In a VBA macro that I'm writing, I need to increment a number that is stored in a String variable, for example "1", "01", "001", etc. It can also be "010", "000123", and so on. I am aware of the Format call that can turn incremented number, for example "2" into "002" with Format(2, "00#"), but I don't know how to first read the format of the original number to store it's format and re-apply it after the increment. The only way I can think of is counting trailing zeroes, but isn't there a better way to do this?
This function will preserve leading zeros:
Function IncrementNumberLeadingZeros(sVal As String, Change As Long) As String
Dim L As Long
Dim I As Long
Dim Frmt As String
L = Len(sVal)
For I = 1 To L
Frmt = Frmt & "0"
Next I
IncrementNumberLeadingZeros = Format(CLng(sVal) + Change, Frmt)
End Function
I tested like this:
Sub test()
Debug.Print IncrementNumberLeadingZeros("00210", 1)
End Sub
Output Was:
OR, even shorter with a little help for our friends:
Function IncrementNumberLeadingZeros(sVal As String, Change As Long) As String
IncrementNumberLeadingZeros = Format$(CLng(sVal) + Change, String(Len(sVal), "0"))
End Function
Related
I have a huge amount of data which is alphanumerical and I need to convert it to purely numerical. Which no text in the string.
Ex.
C0424.100 ---> 424.100 (or 0424.100)
There always is 3 places after the decimal. Any tips on how to go about this? I'm pretty new to VBA. So basically I need to remove all text and a decimal with three digits to the right of it.
This is well described in String functions and how to use them
However, this should get you started. I would handle the formatting in Excel afterwards, but this is the simple string to number conversion. If the strings are more complex, consider using the Search string function to find the numbers, then use Right, Left, Mid functions to trim the string. Lastly use the CDbl() function to convert the string to the double.
Macro code as follows:
Sub temp()
'
' temp Macro
Range("A2").Select
stringToConvert = Selection.Value
trimmedString = Right(stringToConvert, Len(stringToConvert) - 1)
numberToDisplay = CDbl(trimmedString)
Range("A3").Value = numberToDisplay
End Sub
Do you even need VBA? If your data always has just one leading alpha character then you can just use standard Excel functions. For an entry in A2 that you want to convert, place the following formula in a convenient cell (e.g. B2):
=VALUE(RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-1))
I got UDF options for you.
Option 1: If you want to remove all the alphas from the beginning of string:
Function RemoveFirstAlphas(txt As String) As String
Dim i As Long
For i = 1 To Len(txt)
Select Case Mid$(txt, i, 1)
Case "0" To "9": Exit For
Case Else: Mid$(txt, i, 1) = Chr(32)
End Select
Next
RemoveFirstAlphas = Trim(txt)
End Function
Option 2: If you want to remove all the alphas from entire string:
Function RemoveAllAlphas(txt As String) As String
Dim ObjRegex As Object
Set ObjRegex = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
With ObjRegex
.Global = True
.Pattern = "[a-zA-Z\s]+"
RemoveAllAlphas = .Replace(Replace(txt, "-", Chr(32)), vbNullString)
End With
End Function
No need for VBA. Something like:
=--MID(A1,MIN(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A1&"0123456789")),99)
will return the string starting with the first digit, and convert it to a numeric value. You can then format it in the cell however you wish.
The above will work with any number of non-digit leading characters. If will only have a single non-digit character, then #Skippy answer is simpler
If you have to have a VBA routine, something like the following should work -- it will extract the first numeric substring in the string. It does not matter if there are non-digits before or after. And, if there are no digits, the function will return the #NUM! error
Option Explicit
Function ExtractNums(S As String) As Variant
Dim I As Long
For I = 1 To Len(S)
If IsNumeric(Mid(S, I, 1)) Then
ExtractNums = Val(Mid(S, I))
Exit Function
End If
Next I
ExtractNums = CVErr(xlErrNum)
End Function
What I want to do is replace all 'A' in a string with "Bb". but it will only loop with the original string not on the new string.
for example:
AAA
BbAA
BbBbA
and it stops there because the original string only has a length of 3. it reads only up to the 3rd index and not the rest.
