Well anyway, today I *finally* got my Excel spreadsheet working again!

It stopped working when I upgraded from Office 97 to Office 2003. 
Specifically, my VBA macro was disabled. (Damn it, I spent *hours* 
writing that thing! I *want* it to work!!)

Apparently it's disabled as a security measure. You'd *think* there 
would be a button you could just press to say that *this* macro is OK to 
run. (That's what Office 97 had.) But no, apparently that would be too easy.

Google did at least manage to find me a relevant article without much ado.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa141471(office.10).aspx

It turns out that the correct process for enabling a macro that you 
wrote to run on your own PC is as follows:

1. Find the product installation CD.

2. Install the certificate tools.

(By default they install VBA but not the tools apparently necessary to 
actually enable it to run. But then, have you *seen* VBA? I guess the 
assumption that you won't want to use it is fairly safe...)

3. Nagivate several system folders. (You know, the ones where Windows 
Explorer insists "This is dangerous. We have hidden it for your own 
safety. Do you *really* want to touch this stuff? We warned you!")

4. Run the certificate creation tool. This creates a self-signed 
certificate which you cannot export or back up. (Yay!)

5. Open the spreadsheet.

6. Open the VB Editor.

7. Find the right menu item.

8. Select the certificate you just created and add the signature.

9. Save the spreadsheet.

10. Close the spreadsheet.

11. Reopen the spreadsheet.

(The instructions fail to mention that the code being signed doesn't 
help you until the *next* time you open the thing...)

I wonder - how do you develop new code if it's always disabled until you 
sign it? (And - one hopes - every time you change it this invalidates 
the signature...)

All this fuss just so I can click a button to put today's date in a cell 
on the spreadsheet... sheesh!

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