I tried to read the Report.PrtDevMode property using the appropriate structures. If I do a Unicode conversion on the string I get closer, but the values still don't seem correct.
I expect to see intOrientation = 2 and strDeviceName = "C552 Color" and a paper size of 11x17.
I am testing on Windows 10 and Server 2008 with Microsoft Access 2010 (32-bit)
What I have Tried
A simplified copy and paste from the help file:
Private Type str_DEVMODE
RGB As String * 94
End Type
Private Type type_DEVMODE
strDeviceName As String * 32
intSpecVersion As Integer
intDriverVersion As Integer
intSize As Integer
intDriverExtra As Integer
lngFields As Long
intOrientation As Integer
intPaperSize As Integer
intPaperLength As Integer
intPaperWidth As Integer
intScale As Integer
intCopies As Integer
intDefaultSource As Integer
intPrintQuality As Integer
intColor As Integer
intDuplex As Integer
intResolution As Integer
intTTOption As Integer
intCollate As Integer
strFormName As String * 32
lngPad As Long
lngBits As Long
lngPW As Long
lngPH As Long
lngDFI As Long
lngDFr As Long
End Type
Public Sub CheckCustomPage()
Dim DevString As str_DEVMODE
Dim DM As type_DEVMODE
Dim strDevModeExtra As String
Dim rpt As Report
Dim intResponse As Integer
' Opens report in Design view.
DoCmd.OpenReport "rptNavigationPaneGroups", acDesign
Set rpt = Reports("rptNavigationPaneGroups")
If Not IsNull(rpt.PrtDevMode) Then
strDevModeExtra = rpt.PrtDevMode
' Gets current DEVMODE structure.
' (I added the StrConv function)
DevString.RGB = StrConv(strDevModeExtra, vbUnicode)
LSet DM = DevString
' List the device name.
If DM.strDeviceName <> rpt.Printer.DeviceName Then
Debug.Print "Found: '" & DM.strDeviceName & _
"' instead of '" & rpt.Printer.DeviceName & "'"
End If
End If
Set rpt = Nothing
End Sub
If I use the vbUnicode conversion, I get this output:
Found: 'C552 Color ”-é/ '
instead of 'C552 Color'
Without the conversion, the name is completely unreadable:
Found: '????? ?? A?A?????? ?'
instead of 'C552 Color
I reviewed numerous articles, documentation, and posts describing the usage of the .PrtDevMode property and associated structure.
I compared the structure type with examples in the help file, online documentation, and other sources, but I don't find any examples that involve Unicode conversion, which seems like it might be a piece of the puzzle.
I could use the .Printer object to retrieve many of these properties, but I understand that some settings like the Media Type are only available through the PrtDevMode structure (which is designed to mirror the Win32 SDK).
I could resort to using API calls to query the system printers, but this doesn't solve the problem of needing to write the structure back to the report print settings.
Using this structure would also help me to serialize this data in a readable format so that it can be stored in version control, and written back to the report after the database is rebuilt from source files (which is my ultimate goal).
Any non-null pointers in the right direction?
After further testing, I was able to get it working this morning. As I suspected, I was close on the Unicode conversion, but there were three important modifications that made the difference.
First, I needed to declare the two strings as byte arrays, not simply string buffers. While the string buffer works with the winspool.drv API calls, reading the Report.PrtDevMode property works better with a byte array.
Private Type type_DEVMODE
strDeviceName(1 To 32) As Byte ' <--- Byte array
'strDeviceName As String * 32
intSpecVersion As Integer
intDriverVersion As Integer
intSize As Integer
...
The second part was that the conversion from Unicode needs to be performed only on the string values, not the entire structure.
' Read the string values from DevMode structure
strDevice = NTrim(StrConv(dm.strDeviceName, vbUnicode))
strForm = NTrim(StrConv(dm.strFormName, vbUnicode))
Thirdly, the string is a null-terminated string, so it needs to be trimmed at the null character after the conversion from Unicode.
'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' Procedure : NTrim
' Author : Adam Waller
' Date : 5/15/2020
' Purpose : Trim a null-terminated string.
