Guidance for Enabling Macros in the Irrigated Cotton Calculator

The Irrigated Cotton Calculator has been developed to run on Microsoft Excel 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2011. It cannot be run on Excel 2008 for Mac as this version cannot enable macros.

The macros—instructions to automate tasks—have been specifically coded by the developer so that users may opt to vary the number of fertiliser application entries, baseline reference years and project years. The macros are executed via control buttons on the relevant worksheets in the Calculator. Macro control buttons are also present to allow printing of data inputs and results summary page(s).

MS Excel may alert users to the presence of macros in the Irrigated Cotton Calculator and request confirmation that the file is from a trusted source. The Irrigated Cotton Calculator published on the Department of the Environment’s website does contain macros and has undergone the appropriate virus checks and can be treated as safe. The macros have no function outside of the Calculator and pose no risks.

For the Calculator’s macro buttons to function, users must ensure that the security settings in MS Excel are set to allow macros to be enabled. For some versions of MS Excel this will occur automatically.

Enabling Macros in the Calculator for Each SessionFor Mac computers, a warning will appear as the Excel file is opening. Users should click on the ‘Enable Macros’ button.

For PCs running MS Excel 2004 or 2011, the file will open and a warning will appear. Users should click on the ‘Enable Content’ button.

For MS Excel 2007, a similar warning will appear in the ribbon bar with an ‘Options...’ button.

Users will need to enable macros by clicking on 'Options...' to open the Microsoft Office Security Options dialog box. This will display the alert 'Security Alert - Macro' with some information about macros, as below:

Select the 'Enable this content' check button and click 'OK'.

The control buttons within the Calculator will now be active while it is open.

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If the above options to enable macros do not appear on your screen (see example below), there are two settings to check.

Settings to check if macros cannot be enabled:1. Go to Security settings – In the top left corner of the open MS Excel window, click the Office button. Select 'Excel Options' at the bottom of the dialog box:

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Choose 'Trust Center' from the menu at the left and Click the button marked 'Trust Center Settings...':

Select 'Macro Settings' from the menu at the left. Under 'Macro Settings' make sure the 'Disable all macros with notification' check button is selected and click 'OK':

Click 'OK' again to exit Excel Options.

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2. Save the file as a 97 – 2003 Workbook – If in the Microsoft Office Security Options, Security Alert – Macro, there is no option to ‘Enable this content’, then it may be that saving the Excel Workbook (*.xlsx) or Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm) in MS Excel 2007 does not allow the macros to run.

You will need to save the file as an MS Excel 97-2003 Workbook which has the extension .xls.

Saving as an Excel 97-2003 Workbook will prompt the ‘Compatibility Checker’, which may list alerts about losses of functionality and fidelity:

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Click ‘Continue’ and then close MS Excel. This will not compromise functionality of the Calculator.

When the Calculator is opened again, the Security Warning to select ‘Options...’ should appear. Select the ‘Options...’ button and click on ‘Enable macros’.

If the solution presented in this guidance document does not allow macros to be enabled, please contact the Department of the Environment at emissions-reduction@environment.gov.au.

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