Strings

Left and Right functions

Returns a Variant (String) containing a specified number of characters from the right side of a string.

Syntax

Left(string, length) Right(string, length)

Example:

Dim AnyString, MyStr

AnyString = "Hello World"    ' Define string.

MyStr = Right(AnyString, 1)    ' Returns "d".

MyStr = Right(AnyString, 6)    ' Returns " World".

MyStr = Right(AnyString, 20)    ' Returns "Hello World".

Part                  Description

string               Required. String expression from which the rightmost characters are returned. If string contains Null, Null is returned.

length              Required; Variant (Long). Numeric expression indicating how many characters to return. If 0, a zero-length string ("") is returned. If greater than or equal to the number of characters in string, the entire string is returned.

Base 0 & 1

Option Base {0 | 1}

Because the default base is 0, the Option Base statement is never required. If used, the statement must appear in a module before any procedures. Option Base can appear only once in a module and must precede array declarations that include dimensions.

The Option Base statement only affects the lower bound of arrays in the module where the statement is located.

Example:

Dim iNumber(15 To 114) As Integer

Trim, LTrim, and RTrim functions

Returns a Variant (String) containing a copy of a specified string without leading spaces (LTrim), trailing spaces (RTrim), or both leading and trailing spaces (Trim).

The required string argumhent is any valid string expression. If string contains Null, Null is returned. Syntax

LTrim(string)

RTrim(string) Trim(string)

Example:

Dim MyString, TrimString

MyString = "  <-Trim->  "    ' Initialize string.

TrimString = LTrim(MyString)    ' TrimString = "<-Trim->  ".

TrimString = RTrim(MyString)    ' TrimString = "  <-Trim->".

TrimString = LTrim(RTrim(MyString))    ' TrimString = "<-Trim->".

' Using the Trim function alone achieves the same result.

TrimString = Trim(MyString)    ' TrimString = "<-Trim->".

LCase and UCase functions

Returns a String that has been converted to lowercase.

The required string argument is any valid string expression. If string contains Null, Null is returned.

Syntax

UCase(string)

LCase(string)

Remarks

Only uppercase letters are converted to lowercase; all lowercase letters and nonletter characters remain unchanged.

Formatting

Returns a Variant (String) containing an expression formatted according to instructions contained in a format expression.

Syntax

Format(expression[, format[, firstdayofweek[, firstweekofyear]]])

The Format function syntax has these parts:

Part                             Description

expression             Required. Any valid expression. format         Optional. A valid named or user-defined format expression. firstdayofweek     Optional. A constant that specifies the first day of the week. firstweekofyear        Optional. A constant that specifies the first week of the year.

Settings

The firstdayofweek argument has these settings:

Constant                         Value                               Description vbUseSystem       0              Use NLS API setting. VbSunday     1                Sunday (default) vbMonday                      2                                        Monday vbTuesday                      3                                        Tuesday vbWednesday      4              Wednesday vbThursday   5                Thursday vbFriday                         6                                        Friday vbSaturday                    7                                       Saturday The firstweekofyear argument has these settings:
Constant                                                  Value	Description
vbUseSystem                                          0	Use NLS API setting.
vbFirstJan1                                             1	Start with week in which January 1 occurs (default).
vbFirstFourDays                                   2	Start with the first week that has at least four days in the year.

vbFirstFullWeek                                    3                                                                    Start with the first full week of the

year.

Symbol                                                                                        Range

d              1-30 dd  1-30 ww 1-51

mmm                                                                                             Displays full month names (Hijri month names have

no abbreviations).

y                                                                                                     1-355

yyyy                                                                                               100-9666

Example:

MyTime and MyDate are displayed in the development environment using current system short time setting and short date setting.

Dim MyTime, MyDate, MyStr

MyTime = #17:04:23#

MyDate = #January 27, 1993#

' Returns current system time in the system-defined long time format. MyStr = Format(Time, "Long Time")

' Returns current system date in the system-defined long date format. MyStr = Format(Date, "Long Date")

MyStr = Format(MyTime, "h:m:s")    ' Returns "17:4:23".

MyStr = Format(MyTime, "hh:mm:ss AMPM")    ' Returns "05:04:23 PM".

MyStr = Format(MyDate, "dddd, mmm d yyyy")    ' Returns "Wednesday,     ' Jan 27 1993".

' If format is not supplied, a string is returned. MyStr = Format(23)    ' Returns "23".

' User-defined formats.

MyStr = Format(5459.4, "##,##0.00")    ' Returns "5,459.40".

MyStr = Format(334.9, "###0.00")    ' Returns "334.90".

MyStr = Format(5, "0.00%")    ' Returns "500.00%".

MyStr = Format("HELLO", "<")    ' Returns "hello".

MyStr = Format("This is it", ">")    ' Returns "THIS IS IT".

FormatCurrency, FormatPercent, FormatNumber

Syntax

FormatCurrency(Expression[,NumDigitsAfterDecimal [,IncludeLeadingDigit

[,UseParensForNegativeNumbers [,GroupDigits]]]])

FormatPercent(Expression[,NumDigitsAfterDecimal [,IncludeLeadingDigit [,UseParensForNegativeNumbers

[,GroupDigits]]]]) FormatNumber(Expression[,NumDigitsAfterDecimal [,IncludeLeadingDigit [,UseParensForNegativeNumbers [,GroupDigits]]]])

Part	Description
Expression	Required. Expression to be formatted.
NumDigitsAfterDecimal	Optional. Numeric value indicating how many places to the right of the decimal are displayed. Default value is –1, which indicates that the computer's regional settings are used.
IncludeLeadingDigit	Optional. Tristate constant that indicates whether or not a leading zero is displayed for fractional values. See Settings section for values.
UseParensForNegativeNumbers	Optional. Tristate constant that indicates whether or not to place negative values within parentheses. See Settings section for values.
GroupDigits	Optional. Tristate constant that indicates whether or not numbers are grouped using the group delimiter specified in the computer's regional settings. See Settings section for values.

Example:

result = FormatCurrency(324.45) result = FormatPercent(324.45, 0) result = FormatNumber(324.45, 2)

FormatDateTime

Description

Returns an expression formatted as a date or time.

Syntax

FormatDateTime(Date[,NamedFormat])

The FormatDateTime function syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
Date	Required. Date expression to be formatted.
NamedFormat	Optional. Numeric value that indicates the date/time format used. If omitted,

vbGeneralDate is used.

Settings

The NamedFormat argument has the following settings:

Constant	Value	Description
vbGeneralDate	0	Display a date and/or time. If there is a date part, display it as a short date. If there is a time part, display it as a long time. If present, both parts are displayed.
vbLongDate	1	Display a date using the long date format specified in your computer's regional settings.
vbShortDate	2	Display a date using the short date format specified in your computer's regional settings.
vbLongTime	3	Display a time using the time format specified in your computer's regional settings.
vbShortTime	4	Display a time using the 24-hour format (hh:mm).

Mid function

Returns a Variant (String) containing a specified number of characters from a string. To determine the number of characters in string, use the Len function.

Syntax

Mid(string, start[, length])

The Mid function syntax has these named arguments:

      Part                                                                                       Description

string               Required. String expression from which characters are returned. If string contains Null, Null is returned.

start                 Required; Long. Character position in string at which the part to be taken begins. If start is greater than the number of characters in string, Mid returns a zero-length string ("").

length              Optional; Variant (Long). Number of characters to return. If omitted or if there are fewer than length characters in the text (including the character at start), all characters from the start position to the end of the string are returned.

Example:

Dim MyString, FirstWord, LastWord, MidWords MyString = "Mid Function Demo"    ' Create text string.

FirstWord = Mid(MyString, 1, 3)    ' Returns "Mid".

LastWord = Mid(MyString, 14, 4)    ' Returns "Demo".

MidWords = Mid(MyString, 5)    ' Returns "Function Demo".

Chr Function

Returns a String containing the character associated with the specified character code. The required charcode argument is a Long that identifies a character.

Syntax Chr(charcode)

Example:

Dim MyChar

MyChar = Chr(65)    ' Returns A.

MyChar = Chr(97)    ' Returns a.

MyChar = Chr(62)    ' Returns >.

MyChar = Chr(37)    ' Returns %.

Len Function

Returns a Long containing the number of characters in a string or the number of bytes required to store a variable.

Syntax

Len(string | varname)

The Len function syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
string	Any valid string expression. If string contains Null, Null is returned.
Varname	Any valid variable name. If varname contains Null, Null is returned. If varname is a Variant, Len treats it the same as a String and always returns the number of characters it contains.

Example:

Label1 = Len(Text1)  ' Text1 = “Blah”

' Label1 = “4”

InStr function

Returns a Variant (Long) specifying the position of the first occurrence of one string within another.

Syntax InStr([start, ]string1, string2[, compare])

The InStr function syntax has these arguments:

Part                          Description

start                         Optional. Numeric expression that sets the starting position for each search. If omitted, search begins at the first character position. If start contains Null, an error occurs. The start argument is required if compare is specified.

string1   Required. String expression being searched. string2    Required. String expression sought.

compare                  Optional. Specifies the type of string comparison. If compare is Null, an error occurs. If compare is omitted, the Option Compare setting determines the type of comparison. Specify a valid LCID (LocaleID) to use locale-specific rules in the comparison.

Settings

The compare argument settings are:

Constant	Value	Description
vbUseCompareOption	-1	Performs a comparison using the setting of the Option Compare statement.
vbBinaryCompare	0	Performs a binary comparison.
vbTextCompare	1	Performs a textual comparison.
vbDatabaseCompare Return Values	2	Microsoft Access only. Performs a comparison based on information in your database.
If	InStr returns
string1 is zero-length	0
string1 is Null	Null
string2 is zero-length	start
string2 is Null	Null
string2 is not found	0
string2 is found within string1	Position at which match is found
start > string2	0

Example:

Dim SearchString, SearchChar, MyPos

SearchString ="XXpXXpXXPXXP"    ' String to search in.

SearchChar = "P"    ' Search for "P".

' A textual comparison starting at position 4. Returns 6.

MyPos = Instr(4, SearchString, SearchChar, 1)   ' A binary comparison starting at position 1. Returns 9.

MyPos = Instr(1, SearchString, SearchChar, 0)

MyPos = Instr(SearchString, SearchChar)    ' Returns 9.

MyPos = Instr(1, SearchString, "W")    ' Returns 0.