Dim txt As String
txt = output_text.Text
Dim a As String = a_equi.Text
Dim index As Integer = txt.Length - 1
Dim output As String = ""
For i = 0 To index
If (txt(i) = TextBox1.Text) Then
output = txt.Remove(i, 1).Insert(i, a)
txt = output
TextBox2.Text += txt + Environment.NewLine
End If
Next
End Sub
I think this leaves us looking for a String.ReplaceFirst function. Since there isn't one, we can just write that function. Then the code that calls it becomes much more readable because it's quickly apparent what it's doing (from the name of the function.)
Public Function ReplaceFirst(searched As String, target As String, replacement As String) As String
'This input validation is just for completeness.
'It's not strictly necessary.
'If the searched string is "null", throw an exception.
If (searched Is Nothing) Then Throw New ArgumentNullException("searched")
'If the target string is "null", throw an exception.
If (target Is Nothing) Then Throw New ArgumentNullException("target")
'If the searched string doesn't contain the target string at all
'then just return it - were done.
Dim foundIndex As Integer = searched.IndexOf(target)
If (foundIndex = -1) Then Return searched
'Build a new string that replaces the target with the replacement.
Return String.Concat(searched.Substring(0, foundIndex), replacement, _
searched.Substring(foundIndex + target.Length, searched.Length - (foundIndex + target.Length)))
End Function
Notice how when you read the code below, you don't even have to spend a moment trying to figure out what it's doing. It's readable. While the input string contains "A", replace the first "A" with "Bb".
Dim input as string = "AAA"
While input.IndexOf("A") > -1
input = input.ReplaceFirst(input,"A","Bb")
'If you need to capture individual values of "input" as it changes
'add them to a list.
End While
You could optimize or completely replace the function. What matters is that your code is readable, someone can tell what it's doing, and the ReplaceFirst function is testable.
Then, let's say you wanted another function that gave you all of the "versions" of your input string as the target string is replaced:
Public Function GetIterativeReplacements(searched As String, target As String, replacement As String) As List(of string)
Dim output As New List(Of String)
While searched.IndexOf(target) > -1
searched = ReplaceFirst(searched, target, replacement)
output.Add(searched)
End While
Return output
End Function
If you call
dim output as List(of string) = GetIterativeReplacments("AAAA","A","Bb")
It's going to return a list of strings containing
BbAAA, BbBbAA, BbBbBbA, BbBbBbBb
It's almost always good to keep methods short. If they start to get too long, just break them into smaller methods with clear names. That way you're not trying to read and follow and test one big, long function. That's difficult whether or not you're a new programmer. The trick isn't being able to create long, complex functions that we understand because we wrote them - it's creating small, simpler functions that anyone can understand.
Check your comments for a better solution, but for future reference you should use a while loop instead of a for loop if your condition will be changing and you're wanting to take that change into account.
I've made a simple example below to help you understand. If you tried the same with a for loop, you'd only get "one" "two" and "three" printed because the for loop doesn't 'see' that vals was changed
Dim vals As New List(Of String)
vals.Add("one")
vals.Add("two")
vals.Add("three")
Dim i As Integer = 0
While i < vals.Count
Console.WriteLine(vals(i))
If vals(i) = "two" Then
vals.Add("four")
vals.Add("five")
End If
i += 1
End While
If you do want to replace one by one instead of using the Replace function, you could use a while loop to look for the index of your search character/string, and then replace/insert at that index.
Sub Main()
Dim a As String = String.Empty
Dim b As String = String.Empty
Dim c As String = String.Empty
Dim d As Int32 = -1
Console.Write("Whole string: ")
a = Console.ReadLine()
Console.Write("Replace: ")
b = Console.ReadLine()
Console.Write("Replace with: ")
c = Console.ReadLine()
d = a.IndexOf(b)
While d > -1
a = a.Remove(d, b.Length)
a = a.Insert(d, c)
d = a.LastIndexOf(b)
End While
Console.WriteLine("Finished string: " & a)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
Output would look like this:
Whole string: This is A string for replAcing chArActers.
Replace: A
Replace with: Bb
Finished string: This is Bb string for replBbcing chBbrBbcters.
