The VBA Language

Part 1

Terry Bradbury
[email protected]
 Overview

 The VBA Project and Components

 Data Types
 Objects
 Operators
 Essential Functions
 The VBA Project

 Top-level container for all application components

 Can be accessed and modified through code
 Requires a reference to Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Extensibility
 Requires the ‘Trust access to the VBA project object model’ option to be set
in the Trust Center
 Automating the project should never be used for applications
 Only developer tools and add-ins
 VBA Components

 Directly below the project in the Project Explorer

 Four Types of Components
 Documents (application-specific)
 Modules (general-purpose code containers)
 Class Modules (for creating non-visual objects)
 UserForms (for creating custom dialogs)
 Interfaces
 Created as Class Modules
 Implemented in Class Modules or UserForms
Modules
Class Modules
UserForms
Interfaces
Project Organization
 Data Types

 Variant type
 String type
 Integer types
 Boolean type
 Floating-point types
 Scaled types
 Date type
 Enumerations
 Object types
 User-Defined types
 Variant Data Type

 The default data type

 Special ‘container’ that can hold any type of data
 Including arrays or objects
 Automatically takes on the correct data type on assignment
 Often used in ‘For Each’ or other types of loops
 Carries some overhead as the price for flexibility
 Don’t use unless necessary
 Default value is Empty
 String Data Type

 For holding character (non-numeric) data

 Two forms of strings
 Variable length (~2B characters)
 Fixed length (1 to 64K characters)
 VBA code will not compile if you declare a string >64K
 Default value for variable length is an empty string (“”)
 Default value for fixed length is the size of the string filled with spaces
 All strings are stored internally as Unicode
 Automatically converted to ANSI as needed
 Integer Data Types

 Byte (1 byte)
 0 to 255
 Integer (2 bytes)
 -32,768 to 32,767
 Long (4 bytes)
 -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
 LongLong (8 bytes – only on 64-bit systems)
 -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
 LongPtr
 Same as Long (Dword) on 32-bit systems
 Same as LongLong (Qword) on 64-bit systems
 The default value for all Integer types is 0
 Boolean Data Type

 Used for storing True or False values

 Default value is False
 Stored as 16-bit (2-byte) integers, but can only be True or False
 When numerics are converted to Boolean, 0 = False, anything else =
True (Not False)
 When Booleans are converted to numbers, False = 0, True = -1
 Bits and Nibbles and Bytes (oh my!)

 The most basic unit of information in computing is the bit

 Can have 2 values – 0 (cleared) and 1 (set)
 You can ‘flip’ a bit to toggle between 0 and 1
 A group of 4 bits is a nibble
 A group of 8 bits is a byte (2 nibbles) sometimes called an octet
 Groups of bytes are often referred to as words
 Word (2 bytes – 16 bits)
 Dword (4 bytes – 32 bits)
 Qword (8 bytes – 64 bits)
 Use string data type to store and display bit representations
 Positional Values

 Values are based on their position

 Bits are usually ordered from right to left
 Least Significant Bit is on the right
 Most Significant Bit is on the left
 Bit numbering systems
 LSB 0 means the LSB is numbered as bit 0 (right to left) 76543210
 MSB 0 means the MSB is numbered as bit 0 (left to right) 01234567
 Bit values can be determined by power of 2 for their position
 2^0 = 1
 2^1 = 2
 2^2 = 4
 2^3 = 8, etc…
 Signed and Unsigned Values

 Unsigned max value equals the sum of all the bit values
 Signed max is half the sum of all bit values
 Set MSB to indicate a negative value
 Writing Binary

Binary Decimal
0000 0000 = 0
0000 0001 = 1
0000 0010 = 2
0000 0011 = 3

0000 0010 0010 0101

And 0001 0110 Or 0001 0010 Not 0101
= 0000 0010 = 0011 0111 = 1010
(2) (55) (10)
 Just Remember…

There are only 10 types of

people in the world:
Those who understand binary
and those who don't.
 Floating-Point Data Types

 Single
 Negative values between -3.402823 x 1038 and -1.401298 x 10-45
 Positive values between 1.401298 x 10-45 and 3.402823 x 1038
 Double
 Negative values between
-1.79769313486232 x 10308 and -4.94065645841247 x 10-324.
 Positive values between
4.94065645841247 x 10-324 and 1.79769313486232 x 10308.
 Will have rounded values for some expressions such as 1/3
 Scaled Data Types

 Currency (8 bytes)
 15 digits to the left of the decimal, 4 to the right
 In the range of -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to 922,337,203,685,477.5807
 Decimal (12 bytes)
 Can have up to 28 decimal places
 Is a subtype of variant
 Use CDec to convert to decimal
 Date Data Type

 Contains both date and time

 Stored internally as an 8-byte floating-point value
 The integer portion stores the number of days since December 30, 1899
 The decimal portion stores the number of seconds since midnight
 The default value is 12/30/1899 00:00:00
 Date literals are assigned using # as a delimiter (#m/d/y h:m:s#)
 Integer values can be added or subtracted to modify the day
 Enumerations

 System or User-defined collections of constants

 Internal data type is long
 Three categories:
 Sequential
 Assigned
 Composite (Bitwise)
 Object Types

 There are 4 types of ‘objects’

 The ‘object’ data type
 Contains a reference to an object
 Used for ‘late binding’
 No IntelliSense available
 Errors cannot be discovered until runtime
 An instantiated class from the object model
 Use Class Modules for creating user-defined objects
 Can implement custom properties, events and methods
 Must be instantiated before use
 UserForms for custom dialogs
 User-Defined Types

 A user-defined grouping of other types

 Sometimes called a Structure in other languages
 Often used in Windows API calls
 VBA version must be created to use this type of call
 Easier to use than a Class Module
 Everything is directly addressable (no properties)
 Simple declaration to use – no instantiation
 No data protection, validation or events
 Objects

