vba - Excel Macro, inserting internationally valid formula during run-time

Question

I've got an Excel spreadsheet, with a Macro, that inserts a conditional formatting, like this:

Selection.FormatConditions.Add Type:=xlExpression, Formula1:="=UND($A3=""" & lastName & """; $B3=""" & firstName & """)"

As you can see, I've used the German formula for "AND" (i.e. "UND"), and obviously, this code doesn't work as soon as I use it on a French or English version of Excel. Usually formulas are localized automatically, but how can I insert a formula during run-time that will work on ALL versions?

Answer 1

Ok, thanks for helping me with this, you've helped me crack this one.

It is indeed not possible to just use English. One can use English when operating on a formula, eg. by setting coding Range("A1").formula="AND(TRUE)", but this does not work with FormatConditions.

My solution is a function that writes a formula temporarily to a cell, reads it through the FormulaLocal property, and returns the localized formula, like so:

Function GetLocalizedFormula(formula As String)
' returns the English formula from the parameter in the local format
  Dim temporary As String
  temporary = Range("A1").formula
  Range("A1").formula = formula
  Dim result As String
  result = Range("A1").FormulaLocal
  Range("A1").formula = temporary
  GetLocalizedFormula = result
End Function

The returned formula can be used on FormatConditions, which will be re-localized or un-localized when the document is later opened on a different-language version of Excel.