Create a custom Userform Interface with Visual Studio

[GreedyGreedo]

Hi, I'm creating a project in Excel, programmed in VBA, but I've reached a limit of my understanding, so I thought I'd post for help.

Essentially I'm trying to create one of these. In case the link breaks/ to make it relevant to other users: what I'm trying to create is a GUI with some slightly oddly shaped elements (frames with curved edges, composite shapes like a toolbar etc.). I do not want the standard Userform container design/rectangular shape either.

The complication is that I would like to make these elements raise the same VBA events as command buttons do on userforms. That is, I can click, double click or hover-over (mouse-move) and raise the appropriate events. Now there are many convoluted ways to make these odd-shaped command buttons, here are a few I've explored:

• Draw the individual elements as Shapes and assign macros
  • This gives a click event as desired
  • However in order make something like a frame, with a non-clickable centre, I have to draw non-joined freeform shapes (very hard to get to look right - I've been experimenting with svgs too), or split up into four overlapping subshapes (still not perfect)
  • This doesn't give mouseMove events
• Draw shapes then plaster with invisible activeX buttons
  • This is not a simple procedure, because the complexity of the shapes like the frame (with rounded edges) means that to try and get the right button-click area, I have to use loads of command buttons
  • I then either need to create a whole load of classes to handle the button press events, or handle the events individually
• Use api calls to detect button clicks
  • Clearly this will add complexity

After exhausting those, I realised what I really want to do is turn to a better GUI designer (like VisualStudio I'm guessing) to create either

• Individual custom-design button elements for each of the components of my GUI
  • I would assemble these all in the right places within Excel
• A single project in VSTO which I can export to Excel and, hopefully, open up like a userform, in a separate borderless window or directly in the sheet

As I think this would be much more self contained, much easier to maintain, less memory demanding to run (as there's only 1 clickable element raising events rather than 20), the only real drawback I see is that it's slightly less portable (requires a separate file to be installed probably), but I'm sure I can work with that.

So far I've looked at/been directed towards

• Windows forms
  • These still have the container constraint, I just want my elements individual or floating in space (correct me if I'm wrong)
• WPF App
  • These look like I won't be able to control them with VBA easily (require command line parameters, hard to get anything back from them)
• Excel Addin
  • I'm not sure about these, I've only been able to find tutorials on Toolbar-Addins, not standalone graphical addins like I want

I am also intrigued by the idea of a custom activeX control, but that's just a hunch based on the name, I haven't been able to find tutorials on this at all so I don't know what's possible.

Right, sorry for that big post, if anyone has any experience with Visual Studio/ thinks this is possible in any other way that I haven't given, please give me whatever pointers you may have, direct me to tutorials, tell me what VS template I should start with, anything! Unfortunately I know so little about visual studio that I can't even google this

---

PS, if I've posted this in the wrong forum, then feel free to move it/ tell me (how) to do so. I gather that Excel specific questions are not meant to be here, but really I'm after an Excel-related Visual Studio solution, which appears to match this forum quite nicely.

PPS I know I should probably just skip Excel out altogether, but this preview GUI is a small component of a much larger project that is already thoroughly grounded in VBA/Excel, so it's too late to change!