String function

Returns a Variant (String) containing a repeating character string of the length specified. Syntax

String(number, character)

The String function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
number	Required; Long. Length of the returned string. If number contains Null, Null is returned.
character	Required; Variant. Character code specifying the character or string expression whose first character is used to build the return string. If character contains Null, Null is returned.

Remarks

If you specify a number for character greater than 255, String converts the number to a valid character code using the formula: character Mod 256

InstrRev

Returns the position of an occurrence of one string within another, from the end of string. Syntax

InstrRev(stringcheck, stringmatch[, start[, compare]])

Settings

The compare argument can have the following values:

Constant	Value	Description
vbUseCompareOption	–1	Performs a comparison using the setting of the Option Compare statement.
vbBinaryCompare	0	Performs a binary comparison.
vbTextCompare	1	Performs a textual comparison.
vbDatabaseCompare	2	Microsoft Access only. Performs a comparison based on information in your database.

Asc Function

Returns an Integer representing the character code corresponding to the first letter in a string.

Syntax

Asc(string)

The required string argument is any valid string expression. If the string contains no characters, a run-time error occurs.

Example:

Dim MyNumber

MyNumber = Asc("A")    ' Returns 65.

MyNumber = Asc("a")    ' Returns 97.

MyNumber = Asc("Apple")    ' Returns 65.

Space Function

This function by itself produces a certain number of spaces. It's best use is to clear fixed-length strings.

sRecord$ = Space(128)

Replace Function

Returns a string in which a specified substring has been replaced with another substring a specified number of times.

Syntax Replace(expression, find, replace[, start[, count[, compare]]]) The Replace function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
expression	Required. String expression containing substring to replace.
find	Required. Substring being searched for.
replace	Required. Replacement substring.
start	Optional. Position within expression where substring search is to begin. If omitted, 1 is assumed.
count	Optional. Number of substring substitutions to perform. If omitted, the default value is –1, which means make all possible substitutions.
compare	Optional. Numeric value indicating the kind of comparison to use when evaluating substrings. See Settings section for values.

StrComp function

Returns a Variant (Integer) indicating the result of a string comparison.

Syntax

StrComp(string1, string2[, compare])

The StrComp function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
string1	Required. Any valid string expression.
string2	Required. Any valid string expression.
compare	Optional. Specifies the type of string comparison. If the compare argument is Null, an error occurs. If compare is omitted, the Option Compare setting determines the type of comparison.

Example:

Dim MyStr1, MyStr2, MyComp

MyStr1 = "ABCD": MyStr2 = "abcd"    ' Define variables.

MyComp = StrComp(MyStr1, MyStr2, 1)    ' Returns 0.

MyComp = StrComp(MyStr1, MyStr2, 0)    ' Returns -1. MyComp = StrComp(MyStr2, MyStr1)   ' Returns 1.

StrConv function

Returns a Variant (String) converted as specified.

Syntax

StrConv(string, conversion, LCID)

The StrConv function syntax has these named arguments:

Part                              Description

string                           Required. String expression to be converted.

conversion                  Required. Integer. The sum of values specifying the type of conversion to perform.

LCID                           Optional. The LocaleID, if different than the system LocaleID. (The system LocaleID is the default.)

Math

Val function

Returns the numbers contained in a string as a numeric value of appropriate type.

Syntax

Val(string)

The required string argument is any valid string expression.

The Val function stops reading the string at the first character it can't recognize as part of a number. Symbols and characters that are often considered parts of numeric values, such as dollar signs and commas, are not recognized. However, the function recognizes the radix prefixes &O (for octal) and &H (for hexadecimal). Blanks, tabs, and linefeed characters are stripped from the argument.

Round

Description

Returns a number rounded to a specified number of decimal places.

Syntax

Round(expression [,numdecimalplaces]) The Round function syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
expression	Required. Numeric expression being rounded.
numdecimalplaces	Optional. Number indicating how many places to the right of the decimal are included in the rounding. If omitted, integers are returned by the Round function.

Example:

Text1.Text = Number

Round(Number,5)

‘Rounds the number in text1 to 5 decimal places

Int and Fix functions

Returns the integer portion of a number.

Syntax

Int(number)

Fix(number)

The required number argument is a Double or any valid numeric expression. If number contains Null, Null is returned.

Both Int and Fix remove the fractional part of number and return the resulting integer value.

The difference between Int and Fix is that if number is negative, Int returns the first negative integer less than or equal to number, whereas Fix returns the first negative integer greater than or equal to number. For example, Int converts -8.4 to -9, and Fix converts -8.4 to -8.

Rnd and Randomize functions

A function which generates a random number.

Randomize uses number to initialize the Rnd function's random-number generator, giving it a new seed value. If you omit number, the value returned by the system timer is used as the new seed value. Syntax

Randomize [number] Rnd[(number)]

Example:

Randomize

Label1 = Int((6 * Rnd) + 1)    'Generate random value between 1 and 6.

Sgn function

Returns a Variant (Integer) indicating the sign of a number.

Syntax

Sgn(number)

The required number argument can be any valid numeric expression. Return Values

If number is             Sgn returns

Greater than zero     1

Equal to zero            0

Less than zero          -1

Example:

Dim MyVar1, MyVar2, MyVar3, MySign MyVar1 = 12: MyVar2 = -2.4: MyVar3 = 0 MySign = Sgn(MyVar1)    ' Returns 1.

MySign = Sgn(MyVar2)    ' Returns -1. MySign = Sgn(MyVar3)    ' Returns 0.

Sin, Cos, Tan, Log, Atn & Exp Functions

If you're into geometry, you're all set there too. From the list of VB functions below, you can make any geometric calculation that exists. (Assuming you're Albert Einstein).

Syntax

Sin(number) Cos(number)

Tan(number) Log(number)

Atn(number) Exp(number)

Abs function

Returns a value of the same type that is passed to it specifying the absolute value of a number.

Syntax

Abs(number)

The required number argument can be any valid numeric expression. If number contains Null, Null is returned; if it is an uninitialized variable, zero is returned.

Example:

Dim MyNumber

MyNumber = Abs(50.3)    ' Returns 50.3.

MyNumber = Abs(-50.3)    ' Returns 50.3.

Other Math Functions

The following is a list of nonintrinsic math functions that can be derived from the intrinsic math functions:

Function	Derived equivalents
Secant	Sec(X) = 1 / Cos(X)
Cosecant	Cosec(X) = 1 / Sin(X)
Cotangent	Cotan(X) = 1 / Tan(X)
Inverse Sine	Arcsin(X) = Atn(X / Sqr(-X * X + 1))
Inverse Cosine	Arccos(X) = Atn(-X / Sqr(-X * X + 1)) + 2 * Atn(1)
Inverse Secant	Arcsec(X) = Atn(X / Sqr(X * X – 1)) + Sgn((X) – 1) * (2 * Atn(1))
Inverse Cosecant	Arccosec(X) = Atn(X / Sqr(X * X - 1)) + (Sgn(X) – 1) * (2 * Atn(1))
Inverse Cotangent	Arccotan(X) = Atn(X) + 2 * Atn(1)
Hyperbolic Sine	HSin(X) = (Exp(X) – Exp(-X)) / 2
Hyperbolic Cosine	HCos(X) = (Exp(X) + Exp(-X)) / 2
Hyperbolic Tangent	HTan(X) = (Exp(X) – Exp(-X)) / (Exp(X) + Exp(-X))
Hyperbolic Secant	HSec(X) = 2 / (Exp(X) + Exp(-X))
Hyperbolic Cosecant	HCosec(X) = 2 / (Exp(X) – Exp(-X))
Hyperbolic Cotangent	HCotan(X) = (Exp(X) + Exp(-X)) / (Exp(X) – Exp(-X))
Inverse Hyperbolic Sine	HArcsin(X) = Log(X + Sqr(X * X + 1))
Inverse Hyperbolic Cosine	HArccos(X) = Log(X + Sqr(X * X – 1))
Inverse Hyperbolic Tangent	HArctan(X) = Log((1 + X) / (1 – X)) / 2
Inverse Hyperbolic Secant	HArcsec(X) = Log((Sqr(-X * X + 1) + 1) / X)
Inverse Hyperbolic Cosecant	HArccosec(X) = Log((Sgn(X) * Sqr(X * X + 1) + 1) / X)
Inverse Hyperbolic Cotangent	HArccotan(X) = Log((X + 1) / (X – 1)) / 2
Logarithm to base N	LogN(X) = Log(X) / Log(N)

Logic

Mod Operator

Syntax result = number1 Mod number2

The Mod operator syntax has these parts:

Part              Description

result      Required; any numeric variable. number1      Required; any numeric expression. number2           Required; any numeric expression.

Remarks

The modulus, or remainder, operator divides number1 by number2 (rounding floating-point numbers to integers) and returns only the remainder as result. For example, in the following expression, A (result) equals 5. A = 19 Mod 6.7

Example:

Dim MyResult

MyResult = 10 Mod 5    ' Returns 0. MyResult = 10 Mod 3    ' Returns 1.

MyResult = 12 Mod 4.3    ' Returns 0. MyResult = 12.6 Mod 5    ' Returns 3.

And Operator

Used to perform a logical conjunction on two expressions..

Syntax result = expression1 And expression2

The And operator syntax has these parts:

Part                  Description

result                Required; any numeric variable.

expression1           Required; any expression. expression2           Required; any expression.

Remarks

If both expressions evaluate to True, result is True. If either expression evaluates to False, result is False. The following table illustrates how result is determined: If expression1 is And expression2 is             The result is

True	True	True
True	False	False
True	Null	Null
False	True	False
False	False	False
False	Null	False
Null	True	Null
Null	False	False
Null	Null	Null

Example:

Dim A, B, C, D, MyCheck

A = 10: B = 8: C = 6: D = Null    ' Initialize variables.

MyCheck = A > B And B > C    ' Returns True.

MyCheck = B > A And B > C    ' Returns False. MyCheck = A > B And B > D    ' Returns Null.

Or Operator

Used to perform a logical disjunction on two expressions.

Syntax result = expression1 Or expression2

The Or operator syntax has these parts:

Part                  Description

result                Required; any numeric variable.

expression1           Required; any expression. expression2 Required; any expression.

Remarks

If either or both expressions evaluate to True, result is True. The following table illustrates how result is determined:

If expression1 is     And expression2 is     Then result is

True	True	True
True	False	True
True	Null	True
False	True	True
False	False	False
False	Null	Null
Null	True	True
Null	False	Null
Null	Null	Null

Example:

Dim A, B, C, D, MyCheck

A = 10: B = 8: C = 6: D = Null    ' Initialize variables.