'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'
Public Function NTrim(strText) As String
Dim lngPos As Long
lngPos = InStr(1, strText, vbNullChar)
If lngPos > 0 Then
NTrim = Left$(strText, lngPos - 1)
Else
NTrim = strText
End If
End Function
With these three changes, I am now able to read the .PrtDevMode property with the expected values. Hopefully this will be helpful for someone else out there as well!
If you find that it works differently on your system, or have additional input, please feel free to leave a comment!
Related
I'm using Visual studio to build a small utility.
I'm importing variables from a text file (this makes my program expandable in the future).
I'm running into a road block trying to split the variables into usable parts.
The text file is set up as such:
Game1:flshflhdlsfsdsfs
Game2:ugdjgndrgbdvdnjd
Game3:gnnereknengievke
And the code I've gathered from searching around trying to understand how I could do this is (It's gone through multiple rewrites but I feel this is probably the closest I've gotten):
Dim value As String = File.ReadAllText("Games.txt")
Dim cut_at As String = ":"
Dim x As Integer = InStr(value, cut_at)
Dim string_before As String = value.Substring(0, x - 2)
Dim string_after As String = value.Substring(x + cut_at.Length - 1)
Games_drp.Items.AddRange(string_before)
When I run a test like this, I get an error that String_before cannot be converted to an object. I tried switching "Dim string_before As String = value.Substring(0, x - 2)" to Dim string_before As Object = value.Substring(0, x - 2), but the dropdown that's supposed to be populated by at least one of the entries before the : has absolutely nothing in it.
Being pretty new at VB and feeling like I've exhausted pretty much every way I could think of searching in google and trying to piece together various bits of information, I figure I'd try asking my own direct question:
How would I go about reading all the lines from a text file, then splitting before the : to fill a combobox, and using a label to display the string after the : matching which ever entry is selected in the dropdown.
Thanks in advance for any help.
EDIT with full code:
Imports System.IO
Public Class Saves_frm
Private Sub Saves_frm_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
Dim value As String = File.ReadAllText("Games.txt")
Dim cut_at As String = ":"
Dim x As Integer = InStr(value, cut_at)
Dim string_before As String = value.Substring(0, x - 2)
Dim string_after As String = value.Substring(x + cut_at.Length - 1)
Games_drp.Items.AddRange(string_before)
End Sub
End Class
When run as is, I get an error that 'string_before' can't be converted from a string to an object, but when I make the following change from:
Dim string_before As String = value.Substring(0, x - 2)
to:
Dim string_before As Object = value.Substring(0, x - 2)
The error goes away, but the dropdown remains blank.
It's easier to use File.ReadAllLines, as it returns an array with all the file's lines. Then, you can loop through the lines, splitting each line and adding the result to the ListBox. This should be an example, but feel free to correct any mistakes I made, as I wrote it on my phone and it's been a long time since I used VB.
Dim lines() As String = File.ReadAllLines("file.txt")
For Each line As String In lines
Dim split() As String = line.Split(":"c)
gDic.Add(split(0), split(1))
Next
EDIT: Then, you most certainly want a dictionary that contains the name and the data, check the updated code.
Then, add the names by looping through gDic.Keys. When a name is selected, access its value with gDic("key").
I have a string output from user interface as below,
strFormula ="gridControlName.Rows(i).cells("C1").value *
gridControlName.Rows(i).cells("C2").value"
if i write code like
dblRes=gridControlName.Rows(i).cells("C1").value *
gridControlName.Rows(i).cells("C2").value
it will give result.. but since its a string i could not get result
How can I remove the double quotes from the above string and get the values entered in the grid cells to be multiplied?
I don't think there's an 'easy' way to do this, since VB.Net doesn't have an "eval()" like some other languages. However, it does support run-time compilation. Here are a couple articles which may help you:
Using .NET Languages to make your Application Scriptable (VB.Net example)
Runtime Compilation (A .NET eval statement) (C# example)
Both are intended to be a bit more robust than just executing single lines of code, allowing users to input entire textboxes of their own code for example, but should give you some direction. Both include sample projects.
