pyvbaanalysis 1.1.0

Pure-Python static analysis for Excel VBA

pyVBAanalysis

Static analysis for Excel VBA. It reads your macros and reports likely bugs and the errors the VBA compiler would catch, without opening Excel or running any code.

Point it at a workbook or a set of exported module files, and it returns the problems it finds, each with the exact line and a plain explanation.

What it checks

It looks for more than a hundred kinds of problem, including:

• Type errors, such as assigning a string to a Long or passing the wrong type to a procedure.
• Undeclared variables and calls to procedures or members that do not exist.
• Code the VBA compiler rejects: duplicate declarations, a missing Option Explicit, malformed statements, or a Declare that lacks PtrSafe on 64-bit Office.
• Likely run-time failures, such as dividing by a constant zero or a type mismatch from a bad conversion.

It only reports a problem when it can prove one, and stays quiet otherwise, so the output does not bury you in false alarms.

Install

pip install pyvbaanalysis

Python 3.10 or later. Nothing else to set up.

Use it from Python

Analyze a workbook:

from pyvbaanalysis import analyze_workbook

for module, problems in analyze_workbook("Budget.xlsm").items():
    for p in problems:
        print(module, p.severity.value, p.code, p.message)

Analyze a single module's source:

from pyvbaanalysis import analyze_module

source = "Sub Test()\n    Dim n As Long\n    n = \"oops\"\nEnd Sub\n"
for p in analyze_module(source):
    print(p.code, p.message)

Each result has a code, a message, a severity (error, warning, or information), and a span giving the character offsets in the source.

Analyze several exported files together, so references between them resolve:

from pyvbaanalysis import analyze_loose_files

analyze_loose_files(["Module1.bas", "Sheet1.cls", "UserForm1.frm"])

Use it from the command line

pyvbaanalysis Budget.xlsm
pyvbaanalysis ./exported_modules --format json
pyvbaanalysis Budget.xlsm --only Sheet1

A path can be a workbook, a folder of exported .bas / .cls / .frm files, or a single file. The command exits 1 when it finds problems and 0 when the code is clean, so it drops into a CI check.

Scope

This analyzes Excel VBA. It does not run macros and does not need Excel installed. Word and PowerPoint are not supported.

Documentation

• Usage guide
• API reference
• Diagnostic catalogue

License

MIT. See LICENSE.