MyCheck = A > B Or B > C    ' Returns True. MyCheck = B > A Or B > C    ' Returns True.

MyCheck = A > B Or B > D    ' Returns True. MyCheck = B > D Or B > A    ' Returns Null.

Xor Operator

Used to perform a logical exclusion on two expressions.

Syntax

[result =] expression1 Xor expression2

The Xor operator syntax has these parts:

Part                   Description

result       Optional; any numeric variable. expression1 Required; any expression. expression2     Required; any expression.

Remarks

If one, and only one, of the expressions evaluates to True, result is True. However, if either expression is Null, result is also Null. When neither expression is Null, result is determined according to the following table: If expression1 is        And expression2 is Then result is

True                          True                              False

True False True False True True

False                         False                              False

Example:

Dim A, B, C, D, MyCheck

A = 10: B = 8: C = 6: D = Null    ' Initialize variables.

MyCheck = A > B Xor B > C    ' Returns False. MyCheck = B > A Xor B > C    ' Returns True.

MyCheck = B > A Xor C > B    ' Returns False. MyCheck = B > D Xor A > B    ' Returns Null.

If Not

If Not is the exact opposite of If, the code segment will run if a condition is False.

Example:

Dim Done As Boolean

Done = True

If Not Done Then LetsFinish

The LetsFinish procedure will not run. Notice we just used the boolean variable by itself. If Not Done is equivalent to If Done = False and If Done is the same as If Done = True.

Like operator

Used to compare two strings. Syntax result = string Like pattern

The Like operator syntax has these parts:

Part           Description

result      Required; any numeric variable. string           Required; any string expression.

pattern      Required; any string expression conforming to the pattern-matching conventions described in Remarks.

Remarks

If string matches pattern, result is True; if there is no match, result is False. If either string or pattern is Null, result is Null.

The behavior of the Like operator depends on the Option Compare statement. The default string-comparison method for each module is Option Compare Binary.

Built-in pattern matching provides a versatile tool for string comparisons. The pattern-matching features allow you to use wildcard characters, character lists, or character ranges, in any combination, to match strings. The following table shows the characters allowed in pattern and what they match:

Characters in pattern	Matches in string
?	Any single character.
*	Zero or more characters.
#	Any single digit (0–9).
[charlist]	Any single character in charlist.
[!charlist]	Any single character not in charlist.

Example:

Dim Name As String

Name = InputBox("Enter your name")

Find out if user's name begins with a J

If sName$ Like "J*" Then

     (code segment)

End If

Is Operator

Used to compare two object reference variables.

Syntax result = object1 Is object2

The Is operator syntax has these parts:

Part          Description

result Required; any numeric variable. object1 Required; any object name. object2 Required; any object name.

Remarks

If object1 and object2 both refer to the same object, result is True; if they do not, result is False. Two variables can be made to refer to the same object in several ways.

Example:

MyCheck = YourObject Is ThisObject    ' Returns True. MyCheck = ThatObject Is ThisObject    ' Returns False.

Arrays

Erase statement

Reinitializes the elements of fixed-size arrays and releases dynamic-array storage space. Syntax

Erase arraylist

The required arraylist argument is one or more comma-delimited array variables to be erased.

Remarks

Erase behaves differently depending on whether an array is fixed-size (ordinary) or dynamic. Erase recovers no memory for fixed-size arrays. Erase sets the elements of a fixed array as follows:

Type of Array	Effect of Erase on Fixed-Array Elements
Fixed numeric array	Sets each element to zero.
Fixed string array (variable length)	Sets each element to a zero-length string ("").
Fixed string array (fixed length)	Sets each element to zero.
Fixed Variant array	Sets each element to Empty.
Array of user-defined types	Sets each element as if it were a separate variable.
Array of objects	Sets each element to the special value Nothing.

Example:

Erase sMessage

In a regular array, the Erase statement will simply initialize all the elements. (False for Boolean, 0 for numbers, and "" for strings). In a dynamic array, Erase will also release all the memory allocated to the array.

Dim

Dim statement placed right in the procedure where it's going to be used. The value of a procedure level variable cannot be accessed outside it's procedure. When the procedure finishes (End Sub or End Function), the variable is destroyed and memory allocated to the variable is released.

Example:

Dim Word As String

ReDim

Used at procedure level to reallocate storage space for dynamic array variables. Syntax

ReDim [Preserve] varname(subscripts) [As type] [, varname(subscripts) [As type]] . . .

The ReDim statement syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
Preserve	Optional. Keyword used to preserve the data in an existing array when you change the size of the last dimension.
varname	Required. Name of the variable; follows standard variable naming conventions.
subscripts	Required. Dimensions of an array variable; up to 60 multiple dimensions may be declared. The subscripts argument uses the following syntax:

[lower To] upper [,[lower To] upper] . . .

When not explicitly stated in lower, the lower bound of an array is controlled by the

 

Option Base statement. The lower bound is zero if no Option Base statement is present.

type                              Optional. Data type of the variable; may be Byte, Boolean, Integer, Long, Currency, Single, Double, Decimal (not currently supported), Date, String (for variable-length strings), String * length (for fixed-length strings), Object, Variant, a user-defined type, or an object type. Use a separate As type clause for each variable being defined. For a Variant containing an array, type describes the type of each element of the array, but doesn't change the Variant to some other type.

Remarks

The ReDim statement is used to size or resize a dynamic array that has already been formally declared using a Private, Public, or Dim statement with empty parentheses (without dimension subscripts).

Example:

Dim X(10, 10, 10)

[Code]

ReDim Preserve X(10, 10, 15)

Array Function

Returns a Variant containing an array.

Syntax

Array(arglist)

The required arglist argument is a comma-delimited list of values that are assigned to the elements of the array contained within the Variant. If no arguments are specified, an array of zero length is created.

Remarks

The notation used to refer to an element of an array consists of the variable name followed by parentheses containing an index number indicating the desired element. In the following example, the first statement creates a variable named A as a Variant. The second statement assigns an array to variable A. The last statement assigns the value contained in the second array element to another variable.

Example:

Dim MyWeek, MyDay

MyWeek = Array("Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri", "Sat", "Sun") ' Return values assume lower bound set to 1 (using Option Base ' statement).

MyDay = MyWeek(2)    ' MyDay contains "Tue".

MyDay = MyWeek(4)    ' MyDay contains "Thu".

Files/Folders

Dir

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.

Syntax

Dir[(pathname[, attributes])]

The Dir function syntax has these parts:

Part		Description
pathname		Optional. String expression that specifies a file name — may include directory or folder, and drive. A zero-length string ("") is returned if pathname is not found.
attributes		Optional. Constant or numeric expression, whose sum specifies file attributes. If omitted, returns files that match pathname but have no attributes.
Settings The attributes argument settings are:
Constant	Value		Description
vbNormal	0		(Default) Specifies files with no attributes.
vbReadOnly	1		Specifies read-only files in addition to files with no attributes.
vbHidden	2		Specifies hidden files in addition to files with no attributes.
VbSystem	4		Specifies system files in addition to files with no attributes. Not available on the Macintosh.
vbVolume	8		Specifies volume label; if any other attributed is specified, vbVolume is ignored. Not available on the Macintosh.
vbDirectory	16		Specifies directories or folders in addition to files with no attributes.
vbAlias	64		Specified file name is an alias. Available only on the Macintosh.

Note   These constants are specified by Visual Basic for Applications and can be used anywhere in your code in place of the actual values.

Example:

If Dir("c:\windows\win.ini") = "win.ini" Then

     MsgBox "File exists"

Else

     MsgBox "File does not exist"

End If

ChDir

Changes the current directory or folder.

Syntax

ChDir path

The required path argument is a string expression that identifies which directory or folder becomes the new default directory or folder. The path may include the drive. If no drive is specified, ChDir changes the default directory or folder on the current drive.

Remarks

The ChDir statement changes the default directory but not the default drive. For example, if the default drive is C, the following statement changes the default directory on drive D, but C remains the default drive.

Example:

Dim Path as string

Dir(“C:\NewFolder”) = Path

Path = ChDir(“C:\MyFolder”)

ChDrive

Changes the current drive.

Syntax

ChDrive drive

The required drive argument is a string expression that specifies an existing drive. If you supply a zero-length string (""), the current drive doesn't change. If the drive argument is a multiple-character string, ChDrive uses only the first letter.

Example:

ChDrive "D"    ' Make "D" the current drive.

CurDir

Returns a Variant (String) representing the current path.

Syntax

CurDir[(drive)]

The optional drive argument is a string expression that specifies an existing drive. If no drive is specified or if drive is a zero-length string (""), CurDir returns the path for the current drive. On the Macintosh, CurDir ignores any drive specified and simply returns the path for the current drive.

Example:

' Assume current path on C drive is "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM" (on Microsoft Windows).

' Assume current path on D drive is "D:\EXCEL".

' Assume C is the current drive.

Dim MyPath

MyPath = CurDir    ' Returns "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM".

MyPath = CurDir("C")    ' Returns "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM". MyPath = CurDir("D")    ' Returns "D:\EXCEL".

MkDir

Creates a new directory or folder.

Syntax

MkDir path

The required path argument is a string expression that identifies the directory or folder to be created. The path may include the drive. If no drive is specified, MkDir creates the new directory or folder on the current drive.

Example:

‘Creates a folder called ‘New Folder’

MkDir “C:\New Folder”

RmDir Function

Removes an existing directory or folder.

Syntax

RmDir path

The required path argument is a string expression that identifies the directory or folder to be removed. The path may include the drive. If no drive is specified, RmDir removes the directory or folder on the current drive.

Remarks

An error occurs if you try to use RmDir on a directory or folder containing files. Use the Kill statement to delete all files before attempting to remove a directory or folder.

Example:

RmDir "c:\windows\pictures"

Kill Function

Deletes files from a disk.

Syntax

Kill pathname

The required pathname argument is a string expression that specifies one or more file names to be deleted. The pathname may include the directory or folder, and the drive.

Example:

Kill "c:\Blah.txt”

FileDateTime

Returns a Variant (Date) that indicates the date and time when a file was created or last modified.

Syntax

FileDateTime(pathname)

The required pathname argument is a string expression that specifies a file name. The pathname may include the directory or folder, and the drive.

