I used to be able to use Windows API calls in Excel VBA to set text on the clipboard. But ever since upgrading to 64-bit Office 2013, I cannot. Below is some code that does not error, but it is also not setting any text on the clipboard. Can someone help me test and troubleshoot?
After pasting the code below into a code module in VBA, you can test it in the immediate windows by typing Clipboard_SetData("Copy this to the clipboard.")
and it should set that text on the clipboard and you would be able to paste it into any other application.
(I am using Windows 8, so I cannot use Microsoft Forms or the Data Object to manipulate the clipboard. It does not work properly on Windows 8.)
UPDATE and EDIT: Code below has been corrected and now works properly in 64-bit Excel, thanks to Jason Kurtz' answer below. If you find this useful, please vote his answer up.
Option Explicit
'Found 64-bit API declarations here: http://spreadsheet1.com/uploads/3/0/6/6/3066620/win32api_ptrsafe.txt
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalAlloc Lib "kernel32" (ByVal wFlags As Long, ByVal dwBytes As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalFree Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalLock Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalSize Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalUnlock Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As LongPtr) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function OpenClipboard Lib "user32" (ByVal hwnd As LongPtr) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function CloseClipboard Lib "user32" () As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function EmptyClipboard Lib "user32" () As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function SetClipboardData Lib "user32" (ByVal wFormat As Long, ByVal hMem As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Private Declare PtrSafe Function GetClipboardData Lib "user32" (ByVal wFormat As Long) As LongPtr
Private Declare PtrSafe Function lstrcpy Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpString1 As Any, ByVal lpString2 As Any) As LongPtr
Private Const GMEM_MOVEABLE = &H2
Private Const GMEM_ZEROINIT = &H40
Private Const GHND = (GMEM_MOVEABLE Or GMEM_ZEROINIT)
Public Const CF_TEXT = 1
Public Const MAXSIZE = 4096
Sub ClipBoard_SetData(MyString As String)
'32-bit code by Microsoft: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff192913.aspx
Dim hGlobalMemory As LongPtr, lpGlobalMemory As LongPtr
Dim hClipMemory As LongPtr, X As Long
' Allocate moveable global memory.
hGlobalMemory = GlobalAlloc(GHND, Len(MyString) + 1)
' Lock the block to get a far pointer to this memory.
lpGlobalMemory = GlobalLock(hGlobalMemory)
' Copy the string to this global memory.
lpGlobalMemory = lstrcpy(lpGlobalMemory, MyString)
' Unlock the memory.
If GlobalUnlock(hGlobalMemory) <> 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not unlock memory location. Copy aborted."
'Debug.Print "GlobalFree returned: " & CStr(GlobalFree(hGlobalMemory))
GoTo OutOfHere
End If
' Open the Clipboard to copy data to.
If OpenClipboard(0&) = 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not open the Clipboard. Copy aborted."
Exit Sub
End If
' Clear the Clipboard.
X = EmptyClipboard()
' Copy the data to the Clipboard.
hClipMemory = SetClipboardData(CF_TEXT, hGlobalMemory)
OutOfHere:
If CloseClipboard() = 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not close Clipboard."
End If
End Sub
OK, I got it now...
You need to change this line in your version of the code:
Private Declare PtrSafe Function lstrcpy Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpString1 As String, ByVal lpString2 As String) As LongPtr
To this:
Private Declare PtrSafe Function lstrcpy Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpString1 As Any, ByVal lpString2 As Any) As LongPtr
If you step through the code as you had it, you will see that the value of lpGlobalMemory changes when lstrcopy is called. When the types are changed to Any, the value stays the same.
Works for me on windows 7. Hope it works for you!
Posting complete code for others.