I was going to write a while loop to answer your question, but realized (with assistance from others) that you could just .replace(x,y)
Output.Text = Input.Text.Replace("A", "Bb")
'Input = N A T O
'Output = N Bb T O
Edit: There is probably a better alternative, but i quickly jotted this loop down, hope it helps.
You've said your new and don't fully understand while loops. So if you don't understand functions either or how to pass arguments to them, I'd suggest looking that up too.
This is your Event, It can be a Button click or Textbox text change.
'Cut & Paste into an Event (Change textboxes to whatever you have input/output)
Dim Input As String = textbox1.Text
Do While Input.Contains("A")
Input = ChangeString(Input, "A", "Bb")
' Do whatever you like with each return of ChangeString() here
Loop
textbox2.Text = Input
This is your Function, with 3 Arguments and a Return Value that can be called in your code
' Cut & Paste into Code somewhere (not inside another sub/Function)
Private Function ChangeString(Input As String, LookFor As Char, ReplaceWith As String)
Dim Output As String = Nothing
Dim cFlag As Boolean = False
For i As Integer = 0 To Input.Length - 1
Dim c As Char = Input(i)
If (c = LookFor) AndAlso (cFlag = False) Then
Output += ReplaceWith
cFlag = True
Else
Output += c
End If
Next
Console.WriteLine("Output: " & Output)
Return Output
End Function
I have an excel formula:
=SplitKey(GetSysCd(INDEX([ReportValue],MATCH("mtr_make_model",[FieldName],0)),INDEX([ListName],MATCH("mtr_make_model",[FieldName],0))), 0)
which is running a few subroutines in VBA, but mainly matching values and inserting those values into a cell. When it finds a value for "mtr_make_model" it runs and matches the values inside a sys codes table. The issue I am having is that it is calculating once and then it removes the formula and now has solely the value... In the event that I go to the mtr_make_model field and change the value, the formula does not recalculate. Has anyone heard of this happening? Is this due to something in the VBA code? How do I make that formula stay put and if certain values change, the formula recalculates?
Thanks in advance.
Here are the two functions:
Public Function GetSysCd(ByVal name As String, sysCdTableName As String) As String
Dim r As Integer
Dim sysCdTable As Range
Dim nameList As Variant
Dim sysCd As String
On Error GoTo GetSysCd_Error
Set sysCdTable = Worksheets("sys_cd").Range(sysCdTableName)
nameList = WorksheetFunction.Index(sysCdTable, 0, 2)
r = WorksheetFunction.Match(name, nameList, 0)
sysCd = WorksheetFunction.Index(sysCdTable, r, 1)
GetOutOfHere:
On Error GoTo 0
GetSysCd = sysCd
Exit Function
GetSysCd_Error:
sysCd = ""
GoTo GetOutOfHere
End Function
Public Function SplitKey(s As String, v As Integer)
Dim aString As Variant
Dim r As Integer
If Len(s) > 2 Then
aString = Split(s, "_")
If v = 0 Or v = 1 Then
SplitKey = aString(v)
Else
SplitKey = aString(0)
End If
Else
SplitKey = ""
End If
End Function
I don't think the functions are relevant at this point, but rather just a matter of the function not recalculating when a variable in the formula changes...
The problem could be that Excel only recalculates functions when one of their arguments changes, and your GetSysCd function is referring to a range that is not in its argument list
Set sysCdTable = Worksheets("sys_cd").Range(sysCdTableName)
where sysCdTableName is just a string rather than a reference.
You can make the functions recalculate in real time by adding Application.Volatile True to the top of each function.
I was working in Access to make a query of a few tables, and realized that a column of a table does not meet a specific requirement.
I have a field that consists of thousands of records, and it contains "years" in the following format (an example) : 1915-1918.
What I want to accomplish is to make that value individual in the records. So
the end result would be : 1915,1916,1917,1918.
Basically, I want to convert 1915-1918 to 1915,1916,1917,1918.
I thought a simple concatenation would suffice, but could not wrap my head around how to make it so that it can do it for all thousands of records. I did some research and reached the conclusion that a user defined function might be the way to go. How would I go about this?