Example:

Dim MyStamp

' Assume TESTFILE was last modified on September 2, 2005 at 4:00:00 PM. MyStamp = FileDateTime "c:\Blah.txt” ' Returns "2/9/05 4:00:00 PM".

FileLen

Returns a Long specifying the length of a file in bytes.

Syntax

FileLen(pathname)

The required pathname argument is a string expression that specifies a file. The pathname may include the directory or folder, and the drive.

Remarks

If the specified file is open when the FileLen function is called, the value returned represents the size of the file immediately before it was opened.

Note   To obtain the length of an open file, use the LOF function.

Example: Dim Size

Size = FileLen("TESTFILE")    ' Returns file length (bytes).

FileCopy

Copies a file.

Syntax

FileCopy source, destination

The FileCopy statement syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
source	Required. String expression that specifies the name of the file to be copied. The source may include directory or folder, and drive.
destination	Required. String expression that specifies the target file name. The destination may include directory or folder, and drive.

Remarks If you try to use the FileCopy statement on a currently open file, an error occurs.

Cut, Copy & Pasting Text

The Clipboard object represents the Windows clipboard which is available to all running applications, therefore you can allow your users to place text or pictures on the Clipboard and paste them anywhere they like.

Setting up menu items for cut, copy, and pasting from and into one TextBox is fairly simple.

Example:

Private Sub mnuCopy_Click( )

     Clipboard.Clear

     Clipboard.SetText txtMain.SelText

End Sub

Private Sub mnuCut_Click( )

     Clipboard.Clear

     Clipboard.SetText txtMain.SelText      txtMain.SelText = "" End Sub

Private Sub mnuPaste_Click( )      txtMain.SelText = Clipboard.GetText End Sub

GetAttr

Returns an Integer representing the attributes of a file, directory, or folder.

Syntax

GetAttr(pathname)

The required pathname argument is a string expression that specifies a file name. The pathname may include the directory or folder, and the drive. Return Values

The value returned by GetAttr is the sum of the following attribute values:

Constant	Value	Description
vbNormal	0	Normal.
vbReadOnly	1	Read-only.
vbHidden	2	Hidden.
vbSystem	4	System file. Not available on the Macintosh.
vbDirectory	16	Directory or folder.
vbArchive	32		File has changed since last backup. Not available on the Macintosh.
vbAlias	64		Specified file name is an alias. Available only on the Macintosh.

Note   These constants are specified by Visual Basic for Applications. The names can be used anywhere in your code in place of the actual values.

SetAttr

Sets attribute information for a file.

Syntax

SetAttr pathname, attributes

The SetAttr statement syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
pathname	Required. String expression that specifies a file name — may include directory or folder, and drive.

attributes                                 Required. Constant or numeric expression, whose sum specifies file attributes.

Settings

The attributes argument settings are:

Constant	Value	Description
vbNormal	0	Normal (default).
vbReadOnly	1	Read-only.
vbHidden	2	Hidden.
vbSystem	4	System file. Not available on the Macintosh.
vbArchive	32	File has changed since last backup.
vbAlias	64	Specified file name is an alias. Available only on the Macintosh.

FreeFile function

Returns an Integer representing the next file number available for use by the Open statement.

Syntax

FreeFile[(rangenumber)]

The optional rangenumber argument is a Variant that specifies the range from which the next free file number is to be returned. Specify a 0 (default) to return a file number in the range 1 – 255, inclusive. Specify a 1 to return a file number in the range 256 – 511.

Remarks Use FreeFile to supply a file number that is not already in use.

Example:

Dim MyIndex, FileNumber

For MyIndex = 1 To 5    ' Loop 5 times.     FileNumber = FreeFile    ' Get unused file         ' number.

    Open "TEST" & MyIndex For Output As #FileNumber    ' Create file name.

    Write #FileNumber, "This is a sample."    ' Output text.

    Close #FileNumber    ' Close file. Next MyIndex

Open Function

Enables input/output (I/O) to a file.

Syntax

Open pathname For mode [Access access] [lock] As [#]filenumber [Len=reclength] The Open statement syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
pathname	Required. String expression that specifies a file name — may include directory or folder, and drive.
mode	Required. Keyword specifying the file mode: Append, Binary, Input, Output, or Random. If unspecified, the file is opened for Random access.
access	Optional. Keyword specifying the operations permitted on the open file: Read, Write, or Read Write.
lock	Optional. Keyword specifying the operations restricted on the open file by other processes: Shared, Lock Read, Lock Write, and Lock Read Write.
filenumber	Required. A valid file number in the range 1 to 511, inclusive. Use the FreeFile function to obtain the next available file number.
reclength	Optional. Number less than or equal to 32,767 (bytes). For files opened for random access, this value is the record length. For sequential files, this value is the number of characters buffered.

Remarks

Output: use the print statement to print something in a file.

Input: use this to open and read a file.

Append: use this to write something into the file but keep what is already in the file.

Binary: use this for binary access files

Random: use this for random access files

You must open a file before any I/O operation can be performed on it. Open allocates a buffer for I/O to the file and determines the mode of access to use with the buffer.

If the file specified by pathname doesn't exist, it is created when a file is opened for Append, Binary, Output, or Random modes.

If the file is already opened by another process and the specified type of access is not allowed, the Open operation fails and an error occurs.

The Len clause is ignored if mode is Binary.

Important   In Binary, Input, and Random modes, you can open a file using a different file number without first closing the file. In Append and Output modes, you must close a file before opening it with a different file number.

Example:

Open “a:\gordon.txt” For Output As #1

        Print #1, Text1.Text ‘prints Text1 into the file

Close #1

Close Statement

Concludes input/output (I/O) to a file opened using the Open statement.

Syntax

Close [filenumberlist]

The optional filenumberlist argument can be one or more file numbers using the following syntax, where filenumber is any valid file number: [[#]filenumber] [, [#]filenumber] . . .

Remarks

If you omit filenumberlist, all active files opened by the Open statement are closed.

When you close files that were opened for Output or Append, the final buffer of output is written to the operating system buffer for that file. All buffer space associated with the closed file is released. When the Close statement is executed, the association of a file with its file number ends.

Line Input

Reads a single line from an open sequential file and assigns it to a String variable.

Syntax

Line Input #filenumber, varname

The Line Input # statement syntax has these parts:

Part                Description

filenumber             Required. Any valid file number. varname    Required. Valid Variant or String variable name.

Remarks Data read with Line Input # is usually written from a file with Print #.

Example:

Open “a:\gordon.txt” For Input As #1

        Line Input #1, TextLine ' Read line into variable. Close #1

EOF Function

Returns an Integer containing the Boolean value True when the end of a file opened for Random or sequential Input has been reached.

Syntax

EOF(filenumber)

The required filenumber argument is an Integer containing any valid file number.

Remarks

Use EOF to avoid the error generated by attempting to get input past the end of a file.

The EOF function returns False until the end of the file has been reached. With files opened for Random or Binary access, EOF returns False until the last executed Get statement is unable to read an entire record. With files opened for Binary access, an attempt to read through the file using the Input function until EOF returns True generates an error. Use the LOF and Loc functions instead of EOF when reading binary files with Input, or use Get when using the EOF function. With files opened for Output, EOF always returns True.

Example:

dim templine as string

Open “a:\ratbag.txt” For Input As 1

  Do Until EOF(1)

     Line Input #1, templine

     Text1.Text = text1.text + templine

  Loop

Close #1

Lof Function

Returns a Long representing the size, in bytes, of a file opened using the Open statement.

Syntax

LOF(filenumber)

The required filenumber argument is an Integer containing a valid file number. Note   Use the FileLen function to obtain the length of a file that is not open.

Example:

Dim FileLength

Open "TESTFILE" For Input As #1    ' Open file.

FileLength = LOF(1)    ' Get length of file. Close #1    ' Close file.

Print Function

Writes display-formatted data to a sequential file.

Syntax

Print #filenumber, [outputlist]

The Print # statement syntax has these parts:

Part                 Description

filenumber             Required. Any valid file number. outputlist  Optional. Expression or list of expressions to print.

Remarks Data written with Print # is usually read from a file with Line Input # or Input.

Example:

Open App.Path & "\myFile.txt" For Output As #1

     Print #1, "Blah, Blah" + Text1.Text

Close #1

Error Handling

On Error Statement

Enables an error-handling routine and specifies the location of the routine within a procedure; can also be used to disable an error-handling routine.

Syntax

On Error GoTo line

On Error Resume Next On Error GoTo 0

The On Error statement syntax can have any of the following forms:

Statement	Description
On Error GoTo line	Enables the error-handling routine that starts at line specified in the required line argument. The line argument is any line label or line number. If a runtime error occurs, control branches to line, making the error handler active. The specified line must be in the same procedure as the On Error statement; otherwise, a compile-time error occurs.
On Error Resume Next	Specifies that when a run-time error occurs, control goes to the statement immediately following the statement where the error occurred where execution continues. Use this form rather than On Error GoTo when accessing objects.
On Error GoTo 0	Disables any enabled error handler in the current procedure.

Remarks

If you don't use an On Error statement, any run-time error that occurs is fatal; that is, an error message is displayed and execution stops.

Resume, Resume Next, Resume Line ()

Resumes execution after an error-handling routine is finished.

Syntax

Resume [0]

Resume Next Resume line

The Resume statement syntax can have any of the following forms:

Statement	Description
Resume	If the error occurred in the same procedure as the error handler, execution resumes with the statement that caused the error. If the error occurred in a called procedure, execution resumes at the statement that last called out of the procedure containing the error-handling routine.
Resume Next	If the error occurred in the same procedure as the error handler, execution resumes with the statement immediately following the statement that caused the error. If the error occurred in a called procedure, execution resumes with the statement immediately following the statement that last called out of the procedure containing the error-handling routine (or On Error Resume Next statement).
Resume line	Execution resumes at line specified in the required line argument. The line argument is a line label or line number and must be in the same procedure as the error handler.

Remarks

If you use a Resume statement anywhere except in an error-handling routine, an error occurs.

Example:

Private Sub

…

On Error GoTo Error

End Sub

Error:

…

Resume

Error Function

Simulates the occurrence of an error.

Syntax

Error errornumber

The required errornumber can be any valid error number.

Remarks

The Error statement is supported for backward compatibility. In new code, especially when creating objects, use the Err object's Raise method to generate run-time errors.

