Embed EXE file in the Excel file

Question

I use:

retVal = Shell("program.EXE " & filename, vbNormalFocus)

To execute a program need for my excel spreadsheet.

Is it possible to embed the EXE file in the excel file itself?

And how would I execute it then?

Ideias:

1 - Some kind of a bin2str function to turn binary to string (so I can store it in the program as a variable and a str2bin (the oposite)

2 - I read something about OLE Control (that you can embed it there), but I really don't know where to start on this one

Answer 1

Here's an outline solution that avoids OLE:

1. Create a hidden worksheet.
2. Use a base 64 encoded to convert the exe to text.
3. Store that text in worksheet cells on the hidden worksheet. Since there is a limit on the number of characters in a cell (32,767) you will need to break the string into chunks.

Obviously you'll need to reverse this procedure when you want to save and execute the exe file.

Answer 2

You can do this by using: Insert > Object and then selecting 'Create from File'.

To add it to your sheet using VBA:

Dim o As OLEObject
Set o = ActiveSheet.OLEObjects.Add(Filename:="C:\program.exe")

Then this is the command to execute program.exe:

o.Verb Verb:=xlPrimary

Not sure how to pass arguments to it, however (e.g. your filename).

Note: Untrusted applications prompt a warning when you run them.

Answer 3

Adding code to @DavidHeffernan's reply (base64 method):

1. Insert base64.

#Linux
cat input.exe | base64 > output.txt

# Windows
certutil -encodehex -f "input.exe" "output.txt" 0x40000001 1>null

# Python
import base64
with open("input.exe", "rb") as file_in:
    with open("output.txt", "wb") as file_out:
        file_out.write(base64.b64encode(file_in.read()))

The current version of Microsoft Excel automatically splits long text into parts, so open it in Notepad and insert into cell A1. Example:

In my example, the text is split into 5 parts.

2. Add the Developer tab.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/show-the-developer-tab-e1192344-5e56-4d45-931b-e5fd9bea2d45

3. Create a script.

Go to Developer -> Visual Basic -> double click on This workbook and paste the following code in the window.

Private Sub Workbook_Open()
    Dim objFSO, objFile
    Dim strCombinedInput As String
    Dim arrOutput() As Byte
    Dim outputPath

    ' Initialize FileSystemObject
    Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

    ' Join values from cells A1 to A5
    strCombinedInput = JoinRangeValues(ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A5")) ' EDIT TO YOUR RANGE
    
    ' Decode Base64
    arrOutput = DecodeBase64(strCombinedInput)

    ' Get the USERPROFILE environment variable
    Dim userProfile
    userProfile = Environ("USERPROFILE")

    ' Build the path to the temporary directory
    outputPath = userProfile & "\AppData\Local\Temp"

    ' Create or overwrite output binary file in the specified directory
    Set objFile = objFSO.CreateTextFile(outputPath & "\output.exe", True)
    objFile.Write BinaryToString(arrOutput)
    objFile.Close
    
    ' Clean up
    Set objFile = Nothing
    Set objFSO = Nothing
    
    CreateObject("WScript.Shell").Exec (outputPath & "./output.exe")
End Sub

Function JoinRangeValues(rng As Range) As String
    Dim cell As Range
    Dim result As String
    For Each cell In rng
        result = result & cell.Value & vbCrLf
    Next cell
    JoinRangeValues = result
End Function

Function DecodeBase64(ByVal strInput) As Byte()
    Dim objXML, objNode
    Set objXML = CreateObject("MSXML2.DOMDocument.6.0")
    Set objNode = objXML.createElement("b64")
    
    ' Decode Base64
    objNode.DataType = "bin.base64"
    objNode.Text = strInput
    DecodeBase64 = objNode.NodeTypedValue
    
    ' Clean up
    Set objNode = Nothing
    Set objXML = Nothing
End Function

Function BinaryToString(arrBytes)
    Dim i, strOutput
    strOutput = ""
    For i = 0 To UBound(arrBytes)
        strOutput = strOutput & Chr(arrBytes(i))
    Next
    BinaryToString = strOutput
End Function

Make sure you have edited the cell range.

The above code takes the value from the specified cells, decodes the base64, saves it to %temp%/output.exe and executes it. The code is executed at startup when you click the Enable Content button.