Hi guys thanks for your updates.. I wrote my own function by using your concepts and some other code snippets .I am posting the result
Function generate(ByVal alg As String, ByVal intRow As Integer) As String Dim algSplit As String() = alg.Split(" "c)
For index As Int32 = 0 To algSplit.Length - 1
'algSplit(index) = algSplit(index).Replace("#"c, "Number")
If algSplit(index).Contains("[") Then
Dim i As Integer = algSplit(index).IndexOf("[")
Dim f As String = algSplit(index).Substring(i + 1, algSplit(index).IndexOf("]", i + 1) - i - 1)
Dim grdCell As Infragistics.Win.UltraWinGrid.UltraGridCell = dgExcelEstimate.Rows(intRow).Cells(f)
Dim dblVal As Double = grdCell.Value
algSplit(index) = dblVal
End If
Next
Dim result As String = String.Join("", algSplit)
'Dim dblRes As Double = Convert.ToDouble(result)
Return result
End Function
Thanks again every one.. expecting same in future
Hi Guys, I have searched for different methods for this thing but couldn't get it right. Used AutoEllipses Property, Set the MaximumSize too but to no avail. How can i get a label to show the name of the file being scanned like in the pic i attached? I mean, the label should show some part from the beginning of full path of the file then some dots and then the file name with extension.
You might consider a few things; however, the range of possibilities is too large to cover, here.
There are three (3) things you need to know in order to code this properly: the actual measured size of the filepath string you are sending to the label; the measured size of the label; and the length (in characters) of your file name. There may be a fancy function that reduces the number of things you need to do and know; however, I am not about to read oodles of documentation.
All of the above things need to be dynamic so that your label can take different String objects and render them, properly.
Dim filePath As String = ""
Dim FileDirectory As String = ""
Dim fileName As String = ""
Dim filePathLength As SizeF = 0.0
Dim labelLength As Double = 0.0
Dim fileNameLength As Integer = 0.0
' Come up with a way for measuring your string:
Dim _GraphicsUnit As Graphics = Me.CreateGraphics()
' Receive your file path, here:
' and work with your file path-related Strings:
filePath = ' SOMETHING
fileDirectory = Path.GetDirectoryName(filePath)
fileName = Path.GetFileName(filePath)
fileNameLength = fileName.Length()
' Measure the length of you path
filePathLength = _GraphicsUnit.MeasureString(filePath, INSERTFONT) * _GraphicsUnit.Inches 'or other usable unit
If filePathLength > SIZEOFLABEL Then
While filePathLength > SIZEOFLABEL
' Grab a substring of the the fileDirecory, append the "...", and keep measuring until shorter
' than SIZEOFLABEL.
' Your algorithm will need to figure out how and when to re-append the fileName
End While
End If
The above is pseudo-code and is rife with errors. The above is means to demonstrate some of the tools .Net can provide you, here namely the GraphicsUnit stuff and the Path. stuff. Both of those are helpful. You will essentially be juggling those two 'things' and the SubString() method.
My attempt is to show you how to begin to think about the problem you have in front of you so that you can begin to tackle the problem (because as the comments above state, there isn't much out there that will do what you need). Your initial question does not provide any original code on which to base the above pseudo-code; in other words, I don't feel like coding your whole project but at least want to get the answers ball rolling.
An Additional Thought: .MaxLength
The above approach is quite memory intensive - requiring a lot of repetition that may not be be necessary. Simply knowing the size - in this case the MaxLength property - might be helpful. Setting the .MaxLength property of the TextBox will allow you to know how many characters can fit in the box (you'd need to consider a few other elements, e.g. font, size, etc.).
Knowing this number, you could avoid looping altogether:
SubString of fileDirectory equal to the length of .MaxLength property, remove number of characters equating to size of fileName and "..." and append the latter two.
I got an answer to this problem here Shorten The File Path and it's a very short solution as far as code is concerned.