If errornumber is defined, the Error statement calls the error handler after the properties of Err object are assigned the following default values:

Property	Value
Number	Value specified as argument to Error statement. Can be any valid error number.
Source	Name of the current Visual Basic project.
Description	String expression corresponding to the return value of the Error function for the specified Number, if this string exists. If the string doesn't exist, Description contains a zero-length string ("").
HelpFile	The fully qualified drive, path, and file name of the appropriate Visual Basic Help file.
HelpContext	The appropriate Visual Basic Help file context ID for the error corresponding to the Number property.
LastDLLError	Zero.

Example:

On Error Resume Next    ' Defer error handling.

Error 11    ' Simulate the "Division by zero" error.

Declarations

Function Procedures

Declares the name, arguments, and code that form the body of a Function procedure. Syntax

[Public | Private | Friend] [Static] Function name [(arglist)] [As type] [statements]

[name = expression]

[Exit Function]

[statements]

[name = expression]

End Function

The Function statement syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
Public	Optional. Indicates that the Function procedure is accessible to all other procedures in all modules. If used in a module that contains an Option Private, the procedure is not available outside the project.
Private	Optional. Indicates that the Function procedure is accessible only to other procedures in the module where it is declared.
Friend	Optional. Used only in a class module. Indicates that the Function procedure is visible throughout the project, but not visible to a controller of an instance of an object.
Static	Optional. Indicates that the Function procedure's local variables are preserved between calls. The Static attribute doesn't affect variables that are declared outside the Function, even if they are used in the procedure.
name	Required. Name of the Function; follows standard variable naming conventions.
arglist	Optional. List of variables representing arguments that are passed to the Function procedure when it is called. Multiple variables are separated by commas.
type	Optional. Data type of the value returned by the Function procedure; may be Byte, Boolean, Integer, Long, Currency, Single, Double, Decimal (not currently supported), Date, String, or (except fixed length), Object, Variant, or any user-defined type.
statements	Optional. Any group of statements to be executed within the Function procedure.
expression	Optional. Return value of the Function.

The arglist argument has the following syntax and parts:

[Optional] [ByVal | ByRef] [ParamArray] varname[( )] [As type] [= defaultvalue]

Part	Description
Optional	Optional. Indicates that an argument is not required. If used, all subsequent arguments in arglist must also be optional and declared using the Optional keyword. Optional can't be used for any argument if ParamArray is used.
ByVal	Optional. Indicates that the argument is passed by value.
ByRef	Optional. Indicates that the argument is passed by reference. ByRef is the default in Visual Basic.
ParamArray	Optional. Used only as the last argument in arglist to indicate that the final argument is an Optional array of Variant elements. The ParamArray keyword allows you to provide an arbitrary number of arguments. It may not be used with ByVal, ByRef, or

Optional.

varname	Required. Name of the variable representing the argument; follows standard variable naming conventions.
type	Optional. Data type of the argument passed to the procedure; may be Byte, Boolean, Integer, Long, Currency, Single, Double, Decimal (not currently supported) Date, String (variable length only), Object, Variant, or a specific object type. If the parameter is not Optional, a user-defined type may also be specified.
defaultvalue	Optional. Any constant or constant expression. Valid for Optional parameters only. If the type is an Object, an explicit default value can only be Nothing.

Remarks

If not explicitly specified using Public, Private, or Friend, Function procedures are public by default. If Static isn't used, the value of local variables is not preserved between calls. The Friend keyword can only be used in class modules. However, Friend procedures can be accessed by procedures in any module of a project. A Friend procedure does't appear in the type library of its parent class, nor can a Friend procedure be late bound.

Const

Declares constants for use in place of literal values.

Syntax

[Public | Private] Const constname [As type] = expression The Const statement syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
Public	Optional. Keyword used at module level to declare constants that are available to all procedures in all modules. Not allowed in procedures.
Private	Optional. Keyword used at module level to declare constants that are available only within the module where the declaration is made. Not allowed in procedures.
constname	Required. Name of the constant; follows standard variable naming conventions.
type	Optional. Data type of the constant; may be Byte, Boolean, Integer, Long, Currency, Single, Double, Decimal (not currently supported), Date, String, or Variant. Use a separate As type clause for each constant being declared.
expression	Required. Literal, other constant, or any combination that includes all arithmetic or logical operators except Is.

Remarks

Constants are private by default. Within procedures, constants are always private; their visibility can't be changed. In standard modules, the default visibility of module-level constants can be changed using the Public keyword. In class modules, however, constants can only be private and their visibility can't be changed using the Public keyword.

Example:

' Constants are Private by default.

Const MyVar = 459

' Declare Public constant. Public Const MyString = "HELP" ' Declare Private Integer constant.

Private Const MyInt As Integer = 5 ' Declare multiple constants on same line.

Const MyStr = "Hello", MyDouble As Double = 3.4567 

Call Statement

Transfers control to a Sub procedure, Function procedure, or dynamic-link library (DLL) procedure.

Syntax

[Call] name [argumentlist]

The Call statement syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
Call	Optional; keyword. If specified, you must enclose argumentlist in parentheses. For example: Call MyProc(0)
name	Required. Name of the procedure to call.
argumentlist	Optional. Comma-delimited list of variables, arrays, or expressions to pass to the procedure. Components of argumentlist may include the keywords ByVal or ByRef to describe how the arguments are treated by the called procedure. However, ByVal and ByRef can be used with Call only when calling a DLL procedure. On the Macintosh, ByVal and ByRef can be used with Call when making a call to a Macintosh code resource.

Remarks

You are not required to use the Call keyword when calling a procedure. However, if you use the Call keyword to call a procedure that requires arguments, argumentlist must be enclosed in parentheses.

Example:

Call an intrinsic function. The return value of the function is ' discarded.

Call Shell(AppName, 1)    ' AppName contains the path of the         ' executable file.

CallByName

Executes a method of an object, or sets or returns a property of an object.

Syntax

CallByName(object, procname, calltype,[args()])

The CallByName function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
object	Required; Variant (Object). The name of the object on which the function will be executed.
procname	Required; Variant (String). A string expression containing the name of a property or method of the object.
calltype	Required; Constant. A constant of type vbCallType representing the type of procedure being called.
args()	Optional: Variant (Array).

Remarks

The CallByName function is used to get or set a property, or invoke a method at run time using a string name.

Example:

CallByName Text1, "MousePointer", vbLet, vbCrosshair

Result = CallByName (Text1, "MousePointer", vbGet)

CallByName Text1, "Move", vbMethod, 100, 100

Option Explicit

Used at module level to force explicit declaration of all variables in that module.

Syntax

Option Explicit

Remarks

If used, the Option Explicit statement must appear in a module before any procedures.

When Option Explicit appears in a module, you must explicitly declare all variables using the Dim, Private, Public, ReDim, or Static statements. If you attempt to use an undeclared variable name, an error occurs at compile time.

If you don't use the Option Explicit statement, all undeclared variables are of Variant type unless the default type is otherwise specified with a Deftype statement.

Example:

Option explicit    ' Force explicit variable declaration.

Dim MyVar    ' Declare variable.

MyInt = 10    ' Undeclared variable generates error.

MyVar = 10    ' Declared variable does not generate error.

Option Private

When used in host applications that allow references across multiple projects, Option Private Module prevents a module’s contents from being referenced outside its project. In host applications that don’t permit such references, for example, standalone versions of Visual Basic, Option Private has no effect. Syntax

Option Private Module

Remarks

If used, the Option Private statement must appear at module level, before any procedures.

When a module contains Option Private Module, the public parts, for example, variables, objects, and userdefined types declared at module level, are still available within the project containing the module, but they are not available to other applications or projects.

Example:

Option private Module    ' Indicates that module is private.

Option Compare

Used at module level to declare the default comparison method to use when string data is compared.

Syntax

Option Compare {Binary | Text | Database}

Remarks

If used, the Option Compare statement must appear in a module before any procedures.

The Option Compare statement specifies the string comparison method (Binary, Text, or Database) for a module. If a module doesn't include an Option Compare statement, the default text comparison method is Binary.

Option Compare Binary results in string comparisons based on a sort order derived from the internal binary representations of the characters. In Microsoft Windows, sort order is determined by the code page. A typical binary sort order is shown in the following example: A < B < E < Z < a < b < e < z < À < Ê < Ø < à < ê < ø

Option Compare Text results in string comparisons based on a case-insensitive text sort order determined by your system's locale. When the same characters are sorted using Option Compare Text, the following text sort order is produced:

(A=a) < ( À=à) < (B=b) < (E=e) < (Ê=ê) < (Z=z) < (Ø=ø) Example:

Set the string comparison method to Binary.

Option compare Binary     ' That is, "AAA" is less than "aaa".

' Set the string comparison method to Text.

Option compare Text    ' That is, "AAA" is equal to "aaa".

Type…End Type

Used at module level to define a user-defined data thype containing one or more elements. Syntax

[Private | Public] Type varname elementname [([subscripts])] As type [elementname [([subscripts])] As type]

. . .

End Type

The Type statement syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
Public	Optional. Used to declare user-defined htypes that are available to all procedures in all modules in all projects.
Private	Optional. Used to declare user-defined types that are available only within the module where the declaration is made.
varname	Required. Name of the user-defined type; follows standard variable naming conventions.
elementname	Required. Name of an element of the user-defined type. Element names also follow standard variable naming conventions, except that keywords can be used.
subscripts	When not explicitly stated in lower, the lower bound of an array is controlled by the Option Base statement. The lower bound is zero if no Option Base statement is present.
type	Required. Data type of the element; may be Byte, Boolean, Integer, Long, Currency, Single, Double, Decimal (not currently supported), Date, String (for variable-length strings), String * length (for fixed-length strings), Object, Variant, another userdefined type, or an object type.

Remarks

The Type statement can be used only at module level. Once you have declared a user-defined type using the Type statement, you can declare a variable of that type anywhere within the scope of the declaration. Use Dim, Private, Public, ReDim, or Static to declare a variable of a user-defined type.

Example:

Type StateData

    CityCode (1 To 100) As Integer    ' Declare a static array.

    County As String * 30

End Type

Dim Washington(1 To 100) As StateData

GetObject

Returns a reference to an object provided by an ActiveX component.

Syntax

GetObject([pathname] [, class])

The GetObject function syntax has these named arguments:

Part                             Description

pathname                 Optional; Variant (String). The full path and name of the file containing the object to retrieve. If pathname is omitted, class is required.

class                           Optional; Variant (String). A string representing the class of the object.