When your field value consists of 4 digits followed by a dash followed by 4 more digits, this function returns a comma-separated list of years.
In any other cases (Null, a single year such as "1915" instead of a year range, or anything else), the function returns the starting value.
Public Function YearList(ByVal pInput As Variant) As Variant
Dim astrPieces() As String
Dim i As Long
Dim lngFirst As Long
Dim lngLast As Long
Dim varReturn As Variant
If pInput Like "####-####" Then
astrPieces = Split(pInput, "-")
lngFirst = CLng(astrPieces(0))
lngLast = CLng(astrPieces(1))
For i = lngFirst To lngLast
varReturn = varReturn & "," & CStr(i)
Next
If Len(varReturn) > 0 Then
varReturn = Mid(varReturn, 2)
End If
Else
varReturn = pInput
End If
YearList = varReturn
End Function
However, this approach assumes the start year in each range will be less than the end year. In other words, you would need to invest more effort to make YearList("1915-1912") return a list of years instead of an empty string.
If that function returns what you want, you could use it in a SELECT query.
SELECT years_field, YearList(years_field)
FROM YourTable;
Or if you want to replace the stored values in your years field, you can use the function in an UPDATE query.
UPDATE YourTable
SET years_field = YearList(years_field);
You can use the Split function to return an array from the "years" field that contains the upper and lower year. Then loop from the lower year to the upper year and build the concatenated string. For example:
Public Function SplitYears(Years As String) As String
Dim v As Variant
Dim i As Long
Dim s As String
v = Split(Years, "-", 2)
If UBound(v) = 1 Then
For i = v(0) To v(1)
s = s & "," & CStr(i)
Next i
s = Right(s, Len(s) - 1)
Else
s = v(0)
End If
SplitYears = s
End Function
In Excel, make a sequential reference table of Years, for the range of years that you expect to encounter.
Next, use left and right functions to get the start and end of the range.
Create an update query and update the target field with a concatenation of target field to itself and then also the reference year values between that also fit between the start and end of the range.
Or I guess you could make a user function.
Add the code below to a module in Visual Basic
Public Function CommaDates(Start_End) As String
Dim strt As String
Dim endd As String
Dim x As Long
strt = Left(Start_End, 4)
endd = Right(Start_End, 4)
CommaDates = strt
For x = strt + 1 To endd
CommaDates = CommaDates & "," & x
Next x
End Function
Call this in a query like NEW_DATE: CommaDates([OLD_DATE_FIELD_NAME])
I have a list of filenames in a spreadsheet in the form of "Smith, J. 010112.pdf". However, they're in the varying formats of "010112.pdf", "01.01.12.pdf", and "1.01.2012.pdf". How could I change these to one format of "010112.pdf"?
Personally I hate using VBA where worksheet functions will work, so I've worked out a way to do this with worksheet functions. Although you could cram this all into one cell, I've broken it out into a lot of independent steps in separate columns so you can see how it's working, step by step.
For simplicity I'm assuming your file name is in A1
B1 =LEN(A1)
determine the length of the filename
C1 =SUBSTITUTE(A1," ","")
replace spaces with nothing
D1 =LEN(C1)
see how long the string is if you replace spaces with nothing
E1 =B1-D1
determine how many spaces there are
F1 =SUBSTITUTE(A1," ",CHAR(8),E1)
replace the last space with a special character that can't occur in a file name
G1 =SEARCH(CHAR(8), F1)
find the special character. Now we know where the last space is
H1 =LEFT(A1,G1-1)
peel off everything before the last space
I1 =MID(A1,G1+1,255)
peel off everything after the last space
J1 =FIND(".",I1)
find the first dot
K1 =FIND(".",I1,J1+1)
find the second dot
L1 =FIND(".",I1,K1+1)
find the third dot
M1 =MID(I1,1,J1-1)
find the first number
N1 =MID(I1,J1+1,K1-J1-1)
find the second number
O1 =MID(I1,K1+1,L1-K1-1)
find the third number
P1 =TEXT(M1,"00")
pad the first number
Q1 =TEXT(N1,"00")
pad the second number
R1 =TEXT(O1,"00")
pad the third number
S1 =IF(ISERR(K1),M1,P1&Q1&R1)
put the numbers together
T1 =H1&" "&S1&".pdf"
put it all together
It's kind of a mess because Excel hasn't added a single new string manipulation function in over 20 years, so things that should be easy (like "find last space") require severe trickery.