You can use the PathCompactPathExW pInvoke method to accomplish this:
Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text
Public Class Program
<DllImport("shlwapi.dll", EntryPoint:="PathCompactPathExW", SetLastError:=True, CharSet:=CharSet.Unicode)> _
Public Shared Function PathCompactPathEx(<MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)> pszOut As System.Text.StringBuilder, _
<MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)> pszSrc As String, _
cchMax As UInteger, _
reserved As Integer) As <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)> Boolean
End Function
Public Shared Sub Main()
Dim longPath As String = "c:\a\very\very\long\path\that\needs\to\be\shortened\by\calling\the\PathCompactpathEx.ext"
Dim length As Integer = 40
Dim result As String = CompactPath(longPath, length)
'Prints c:\a\very\very\...\PathCompactpathEx.ext
Console.WriteLine(result)
Console.ReadLine()
End Sub
Public Shared Function CompactPath(longPathName As String, wantedLength As Integer) As String
'NOTE: You need to create the builder with the required capacity before calling function.
'See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa446536.aspx
Dim sb As New StringBuilder(wantedLength + 1)
PathCompactPathEx(sb, longPathName, CUInt(wantedLength + 1), 0)
Return sb.ToString()
End Function
End Class
I'm working with VBA. I wrote a user define function that takes a string, process it and return a cleaned string. I am not sure what is wrong with it. I am not able to call it and ask it to process my string and return it. I am thinking there are a mistake in the way I am defining or returning it.
Public Function ProcessString(input_string As String) As String
' The temp string used throughout the function
Dim temp_string As String
For i = 1 To Len(input_string)
temp_string = Mid(input_string, i, 1)
If temp_string Like "[A-Z, a-z, 0-9, :, -]" Then
return_string = return_string & temp_string
End If
Next i
return_string = Mid(return_string, 1, (Len(return_string) - 1))
ProcessString = return_string & ", "
End Function
And I use this function like this
Worksheets(data_sheet).Range("C2").Value = ProcessString(last_name)
Last name is a string variable, usually looks like this Lastname*****, and I am trying to remove all the stars behind it. Have it return Lastname without the stars.
I received Compile error: ByRef arugment type mismatch when I tried to run this. I am using Windows XP with Office 2003.
EDIT: I added the basic struction of the code I have, I have about 20 lines of the similar code. Doing the same thing for each field I need.
Private Sub CommandButton2_Click()
' In my original production code I have a chain of these
' Like this Dim last_name, first_name, street, apt, city, state, zip As String
Dim last_name As String
' I get the last name from a fixed position of my file. Because I am
' processing it from another source which I copied and pasted into excel
last_name = Mid(Range("A4").Value, 20, 13)
' Insert the data into the corresponding fields in the database worksheet
Worksheets(data_sheet).Range("C2").Value = ProcessString(last_name)
I suspect you haven't set up last_name properly in the caller.
With the statement Worksheets(data_sheet).Range("C2").Value = ProcessString(last_name)
this will only work if last_name is a string, i.e.
Dim last_name as String
appears in the caller somewhere.
The reason for this is that VBA passes in variables by reference by default which means that the data types have to match exactly between caller and callee.
Two fixes:
1) Force ByVal -- Change your function to pass variable ByVal: Public Function ProcessString(ByVal input_string As String) As String, or
2) Dim varname -- put Dim last_name As String in the caller before you use it.
(1) works because for ByVal, a copy of input_string is taken when passing to the function which will coerce it into the correct data type. It also leads to better program stability since the function cannot modify the variable in the caller.
I don't know why, but it is very important to declare the variables separately if you want to pass variables (as variables) into other procedure or function.
For example there is a procedure which make some manipulation with data: based on ID returns Part Number and Quantity information. ID as constant value, other two arguments are variables.
Public Sub GetPNQty(ByVal ID As String, PartNumber As String, Quantity As Long)
the next main code gives me a "ByRef argument mismatch":
Sub KittingScan()
Dim BoxPN As String
Dim BoxQty, BoxKitQty As Long
Call GetPNQty(InputBox("Enter ID:"), BoxPN, BoxQty)
End sub
and the next one is working as well:
Sub KittingScan()
Dim BoxPN As String
Dim BoxQty As Long
Dim BoxKitQty As Long
Call GetPNQty(InputBox("Enter ID:"), BoxPN, BoxQty)
End sub
I changed a few things to work with Option Explicit, and the code ran fine against a cell containing "abc.123", which returned "abc.12,". There were no compile errors.
