VBE_Extras catch-up #8: Backup the Project

When I first made VBE_Extras available for download, it contained a whole load of functionality that I never wrote blog posts about. I'm now setting that right for a few of the core areas of that functionality.

One of the very first commands I added to VBE_Extras was the ability to backup the VBA Project (in the main VBE menu: Extras > Backup and Restore > Backup this Project).

Maybe you're planning on making a change to your code that you're not entirely sure you will want to keep. Maybe it's just the end of a long day of development and you want to quickly make a copy of the Workbook / Document / Presentation / Database to a "backup" folder for safety. VBE_Extras lets you do this quickly, from within the VBE.

First, though, there are settings controlling where the backup will be saved and whether a brief description should be included with the backup ... for these, see the Backup tab of the Settings dialog.

If you are working in Access or Outlook, you will likely want to save the Access Database / Outlook Project before doing the backup ... using the VBE's built-in save command, in the VBE's main menu: File > Save Database (or Ctrl+S). If you do not save first and the Database / Project is "dirty" then you will be warned of this during the backup process.

Then select "Backup this Project".

If you are working in Excel, Word or PowerPoint and the Workbook / Document / Presentation is "dirty" then the backup process will ask you if you want to save before backing up or if you want to continue to backup the last-saved version (hence, in these host applications, you don't need to save before doing the backup ... the backup process does this for you).

If you checked the "Ask for backup 'description'" setting then you will be asked for the description. Then VBE_Extras will create a backup for you in the folder you selected in the Settings.

An alternative to (or maybe an "as well as") backing up is the ability to create Restore points for VBA code.