Here's a screenshot of a simple four-step method based on Excel commands and formulas, as suggested in a comment to the answered post (with a few changes)...
This function below works. I've assumed that the date is in ddmmyy format, but adjust as appropriate if it's mmddyy -- I can't tell from your example.
Function FormatThis(str As String) As String
Dim strDate As String
Dim iDateStart As Long
Dim iDateEnd As Long
Dim temp As Variant
' Pick out the date part
iDateStart = GetFirstNumPosition(str, False)
iDateEnd = GetFirstNumPosition(str, True)
strDate = Mid(str, iDateStart, iDateEnd - iDateStart + 1)
If InStr(strDate, ".") <> 0 Then
' Deal with the dot delimiters in the date
temp = Split(strDate, ".")
strDate = Format(DateSerial( _
CInt(temp(2)), CInt(temp(1)), CInt(temp(0))), "ddmmyy")
Else
' No dot delimiters... assume date is already formatted as ddmmyy
' Do nothing
End If
' Piece it together
FormatThis = Left(str, iDateStart - 1) _
& strDate & Right(str, Len(str) - iDateEnd)
End Function
This uses the following helper function:
Function GetFirstNumPosition(str As String, startFromRight As Boolean) As Long
Dim i As Long
Dim startIndex As Long
Dim endIndex As Long
Dim indexStep As Integer
If startFromRight Then
startIndex = Len(str)
endIndex = 1
indexStep = -1
Else
startIndex = 1
endIndex = Len(str)
indexStep = 1
End If
For i = startIndex To endIndex Step indexStep
If Mid(str, i, 1) Like "[0-9]" Then
GetFirstNumPosition = i
Exit For
End If
Next i
End Function
To test:
Sub tester()
MsgBox FormatThis("Smith, J. 01.03.12.pdf")
MsgBox FormatThis("Smith, J. 010312.pdf")
MsgBox FormatThis("Smith, J. 1.03.12.pdf")
MsgBox FormatThis("Smith, J. 1.3.12.pdf")
End Sub
They all return "Smith, J. 010312.pdf".
You don't need VBA. Start by replacing the "."s with nothing:
=SUBSTITUTE(A1,".","")
This will change the ".PDF" to "PDF", so let's put that back:
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1,".",""),"pdf",".pdf")
Got awk? Get the data into a text file, and
awk -F'.' '{ if(/[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+/) printf("%s., %02d%02d%02d.pdf\n", $1, $2, $3, length($4) > 2 ? substr($4,3,2) : $4); else print $0; }' your_text_file
Assuming the data are exactly as what you described, e.g.,
Smith, J. 010112.pdf
Mit, H. 01.02.12.pdf
Excel, M. 8.1.1989.pdf
Lec, X. 06.28.2012.pdf
DISCLAIMER:
As #Jean-FrançoisCorbett has mentioned, this does not work for "Smith, J. 1.01.12.pdf". Instead of reworking this completely, I'd recommend his solution!
Option Explicit
Function ExtractNumerals(Original As String) As String
'Pass everything up to and including ".pdf", then concatenate the result of this function with ".pdf".
'This will not return the ".pdf" if passed, which is generally not my ideal solution, but it's a simpler form that still should get the job done.
'If you have varying extensions, then look at the code of the test sub as a guide for how to compensate for the truncation this function creates.
Dim i As Integer
Dim bFoundFirstNum As Boolean
For i = 1 To Len(Original)
If IsNumeric(Mid(Original, i, 1)) Then
bFoundFirstNum = True
ExtractNumerals = ExtractNumerals & Mid(Original, i, 1)
ElseIf Not bFoundFirstNum Then
ExtractNumerals = ExtractNumerals & Mid(Original, i, 1)
End If
Next i
End Function
I used this as a testcase, which does not correctly cover all your examples:
Sub test()
MsgBox ExtractNumerals("Smith, J. 010112.pdf") & ".pdf"
End Sub