will see the same dialog asking if you want to go to the stored cursor location.
But do you know the best thing about your cursor position being automatically restored? It's not the time saving (though that helps). It's just the sheer convenience of it being done for me. It makes me smile!
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