VBA Check if file (from website) exists

Question

Please bear with me as I am a beginner at VBA.

I am trying to open an excel file through a website using VBA. The address (path) of the file changes from month to mo

Answer 1

You are correct in assuming Dir() doesn't work for files residing on Websites

Dir Function Returns a String representing the name of a file, directory, or folder that matches a specified pattern or file attribute, or the volume label of a drive.

What you need is the following function to check if the URL is valid, P.S. Place the function in Module

Function URLExists(url As String) As Boolean
    Dim Request As Object
    Dim ff As Integer
    Dim rc As Variant

    On Error GoTo EndNow
    Set Request = CreateObject("WinHttp.WinHttpRequest.5.1")

    With Request
      .Open "GET", url, False
      .Send
      rc = .StatusText
    End With
    Set Request = Nothing
    If rc = "OK" Then URLExists = True

    Exit Function
EndNow:
End Function

Then use the function in your Macro

If URLExists(DirFile) = 0 Then
    Set wbA = Workbooks.Open("http://www.clevelandfed.org/research/data/inflation_expectations/" & Format(Now, "YYYY") & "/" & Format(DateAdd("m", -1, Date), "MMMM") & "/excel1.xls", IgnoreReadOnlyRecommended:=True)
    wbA.Activate
'If the current month file exists, open it
Else
    Set wbA = Workbooks.Open(DirFile, IgnoreReadOnlyRecommended:=True)
End If