 ErrObject (Err)
 Collection
 Global
 ErrObject

 Contains data about the last error

 Can be programmatically invoked using Err.Raise
 Can be cleared by using Err.Clear or any form of On Error Resume
 Collections

 Can be thought of as an ‘object’ version of an array

 Uses properties and methods to add/remove/locate items
 Can store simple types or objects
 Many global objects are Collections
 Global

 Provides the global UserForms collection

 Contains references to all loaded UserForms
 Also provides methods for loading and unloading UserForms
Operators
 General-Purpose Operators

 Assignment ( = )
 x = y + z
 Set wks = ActiveSheet
 Concatenation ( & )
 FullName = FirstName & " " & LastName
 TheAnswer = "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, " _
& "the Universe, and Everything is " & 42 & "."
 Arithmetic Operators

 The standard arithmetic operators ( + - * / )

 Division usually results in a Double (there are exceptions)
 Integer division ( \ Mod )
 There are no increment or decrement operators ( use + 1 or – 1)
 Exponent ( ^ ) answer = base ^ power
 Operator Precedence
 Exponentiation ( ^ )
 Negation ( - )
 Multiplication and division ( *, / )
 Integer Division ( \ )
 Modulus arithmetic (Mod)
 Addition and subtraction ( +, - )
 String concatenation
 Always use parentheses instead of depending on order of precedence
 Comparison Operators

 Equality ( = )
 Inequality ( <> )
 Less than ( < )
 Greater than ( > )
 Less than or equal to ( <= )
 Greater than or equal to ( >= )
 Pattern matching ( Like )
 Object reference comparison ( Is )
 If (Obj1 Is Obj2) Then ' both reference same object
 If (Obj1 Is Nothing) Then ' does not refer to any object
 Bitwise Operators

 And
 Returns bits set in both values
 Or
 Returns bits set in either value
 Xor (exclusive Or)
 Returns bits that are different in both values
 Not
 Flips all the bits in a value
 Logical Operators

 And (Conjunction)
 If ((2 + 2 = 4) And (4 + 4 = 8)) Then ' True
 Or (Disjunction)
 Xor (Exclusion)
 Not (Negation)
 Eqv (Equivalence)
 Imp (Implication)
 Essential Functions

 Array
 Conversion
 DateTime
 FileSystem
 Information
 Interaction
 Math
 String
 Worksheet Functions (Excel only)
 Array Functions

 Array
 Join
 Split
 LBound
 UBound
 Erase
 Filter
 Conversion Functions

 CBool, CByte, CCur, CDate, CDbl, CSng, CInt, CLng, CLngLng, CLngPtr,
CStr, CVar
 CDec
 Can only be used with a variant
 Hex, Hex$, Oct, Oct$
 Int, Fix
 Str, Str$
 Val
 DateTime Functions

 Now
 Date, Date$, Time, Time$
 Year, Month, Weekday, Day, Hour, Minute, Second
 Timer
 DateAdd
 DateDiff
 DatePart
 DateSerial, TimeSerial
 DateValue, TimeValue
 FileSystem Functions

 ChDir  Input
 ChDrive  Kill
 CurDir, CurDir$  Loc
 Dir  Lock, Unlock
 MkDir, RmDir  Open, Close, Reset
 Print
 EOF, LOF  Seek
 FileAttr  SetAttr
 FileCopy
 FileDateTime
 FileLen
 FreeFile
 Financial Functions
 DDB (double-declining balance)
 FV (future value)
 IPmt (interest payment)
 IRR (internal rate of return)
 MIRR (modified internal rate of return)
 NPer (number of periods)
 NPV (net present value)
 Pmt (payment)
 PPmt (principal payment)
 PV (present value)
 Rate (rate)
 SLN (straight-line depreciation)
 SYD (sum-of-years' digits depreciation)
 Mathematic Functions

 Abs (absolute)
 Atn (arctangent)
 Cos (cosine)
 Exp (exponent)
 Log (logarithm)
 Randomize
 Rnd (random)
 Round (rounded)
 Sgn (sign)
 Sin (sine)
 Sqr (square root)
 Tan (tangent)
 String Functions

 Asc, AscB, AscW  LCase, LCase$, UCase, UCase$

 Chr, Chr$, ChrB, ChrB$,  LTrim, LTrim$, RTrim, RTrim$,
ChrW, ChrW$ Trim, Trim$
 Filter, Join, Split  MonthName, WeekdayName
 Format, Format$,  Replace
FormatCurrency ,  StrComp
FormatDateTime ,  StrConv
FormatNumber, FormatPercent
 StrReverse
 InStr, InStrB, InStrRev
 String, Space
 Left, Left$, LeftB, LeftB$,
Right, Right$, RightB, RightB$,
Mid, Mid$, MidB, MidB$
 Len
 Information Functions

 IsArray
 IsDate
 IsEmpty
 IsError
 IsMissing
 IsNull
 IsNumeric
 IsObject
 QBColor
 RGB
 TypeName
 VarType
 Interaction Functions

 AppActivate, Shell
 Beep
 CallByName
 Choose, IIf, Switch
 CreateObject, GetObject
 DoEvents
 Environ, Environ$
 GetSetting, GetAllSettings, DeleteSetting, SaveSetting
 InputBox
 MsgBox
 SendKeys
 Worksheet Functions

 For Excel solutions, native worksheet functions can be used in VBA

 Use Application.WorksheetFunction.<FunctionName>
 Functions operate on a Range
 Provides many advanced functions not available in VBA
A Better Way…
 Summary

 The VBA Project and Components

 Data Types
 Objects
 Operators
 Essential Functions