The TIBCO iProcess Client (VBA) is an extension to the TIBCO® iProcess Client that allows you to use Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to develop VBA projects for use with Staffware procedures:

• A VBA project is an application developed in VBA, comprising one or more VBA forms, dialogs and code. You define a VBA project for a procedure step, either in place of or in addition to a Staffware form.
• A VBA form is the user interface of the VBA project, the form that is displayed to the user when they open a step which uses a VBA project.

By incorporating VBA projects in your procedures you can extend Staffware’s functionality to suit your own requirements. For example, you can:

• design VBA forms which look and work like the applications your users are familiar with.
• develop those forms into customized solutions and integrate them with your existing applications.

TIBCO iProcess Client (VBA) Components

The TIBCO iProcess Client (VBA) contains the following components:

• Visual Basic for Applications
• The Staffware OpenFormOCX Automation Object
• The Staffware (Default).vba Project

Visual Basic for Applications

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a development tool which can be hosted in third-party applications such as Microsoft Office and the TIBCO iProcess Client (VBA). It allows developers to extend the functionality of the host application to build custom solutions.

The VBA environment includes the following:The VBA environment includes the following:

• VBA language engine, which supports full Visual Basic language syntax.
  VBA is not 100% compatible with VB. There are certain language differences.
• Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The IDE provides an editor, object browser and powerful debugging tools. Features such as conditional compilation, automatic syntax checking, code security and IntelliSense® are also provided.
• Microsoft Forms. A set of design tools which allow you to create user interfaces and custom dialog boxes.

The Staffware OpenFormOCX Automation Object

The Staffware OpenFormOCX is a pre-built automation object which exposes Staffware forms functionality to the VBA environment. The OpenFormOCX:

• is automatically configured when the TIBCO iProcess Client (VBA) is run.
• exposes session and field properties to the developer.
• exposes methods to allow the user to keep and release a form.
• provides shutdown handling.

The Staffware (Default).vba Project

The (Default).vba project is a template project which provides a basic, ready-to-run framework for developing VBA forms suitable for use with Staffware. It:

• automatically configures an instance of the OpenFormOCX.
• provides a basic form which displays Staffware data and which the user can keep or release.
• provides a mechanism to load data from and save it back to Staffware.
• provides shutdown handling.