Choose A Name

A one slide presentation to choose a random name from a list in a textfile is very useful for example in a class situation but has man other uses. Works in most versions of PowerPoint on Windows.

STEP 1

Create a simple textfile in Notebook. Have one name / line and save on the desktop as Data.txt.

STEP 2

Create a one slide presentation . Make sure that tit has a Title layout.
ALT f11 to get to the vba editor and then INSERT > Module. Paste in the code below.

Sub getName()
Dim rayNames() As String
Dim filenum As Integer
Dim strInput As String
Dim filepath As String
Dim L As Long
filepath = Environ("USERPROFILE") & "\Desktop\Data.txt"
filenum = FreeFile
ReDim rayNames(1 To 1)
Open filepath For Input As filenum
While Not EOF(filenum)
Line Input #filenum, strInput
rayNames(UBound(rayNames)) = strInput
ReDim Preserve rayNames(1 To UBound(rayNames) + 1)
Wend
ReDim Preserve rayNames(1 To UBound(rayNames) - 1)
Randomize
L = Int(Rnd * (UBound(rayNames)) + 1)
ActivePresentation.Slides(1).Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange = rayNames(L)
End Sub