Visual Basic for Applications, or simply VBA, is Microsoft’s application scripting language. It is the language used to write macros within the entire Microsoft Office suite and in other Microsoft products. It is also used within applications written by other vendors such as AutoCAD and MathCAD. If you have experience in writing macros within any of these products then you should be able to quickly adapt to writing macros for Maxsurf.

VBA is the most readily available platform in which to write Maxsurf macros as most engineers have access to Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word. It is also a relatively easy environment in which to develop scripts, macros or small programs that exploit automation. As such, this manual will concentrate of the use of VBA for the development of macros for Maxsurf. All examples presented in the manual will be coded using VBA.