Tested and working on 32 Bit Versions of Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016
and 64 Bit Excel 2013
All running on Windows 10
'http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14738330/office-2013-excel-putinclipboard-is-different
Option Explicit
#If VBA7 Then
Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalUnlock Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalLock Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalAlloc Lib "kernel32" (ByVal wFlags As Long, ByVal dwBytes As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Declare PtrSafe Function CloseClipboard Lib "User32" () As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function OpenClipboard Lib "User32" (ByVal hwnd As LongPtr) As LongPtr
Declare PtrSafe Function EmptyClipboard Lib "User32" () As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function lstrcpy Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpString1 As Any, ByVal lpString2 As Any) As LongPtr
Declare PtrSafe Function SetClipboardData Lib "User32" (ByVal wFormat As Long, ByVal hMem As LongPtr) As LongPtr
#Else
Declare Function GlobalUnlock Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As Long) As Long
Declare Function GlobalLock Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As Long) As Long
Declare Function GlobalAlloc Lib "kernel32" (ByVal wFlags As Long, ByVal dwBytes As Long) As Long
Declare Function CloseClipboard Lib "User32" () As Long
Declare Function OpenClipboard Lib "User32" (ByVal hwnd As Long) As Long
Declare Function EmptyClipboard Lib "User32" () As Long
Declare Function lstrcpy Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpString1 As Any, ByVal lpString2 As Any) As Long
Declare Function SetClipboardData Lib "User32" (ByVal wFormat As Long, ByVal hMem As Long) As Long
#End If
Public Const GHND = &H42
Public Const CF_TEXT = 1
Public Const MAXSIZE = 4096
Function ClipBoard_SetData(MyString As String)
#If VBA7 Then
Dim hGlobalMemory As LongPtr, lpGlobalMemory As LongPtr, hClipMemory As LongPtr
#Else
Dim hGlobalMemory As Long, lpGlobalMemory As Long, hClipMemory As Long
#End If
Dim x As Long
' Allocate moveable global memory.
'-------------------------------------------
hGlobalMemory = GlobalAlloc(GHND, Len(MyString) + 1)
' Lock the block to get a far pointer
' to this memory.
lpGlobalMemory = GlobalLock(hGlobalMemory)
' Copy the string to this global memory.
lpGlobalMemory = lstrcpy(lpGlobalMemory, MyString)
' Unlock the memory.
If GlobalUnlock(hGlobalMemory) <> 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not unlock memory location. Copy aborted. Please contact 14Fathoms."
GoTo OutOfHere2
End If
' Open the Clipboard to copy data to.
If OpenClipboard(0&) = 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not open the Clipboard. Copy aborted. Please contact 14Fathoms."
Exit Function
End If
' Clear the Clipboard.
x = EmptyClipboard()
' Copy the data to the Clipboard.
hClipMemory = SetClipboardData(CF_TEXT, hGlobalMemory)
OutOfHere2:
If CloseClipboard() = 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not close Clipboard. Please contact 14Fathoms."
End If
End Function
Sub TestCOPYPASTE()
Call ClipBoard_SetData("Hello World " & now())
'Open notepad or in the immediate window and hit control-v
End Sub
Use the code exactly as shown here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/office/ff192913.aspx
except insert PtrSafe after Declare for all the API declarations.
The code should be in a module by itself.
Like this:
Option Explicit
Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalUnlock Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As Long) _
As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalLock Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hMem As Long) _
As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function GlobalAlloc Lib "kernel32" (ByVal wFlags As Long, _
ByVal dwBytes As Long) As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function CloseClipboard Lib "User32" () As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function OpenClipboard Lib "User32" (ByVal hwnd As Long) _
As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function EmptyClipboard Lib "User32" () As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function lstrcpy Lib "kernel32" (ByVal lpString1 As Any, _
ByVal lpString2 As Any) As Long
Declare PtrSafe Function SetClipboardData Lib "User32" (ByVal wFormat _
As Long, ByVal hMem As Long) As Long
Public Const GHND = &H42
Public Const CF_TEXT = 1
Public Const MAXSIZE = 4096
Function ClipBoard_SetData(MyString As String)
Dim hGlobalMemory As Long, lpGlobalMemory As Long
Dim hClipMemory As Long, X As Long
' Allocate moveable global memory.
'-------------------------------------------
hGlobalMemory = GlobalAlloc(GHND, Len(MyString) + 1)
' Lock the block to get a far pointer
' to this memory.
lpGlobalMemory = GlobalLock(hGlobalMemory)
' Copy the string to this global memory.
lpGlobalMemory = lstrcpy(lpGlobalMemory, MyString)
' Unlock the memory.
If GlobalUnlock(hGlobalMemory) <> 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not unlock memory location. Copy aborted."
GoTo OutOfHere2
End If
' Open the Clipboard to copy data to.
If OpenClipboard(0&) = 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not open the Clipboard. Copy aborted."
Exit Function
End If
' Clear the Clipboard.
X = EmptyClipboard()
' Copy the data to the Clipboard.
hClipMemory = SetClipboardData(CF_TEXT, hGlobalMemory)
OutOfHere2:
If CloseClipboard() = 0 Then
MsgBox "Could not close Clipboard."
End If
End Function