You can manipulate practically every aspect of Excel by using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Each item in Excel -- each spreadsheet, dialog box, command, and individual cell -- is an object. (Excel itself is even an object in VBA!) All of these objects are arranged in a hierarchy that is known as the Excel object model.

Excel’s Help system can display the complete Excel object model graphically. How you open this diagram varies a little depending on the version of Excel you have. To see all the objects you can manipulate and/or access with VBA for Excel 2003, follow these steps:

1. Activate the VBE either by choosing Tools, Macro, Visual Basic Editor or by pressing Alt+F11.

2. Type Object Model in the Help box (located to the right of the menu bar). The Search Results appear in the task pane.

3. Click Microsoft Excel Object Model.

What you’ll see is a picture of the hierarchy of objects in the Excel object model, with Application as the overall parent object. It can help to think of this object model as a folder structure on your Desktop, but with one difference: Each folder does more than just hold other items; each folder is a useful, pliable, changeable piece of Excel.