Best way to protect Excel VBA code?

Question

I've put together a simple Excel database that performs a few macro functions and I need to distribute this database to a few people - but they cannot see how the macro function actually works (stupid rules I have to follow!). What is the best way to achieve this?

I've done a bit of research and I found two ways:

• Password protect the VBA project; but this is apparently very easy to break using readily available tools online (it would be in the best interest to the people I'm sending this to find out how the macros and functions work; so I'm almost 100% sure they will try to get into it.. hence a password protection seems inadequate.

• Move to a fully compiled language like C++; my skills are very limited to VBA on Excel and Access so this being the ideal solution; isn't a solution for me :(

Are there any other ways? I thought of having a 'master excel document' with all the macros in that and then send 'children' databases to the end users and have the 'children' databases connect to the 'master' - is something like this possible? By hosting the master online or even sending the end users the master but making it completely inaccessible unless accessed by the 'children' databases?

Answer 1

You can create Automation Add In.

An Automation Add In provides several advantages

• Execution Speed : An Automation Add In written in VB6 is compiled to native machine code which runs much faster than the interpreted VBA languange.

• Security : Unlike an XLA add in, you never distribute the source code to the end users. If your code has proprietary information or intellectual property value, that remains safely protected on your own computer. It is never distributed to the user. Your code can never be compromised.

http://www.cpearson.com/excel/automationaddins.aspx