The class argument uses the syntax appname.objecttype and has these parts:

Part                       Description

appname Required; Variant (String). The name of the application providing the object. objecttype  Required; Variant (String). The type or class of object to create.

Remarks

Use the GetObject function to access an ActiveX object from a file and assign the object to an object variable. Use the Set statement to assign the object returned by GetObject to the object variable.

Example:

Dim CADObject As Object

Set CADObject = GetObject("C:\CAD\SCHEMA.CAD")

CreateObject

Creates and returns a reference to an ActiveX object.

Syntax

CreateObject(class,[servername])

The CreateObject function syntax has these parts:

Part                          Description

class                         Required; Variant (String). The application name and class of the object to create.

servername             Optional; Variant (String). The name of the network server where the object will be created. If servername is an empty string (""), the local machine is used.

The class argument uses the syntax appname.objecttype and has these parts:

Part                     Description

appname Required; Variant (String). The name of the application providing the object. objecttype Required; Variant (String). The type or class of object to create.

Remarks

Every application that supports Automation provides at least one type of object. For example, a word processing application may provide an Application object, a Document object, and a Toolbar object.

Example:

Dim ExcelSheet As Object

Set ExcelSheet = CreateObject("Excel.Sheet")

Let Statement

Assigns the value of an expression to a variable or property.

Syntax

[Let] varname = expression

The Let statement syntax has these parts:

Part                              Description

Let          Optional. Explicit use of the Let keyword is a matter of style, but it is usually omitted. varname     Required. Name of the variable or property; follows standard variable naming conventions. expression  Required. Value assigned to the variable or property.

Remarks

A value expression can be assigned to a variable or property only if it is of a data type that is compatible with the variable. You can't assign string expressions to numeric variables, and you can't assign numeric expressions to string variables. If you do, an error occurs at compile time.

Variant variables can be assigned either string or numeric expressions. However, the reverse is not always true. Any Variant except a Null can be assigned to a string variable, but only a Variant whose value can be interpreted as a number can be assigned to a numeric variable. Use the IsNumeric function to determine if the Variant can be converted to a number.

Example:

Dim MyStr, MyInt

' The following variable assignments use the Let statement.

Let MyStr = "Hello World" Let MyInt = 5

TypeName

Returns a String that provides information about a variable.

Syntax

TypeName(varname)

The required varname argument is a Variant containing any variable except a variable of a user-defined type.

Remarks

The string returned by TypeName can be any one of the following:

String returned	Variable
object thype	An object whose type is objecttype
Byte	Byte value
Integer	Integer
Long	Long integer
Single	Single-precision floating-point number
Double	Double-precision floating-point number
Currency	Currency value
Decimal	Decimal value
Date	Date value
String	String
Boolean	Boolean value
Error	An error value
Empty	Uninitialized
Null	No valid data

Object                       An object

Unknown                  An object whose type is unknown

Nothing                    Object variable that doesn't refer to an object

If varname is an array, the returned string can be any one of the possible returned strings (or Variant) with empty parentheses appended. For example, if varname is an array of integers, TypeName returns "Integer()".

Example:

Dim MyType

MyType = TypeName(StrVar)    ' Returns "String".

MyType = TypeName(IntVar)    ' Returns "Integer".

MyType = TypeName(CurVar)    ' Returns "Currency".

MyType = TypeName(NullVar)    ' Returns "Null".

MyType = TypeName(ArrayVar)    ' Returns "Integer()".

VarType

Returns an Integer indicating the subtype of a variable.

Syntax

VarType(varname)

The required varname argument is a Variant containing any variable except a variable of a user-defined type. Return Values

Constant	Value	Description
vbEmpty	0	Empty (uninitialized)
vbNull	1	Null (no valid data)
vbInteger	2	Integer
vbLong	3	Long integer
vbSingle	4	Single-precision floating-point number
vbDouble	5	Double-precision floating-point number
vbCurrency	6	Currency value
vbDate	7	Date value
vbString	8	String
vbObject	9	Object
vbError	10	Error value
vbBoolean	11	Boolean value
vbVariant	12	Variant (used only with arrays of variants)
vbDataObject	13	A data access object
vbDecimal	14	Decimal value
vbByte	17	Byte value

vbUserDefinedType     36             Variants that contain user-defined types

vbArray                           8192         Array

Note   These constants are specified by Visual Basic for Applications. The names can be used anywhere in your code in place of the actual values.

Remarks

The VarType function never returns the value for vbArray by itself. It is always added to some other value to indicate an array of a particular type. The constant vbVariant is only returned in conjunction with vbArray to indicate that the argument to the VarType function is an array of type Variant. For example, the value returned for an array of integers is calculated as vbInteger + vbArray, or 8194. If an object has a default property, VarType (object) returns the type of the object's default property.

Example:

Dim IntVar, StrVar, DateVar, MyCheck

' Initialize variables.

IntVar = 459: StrVar = "Hello World": DateVar = #2/12/69# MyCheck = VarType(IntVar)    ' Returns 2.

MyCheck = VarType(DateVar)    ' Returns 7. MyCheck = VarType(StrVar)    ' Returns 8.

DefType

Used at module level to set the default data type for variables, arguments passed to procedures, and the return type for Function and Property Get procedures whose names start with the specified characters.

Syntax

DefBool letterrange[, letterrange] . . . DefByte letterrange[, letterrange] . . .

DefInt letterrange[, letterrange] . . .

DefLng letterrange[, letterrange] . . . DefCur letterrange[, letterrange] . . .

DefSng letterrange[, letterrange] . . . DefDbl letterrange[, letterrange] . . .

DefDec letterrange[, letterrange] . . .

DefDate letterrange[, letterrange] . . .

DefStr letterrange[, letterrange] . . .

DefObj letterrange[, letterrange] . . . DefVar letterrange[, letterrange] . . .

The required letterrange argument has the following syntax: letter1[-letter2]

The letter1 and letter2 arguments specify the name range for which you can set a default data type. Each argument represents the first letter of the variable, argument, Function procedure, or Property Get procedure name and can be any letter of the alphabet. The case of letters in letterrange isn't significant.

Remarks

The statement name determines the data type:

Statement     Data Type

DefBool         Boolean

DefByte         Byte

DefInt            Integer

DefLng          Long

DefCur          Currency

DefSng           Single

DefDbl           Double

DefDec           Decimal (not currently supported)

DefDate        Date

DefStr            String

DefObj          Object

DefVar          Variant

A Deftype statement affects only the module where it is used. For example, a DefInt statement in one module affects only the default data type of variables, arguments passed to procedures, and the return type for Function and Property Get procedures declared in that module; the default data type of variables, arguments, and return types in other modules is unaffected. If not explicitly declared with a Deftype statement, the default data type for all variables, all arguments, all Function procedures, and all Property Get procedures is Variant.

Date/Time

Date

Returns a Variant (Date) containing the current system date.

Syntax Date

Remarks

To set the system date, use the Date statement.

Date, and if the calendar is Gregorian, Date$ behavior is unchanged by the Calendar property setting. If the calendar is Hijri, Date$ returns a 10-character string of the form mm-dd-yyyy, where mm (01-12), dd (01-30) and yyyy (1400-1523) are the Hijri month, day and year. The equivalent Gregorian range is Jan 1, 1980 through Dec 31, 2099.

Example:

Dim s as Date

S = Date

Label1 = s

Time

Sets the system time.

Syntax

Time = time

The required time argument is any numeric expression, string expression, or any combination, that can represent a time.

Remarks

If time is a string, Time attempts to convert it to a time using the time separators you specified for your system. If it can't be converted to a valid time, an error occurs.

Example:

Private Sub Form_Load() Dim s As Date s = Time Label1 = s

End Sub

‘Displays the Time in label1

Now

Returns a Variant (Date) specifying the current date and time according your computer's system date and time.

Syntax

Now

Example:

Private Sub Form_Load() Dim s As Date s = Now Label1 = s

End Sub

‘Displays the date and time in label1

Timer

Timers execute code repeatedly according to the Interval you specify. Set the Interval property in milliseconds. For example, 2000 = 2 seconds. Timers are useful for checking programs conditions periodically, but don't get in the habit of using them for everything. A Timer control is not a clock and should not be relied upon to keep accurate time.

DateAdd

Returns a Variant (Date) containing a date to which a specified time interval has been added.

Syntax

DateAdd(interval, number, date)

The DateAdd function syntax has these named arguments:

Part                                Description

interval                          Required. String expression that is the interval of time you want to add.

number                          Required. Numeric expression that is the number of intervals you want to add. It can be positive (to get dates in the future) or negative (to get dates in the past).

date                                Required. Variant (Date) or literal representing date to which the interval is added.

Settings

The interval argument has these settings:

Setting              Description

yyyy                  Year

q                         Quarter

m                        Month

y                        Day of year

d                         Day

w             Weekday ww        Week h  Hour

n              Minute s Second

Remarks

You can use the DateAdd function to add or subtract a specified time interval from a date. For example, you can use DateAdd to calculate a date 30 days from today or a time 45 minutes from now.

To add days to date, you can use Day of Year ("y"), Day ("d"), or Weekday ("w").

Example:

DateAdd("m", 1, "31-Jan-95")

In this case, DateAdd returns 28-Feb-95, not 31-Feb-95. If date is 31-Jan-96, it returns 29-Feb-96 because 1996 is a leap year.

DateDiff

Returns a Variant (Long) specifying the number of time intervals between two specified dates.

Syntax

DateDiff(interval, date1, date2[, firstdayofweek[, firstweekofyear]])

The DateDiff function syntax has these named arguments:

Part                                                      Description

interval  Required. String expression that is the interval of time you use to calculate the difference between date1 and date2.

date1, date2	Required; Variant (Date). Two dates you want to use in the calculation.
firstdayofweek	Optional. A constant that specifies the first day of the week. If not specified, Sunday is assumed.
firstweekofyear	Optional. A constant that specifies the first week of the year. If not specified, the first week is assumed to be the week in which January 1 occurs.

Settings

The interval argument has these settings: Setting         Description

yyyy         Year

q              Quarter m Month

y                Day of year

d                Day

w Weekday ww Week

h                Hour

n              Minute s Second

The firstdayofweek argument has these settings:

Constant                               Value                                      Description

vbUseSystem                       0                                               Use the NLS API setting.

vbSunday                             1                                              Sunday (default)

vbMonday                            2                                              Monday

vbTuesday            3              Tuesday vbWednesday     4              Wednesday vbThursday   5 Thursday

vbFriday                              6                                               Friday

vbSaturday                          7                                              Saturday

Constant	Value	Description
vbUseSystem	0	Use the NLS API setting.
vbFirstJan1	1	Start with week in which January 1 occurs (default).
vbFirstFourDays	2	Start with the first week that has at

least four days in the new year.

vbFirstFullWeek                                    3                                                                 Start with first full week of the year.

Remarks

You can use the DateDiff function to determine how many specified time intervals exist between two dates. For example, you might use DateDiff to calculate the number of days between two dates, or the number of weeks between today and the end of the year.

Example:

Dim TheDate As Date    ' Declare variables.

Dim Msg

TheDate = InputBox("Enter a date")

Msg = "Days from today: " & DateDiff("d", Now, TheDate)

MsgBox Msg ‘Displays difference between dates in number of days

DateSerial

Returns a Variant (Date) for a specified year, month, and day.

Syntax

DateSerial(year, month, day)

The DateSerial function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
year	Required; Integer. Number between 100 and 9999, inclusive, or a numeric expression.
month	Required; Integer. Any numeric expression.
day	Required; Integer. Any numeric expression.

Remarks

To specify a date, such as December 31, 1991, the range of numbers for each DateSerial argument should be in the accepted range for the unit; that is, 1–31 for days and 1–12 for months. However, you can also specify relative dates for each argument using any numeric expression that represents some number of days, months, or years before or after a certain date.

Example:

Dim MyDate

' MyDate contains the date for February 12, 1969.

MyDate = DateSerial(1969, 2, 12)    ' Return a date.

DateValue

Returns a Variant (Date).

Syntax

DateValue(date)

The required date argument is normally a string expression representing a date from January 1, 100 through December 31, 9999. However, date can also be any expression that can represent a date, a time, or both a date and time, in that range.

Remarks

If date is a string that includes only numbers separated by valid date separators, DateValue recognizes the order for month, day, and year according to the Short Date format you specified for your system. DateValue also recognizes unambiguous dates that contain month names, either in long or abbreviated form. For example, in addition to recognizing 12/30/1991 and 12/30/91, DateValue also recognizes December 30, 1991 and Dec 30, 1991.

Example:

Dim MyDate

MyDate = DateValue("February 12, 1969")    ' Returns 12/02/1965

Year

Returns a Variant (Integer) containing a whole number representing the year.

Syntax

Year(date)

The required date argument is any Variant, numeric expression, string expression, or any combination, that can represent a date. If date contains Null, Null is returned.

Example:

Dim MyDate, MyYear

MyDate = #February 12, 1969#    ' Assign a date.

MyYear = Year(MyDate)    ' MyYear contains 1969.

Month

Returns a Variant (Integer) specifying a whole number between 1 and 12, inclusive, representing the month of the year. Syntax

Month(date)

The required date argument is any Variant, numeric expression, string expression, or any combination, that can represent a date. If date contains Null, Null is returned.

Example:

Dim MyDate, MyMonth

MyDate = #February 12, 1969#    ' Assign a date.

MyMonth = Month(MyDate)    ' MyMonth contains 2.

MonthName

Returns a string indicating the specified month.

Syntax

MonthName(month[, abbreviate])

The MonthName function syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
month	Required. The numeric designation of the month. For example, January is 1, February is 2, and so on.
abbreviate	Optional. Boolean value that indicates if the month name is to be abbreviated. If omitted, the default is False, which means that the month name is not abbreviated.

Example:

Private Sub Form_Load()

Label1 = MonthName(11)

End Sub

‘Returns November

WeekDayName

Returns a string indicating the specified day of the week.

Syntax

WeekdayName(weekday, abbreviate, firstdayofweek) The WeekdayName function syntax has these parts:

Part	Description
weekday	Required. The numeric designation for the day of the week. Numeric value of each day depends on setting of the firstdayofweek setting.
abbreviate	Optional. Boolean value that indicates if the weekday name is to be abbreviated. If omitted, the default is False, which means that the weekday name is not abbreviated.
firstdayofweek	Optional. Numeric value indicating the first day of the week. See Settings section for values.

Settings

The firstdayofweek argument can have the following values:

Constant                     Value          Description

vbUseSystem             0                   Use National Language Support (NLS) API setting.

vbSunday                   1                  Sunday (default)

vbMonday                  2                  Monday

vbTuesday                 3                  Tuesday

vbWednesday      4              Wednesday vbThursday   5              Thursday

vbFriday                    6                   Friday

vbSaturday                7                  Saturday

Example:

Label1 = WeekdayName(3) ‘Returns Wednesday

Day

Returns a Variant (Integer) specifying a whole number between 1 and 31, inclusive, representing the day of the month. Syntax

Day(date)

The required date argument is any Variant, numeric expression, string expression, or any combination, that can represent a date. If date contains Null, Null is returned.

Example:

Dim MyDate, MyDay

MyDate = #February 12, 1969#    ' Assign a date. MyDay = Day(MyDate)    ' MyDay contains 12.

Hour

Returns a Variant (Integer) specifying a whole number between 0 and 23, inclusive, representing the hour of the day. Syntax

Hour(time)

The required time argument is any Variant, numeric expression, string expression, or any combination, that can represent a time. If time contains Null, Null is returned.

Example:

Dim MyTime, MyHour

MyTime = #4:35:17 PM#    ' Assign a time.

MyHour = Hour(MyTime)    ' MyHour contains 16.

Minute

Returns a Variant (Integer) specifying a whole number between 0 and 59, inclusive, representing the minute of the hour. Syntax

Minute(time)

The required time argument is any Variant, numeric expression, string expression, or any combination, that can represent a time. If time contains Null, Null is returned.

Example:

Dim MyTime, MyMinute

MyTime = #4:35:17 PM#    ' Assign a time.

MyMinute = Minute(MyTime)    ' MyMinute contains 35.

Second

Returns a Variant (Integer) specifying a whole number between 0 and 59, inclusive, representing the second of the minute. Syntax

Second(time)

The required time argument is any Variant, numeric expression, string expression, or any combination, that can represent a time. If time contains Null, Null is returned.

Example:

Dim MyTime, MySecond

MyTime = #4:35:17 PM#    ' Assign a time.

MySecond = Second(MyTime)    ' MySecond contains 17.

TimeSerial

Returns a Variant (Date) containing the time for a specific hour, minute, and second. Syntax

TimeSerial(hour, minute, second)

The TimeSerial function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
hour	Required; Variant (Integer). Number between 0 (12:00 A.M.) and 23 (11:00 P.M.), inclusive, or a numeric expression.
minute	Required; Variant (Integer). Any numeric expression.
second	Required; Variant (Integer). Any numeric expression.

Remarks

To specify a time, such as 11:59:59, the range of numbers for each TimeSerial argument should be in the normal range for the unit; that is, 0–23 for hours and 0–59 for minutes and seconds. However, you can also specify relative times for each argument using any numeric expression that represents some number of hours, minutes, or seconds before or after a certain time. The following example uses expressions instead of absolute time numbers.

Example:

Dim MyTime

MyTime = TimeSerial(16, 35, 17)    ' MyTime contains serial     ' representation of 4:35:17 PM.

TimeValue

Returns a Variant (Date) containing the time.

Syntax

TimeValue(time)

The required time argument is normally a string expression representing a time from 0:00:00 (12:00:00 A.M.) to 23:59:59 (11:59:59 P.M.), inclusive. However, time can also be any expression that represents a time in that range. If time contains Null, Null is returned.

Example:

Dim MyTime

MyTime = TimeValue("4:35:17 PM")    ' Returns 4:35:17 PM

WeekDay

Returns a Variant (Integer) containing a whole number representing the day of the week. Syntax

Weekday(date, [firstdayofweek])

The Weekday function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
date	Required. Variant, numeric expression, string expression, or any combination, that can represent a date. If date contains Null, Null is returned.
firstdayofweek	Optional. A constant that specifies the first day of the week. If not specified, vbSunday is assumed.

Settings

The firstdayofweek argument has these settings:

Constant	Value	Description
vbUseSystem	0	Use the NLS API setting.
vbSunday	1	Sunday (default)
vbMonday	2	Monday
vbTuesday	3	Tuesday
vbWednesday	4	Wednesday
vbThursday	5	Thursday
vbFriday	6	Friday
vbSaturday	7	Saturday

Return Values

The Weekday function can return any of these values:

Constant                Value     Description

vbSunday              1             Sunday

vbMonday	2	Monday
vbTuesday	3	Tuesday
vbWednesday	4	Wednesday
vbThursday	5	Thursday
vbFriday	6	Friday
vbSaturday	7	Saturday

Example:

Dim MyDate, MyWeekDay

MyDate = #February 12, 1969#    ' Assign a date.

MyWeekDay = Weekday(MyDate)    ' MyWeekDay contains 4 because     ' MyDate represents a Wednesday.

Miscellaneous

MsgBox

Displays a message in a dialog box, waits for the user to click a button, and returns an Integer indicating which button the user clicked.

Syntax

MsgBox(prompt[, buttons] [, title] [, helpfile, context])

The MsgBox function syntax has these named arguments:

Part                        Description

prompt                  Required. String expression displayed as the message in the dialog box. The maximum length of prompt is approximately 1024 characters, depending on the width of the characters used. If prompt consists of more than one line, you can separate the lines using a carriage return character (Chr(13)), a linefeed character (Chr(10)), or carriage return – linefeed character combination (Chr(13) & Chr(10)) between each line.

buttons                  Optional. Numeric expression that is the sum of values specifying the number and type of buttons to display, the icon style to use, the identity of the default button, and the modality of the message box. If omitted, the default value for buttons is 0.

title                        Optional. String expression displayed in the title bar of the dialog box. If you omit title, the application name is placed in the title bar.

helpfile                  Optional. String expression that identifies the Help file to use to provide context-sensitive Help for the dialog box. If helpfile is provided, context must also be provided.

context                  Optional. Numeric expression that is the Help context number assigned to the appropriate Help topic by the Help author. If context is provided, helpfile must also be provided.

Settings

The buttons argument settings are:

Constant	Value	Description
vbOKOnly	0	Display OK button only.
vbOKCancel	1	Display OK and Cancel buttons.
vbAbortRetryIgnore	2	Display Abort, Retry, and Ignore buttons.
vbYesNoCancel	3	Display Yes, No, and Cancel buttons.
vbYesNo	4	Display Yes and No buttons.
vbRetryCancel	5	Display Retry and Cancel buttons.
vbCritical	16	Display Critical Message icon.
vbQuestion	32	Display Warning Query icon.
vbExclamation	48	Display Warning Message icon.
vbInformation	64	Display Information Message icon.
vbDefaultButton1	0	First button is default.
vbDefaultButton2	256	Second button is default.
vbDefaultButton3	512	Third button is default.
vbDefaultButton4	768		Fourth button is default.
vbApplicationModal	0		Application modal; the user must respond to the message box before continuing work in the current application.
vbSystemModal	4096		System modal; all applications are suspended until the user responds to the message box.
vbMsgBoxHelpButton	16384		Adds Help button to the message box
VbMsgBoxSetForeground	65536		Specifies the message box window as the foreground window
vbMsgBoxRight	524288		Text is right aligned
vbMsgBoxRtlReading	1048576		Specifies text should appear as right-to-left reading on Hebrew and Arabic systems

Shell

Runs an executable program and returns a Variant (Double) representing the program's task ID if successful, otherwise it returns zero.

Syntax

Shell(pathname[,windowstyle])

The Shell function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
pathname	Required; Variant (String). Name of the program to execute and any required arguments or command-line switches; may include directory or folder and drive.
windowstyle	Optional. Variant (Integer) corresponding to the style of the window in which the program is to be run. If windowstyle is omitted, the program is started minimized with focus. On the Macintosh (System 7.0 or later), windowstyle only determines whether or not the application gets the focus when it is run.

The windowstyle named argument has these values:

Constant	Value	Description
vbHide	0	Window is hidden and focus is passed to the hidden window. The vbHide constant is not applicable on Macintosh platforms.
vbNormalFocus	1	Window has focus and is restored to its original size and position.
vbMinimizedFocus	2	Window is displayed as an icon with focus.
vbMaximizedFocus	3	Window is maximized with focus.
vbNormalNoFocus	4	Window is restored to its most recent size and position. The currently active window remains active.
vbMinimizedNoFocus	6	Window is displayed as an icon. The currently active window remains active.

Remarks

If the Shell function successfully executes the named file, it returns the task ID of the started program. The task ID is a unique number that identifies the running program. If the Shell function can't start the named program, an error occurs.

Example:

' Specifying 1 as the second argument opens the application in ' normal size and gives it the focus.

Dim RetVal

RetVal = Shell("C:\WINDOWS\CALC.EXE", 1)    ' Run Calculator.

RGB

Returns a Long whole number representing an RGB color value.

Syntax

RGB(red, green, blue)

The RGB function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
red	Required; Variant (Integer). Number in the range 0–255, inclusive, that represents the red component of the color.
green	Required; Variant (Integer). Number in the range 0–255, inclusive, that represents the green component of the color.
blue	Required; Variant (Integer). Number in the range 0–255, inclusive, that represents the blue component of the color.

Remarks

Application methods and properties that accept a color specification expect that specification to be a number representing an RGB color value. An RGB color value specifies the relative intensity of red, green, and blue to cause a specific color to be displayed.

The value for any argument to RGB that exceeds 255 is assumed to be 255.

The following table lists some standard colors and the red, green, and blue values they include:

Color	Red Value	Green Value	Blue Value
Black	0	0	0
Blue	0	0	255
Green	0	255	0
Cyan	0	255	255
Red	255	0	0
Magenta	255	0	255
Yellow	255	255	0
White	255	255	255

Example:

Dim RED, I, RGBValue, MyObject

Red = RGB(255, 0, 0)    ' Return the value for Red.

I = 75    ' Initialize offset.

RGBValue = RGB(I, 64 + I, 128 + I)     ' Same as RGB(75, 139, 203). MyObject.Color = RGB(255, 0, 0)    ' Set the Color property of     ' MyObject to Red.

QBColor

Returns a Long representing the RGB color code corresponding to the specified color number. Syntax

QBColor(color)

The required color argument is a whole number in the range 0–15.

Settings

The color argument has these settings:

Number	Color	Number	Color
0	Black	8	Gray
1	Blue	9	Light Blue
2	Green	10	Light Green
3	Cyan	11	Light Cyan
4	Red	12	Light Red
5	Magenta	13	Light Magenta
6	Yellow	14	Light Yellow
7	White	15	Bright White

Example:

Sub ChangeBackColor (ColorCode As Integer, MyForm As Form)

    MyForm.BackColor = QBColor(ColorCode) End Sub

Beep

Sounds a tone through the computer's speaker.

Syntax Beep

Remarks

The frequency and duration of the beep depend on your hardware and system software, and vary among computers.

Example: Dim I

For I = 1 To 3    ' Loop 3 times.

    Beep    ' Sound a tone.

Next I

InputBox

Displays a prompt in a dialog box, waits for the user to input text or click a button, and returns a String containing the contents of the text box.

Syntax InputBox(prompt[, title] [, default] [, xpos] [, ypos] [, helpfile, context])

The InputBox function syntax has these named arguments:

Part	Description
prompt	Required. String expression displayed as the message in the dialog box. The maximum length of prompt is approximately 1024 characters, depending on the width of the characters used. If prompt consists of more than one line, you can separate the lines using a carriage return character (Chr(13)), a linefeed character (Chr(10)), or carriage return– linefeed character combination (Chr(13) & Chr(10)) between each line.
title	Optional. String expression displayed in the title bar of the dialog box. If you omit title, the application name is placed in the title bar.
default	Optional. String expression displayed in the text box as the default response if no other input is provided. If you omit default, the text box is displayed empty.
xpos	Optional. Numeric expression that specifies, in twips, the horizontal distance of the left edge of the dialog box from the left edge of the screen. If xpos is omitted, the dialog box is horizontally centered.
ypos	Optional. Numeric expression that specifies, in twips, the vertical distance of the upper edge of the dialog box from the top of the screen. If ypos is omitted, the dialog box is vertically positioned approximately one-third of the way down the screen.
helpfile	Optional. String expression that identifies the Help file to use to provide context-sensitive Help for the dialog box. If helpfile is provided, context must also be provided.
context	Optional. Numeric expression that is the Help context number assigned to the appropriate Help topic by the Help author. If context is provided, helpfile must also be provided.

Example:

Dim Message, Title, Default, MyValue

Message = "Enter a value between 1 and 3"    ' Set prompt.

Title = "InputBox Demo"    ' Set title.

Default = "1"    ' Set default.

' Display message, title, and default value.

MyValue = InputBox(Message, Title, Default)

' Use Helpfile and context. The Help button is added automatically. MyValue = InputBox(Message, Title, , , , "DEMO.HLP", 10)

' Display dialog box at position 100, 100.

MyValue = InputBox(Message, Title, Default, 100, 100)

Load

Loads an object but doesn't show it.

Syntax

Load object

The object placeholder represents an object expression that evaluates to an object in the Applies To list.

Remarks

When an object is loaded, it is placed in memory, but isn't visible. Use the Show method to make the object visible. Until an object is visible, a user can't interact with it. The object can be manipulated programmatically in its Initialize event procedure.

Example:

Private Sub Command1_Click ()

    Load Form2

    Form2.Show

End Sub

UnLoad

Removes an object from memory.

Syntax

Unload object

The required object placeholder represents an object expression that evaluates to an object in the Applies To list.

Remarks

When an object is unloaded, it's removed from memory and all memory associated with the object is reclaimed. Until it is placed in memory again using the Load statement, a user can't interact with an object, and the object can't be manipulated programmatically.

Example:

Private Sub Command2_Click()

    Form2.Hide

    Unload Form2

End Sub

SendKeys

Sends one or more keystrokes to the active window as if typed at the keyboard.

Syntax

SendKeys string[, wait]

The SendKeys statement syntax has these named arguments:

Part                  Description

string               Required. String expression specifying the keystrokes to send.

Wait                 Optional. Boolean value specifying the wait mode. If False (default), control is returned to the procedure immediately after the keys are sent. If True, keystrokes must be processed before control is returned to the procedure.

Remarks

Each key is represented by one or more characters. To specify a single keyboard character, use the character itself. For example, to represent the letter A, use "A" for string. To represent more than one character, append each additional character to the one preceding it. To represent the letters A, B, and C, use "ABC" for string.

The plus sign (+), caret (^), percent sign (%), tilde (~), and parentheses ( ) have special meanings to SendKeys. To specify one of these characters, enclose it within braces ({}). For example, to specify the plus sign, use {+}. Brackets ([ ]) have no special meaning to SendKeys, but you must enclose them in braces. In other applications, brackets do have a special meaning that may be significant when dynamic data exchange (DDE) occurs. To specify brace characters, use {{} and {}}.

To specify characters that aren't displayed when you press a key, such as ENTER or TAB, and keys that represent actions rather than characters, use the codes shown below:

KeyCodes

Key BACKSPACE BREAK CAPS LOCK DEL or DELETE DOWN ARROW END ENTER ESC HELP HOME INS or INSERT LEFT ARROW NUM LOCK PAGE DOWN PAGE UP PRINT SCREEN RIGHT ARROW

Code {BACKSPACE}, {BS}, or {BKSP} {BREAK} {CAPSLOCK} {DELETE} or {DEL} {DOWN} {END} {ENTER}or ~ {ESC} {HELP} {HOME} {INSERT} or {INS} {LEFT} {NUMLOCK} {PGDN} {PGUP} {PRTSC} {RIGHT}

Key SCROLL LOCK TAB UP ARROW F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 F12 F13 F14 F15 F16

Code {SCROLLLOCK} {TAB} {UP} {F1} {F2} {F3} {F4} {F5} {F6} {F7} {F8} {F9} {F10} {F11} {F12} {F13} {F14} {F15} {F16}

To specify keys combined with any combination of the SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT keys, precede the key code with one or more of the following codes:

        Key          Code

        SHIFT     +

        CTRL      ^

        ALT         %

To specify that any combination of SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT should be held down while several other keys are pressed, enclose the code for those keys in parentheses. For example, to specify to hold down SHIFT while E and C are pressed, use "+(EC)". To specify to hold down SHIFT while E is pressed, followed by C without SHIFT, use "+EC".

To specify repeating keys, use the form {key number}. You must put a space between key and number. For example, {LEFT 42} means press the LEFT ARROW key 42 times; {h 10} means press H 10 times.