Option Explicit ' This is new
Public Function ProcessString(input_string As String) As String
' The temp string used throughout the function
Dim temp_string As String
Dim i As Integer ' This is new
Dim return_string As String ' This is new
For i = 1 To Len(input_string)
temp_string = Mid(input_string, i, 1)
If temp_string Like "[A-Z, a-z, 0-9, :, -]" Then
return_string = return_string & temp_string
End If
Next i
return_string = Mid(return_string, 1, (Len(return_string) - 1))
ProcessString = return_string & ", "
End Function
I'll suggest you post more of your relevant code (that calls this function). You've stated that last_name is a String, but it appears that may not be the case. Step through your code line by line and ensure that this is actually the case.
While looping through your string one character at a time is a viable method, there's no need. VBA has built-in functions for this kind of thing:
Public Function ProcessString(input_string As String) As String
ProcessString=Replace(input_string,"*","")
End Function
Something is wrong with that string try like this:
Worksheets(data_sheet).Range("C2").Value = ProcessString(CStr(last_name))
It looks like ByRef needs to know the size of the parameter. A declaration of
Dim last_name as string
doesn't specify the size of the string so it takes it as an error. Before using
Worksheets(data_sheet).Range("C2").Value = ProcessString(last_name)
The last_name has to be declared as
Dim last_name as string *10 ' size of string is up to you but must be a fix length
No need to change the function. Function doesn't take a fix length declaration.
For me the problem here was that I was declaring multiple variables in a row instead of separate rows.
For example, I was trying to pass i as an integer to my function.
Dim i,j as integer - gets me the error
Dim i as integer - doesn't get the error
Locked. This question and its answers are locked because the question is off-topic but has historical significance. It is not currently accepting new answers or interactions.
Which features of the VBA language are either poorly documented, or simply not often used?
This trick only works in Access VBA, Excel and others won't allow it. But you can make a Standard Module hidden from the object browser by prefixing the Module name with an underscore. The module will then only be visible if you change the object browser to show hidden objects.
This trick works with Enums in all vb6 based version of VBA. You can create a hidden member of an Enum by encasing it's name in brackets, then prefixing it with an underscore. Example:
Public Enum MyEnum
meDefault = 0
meThing1 = 1
meThing2 = 2
meThing3 = 3
[_Min] = meDefault
[_Max] = meThing3
End Enum
Public Function IsValidOption(ByVal myOption As MyEnum) As Boolean
If myOption >= MyEnum.[_Min] Then IsValidOption myOption <= MyEnum.[_Max]
End Function
In Excel-VBA you can reference cells by enclosing them in brackets, the brackets also function as an evaluate command allowing you to evaluate formula syntax:
Public Sub Example()
[A1] = "Foo"
MsgBox [VLOOKUP(A1,A1,1,0)]
End Sub
Also you can pass around raw data without using MemCopy (RtlMoveMemory) by combining LSet with User Defined Types of the same size:
Public Sub Example()
Dim b() As Byte
b = LongToByteArray(8675309)
MsgBox b(1)
End Sub
Private Function LongToByteArray(ByVal value As Long) As Byte()
Dim tl As TypedLong
Dim bl As ByteLong
tl.value = value
LSet bl = tl
LongToByteArray = bl.value
End Function
Octal & Hex Literals are actually unsigned types, these will both output -32768:
Public Sub Example()
Debug.Print &H8000
Debug.Print &O100000
End Sub
As mentioned, passing a variable inside parenthesis causes it to be passed ByVal:
Sub PredictTheOutput()
Dim i&, j&, k&
i = 10: j = i: k = i
MySub (i)
MySub j
MySub k + 20
MsgBox Join(Array(i, j, k), vbNewLine), vbQuestion, "Did You Get It Right?"
End Sub
Public Sub MySub(ByRef foo As Long)
foo = 5
End Sub
You can assign a string directly into a byte array and vice-versa:
Public Sub Example()
Dim myString As String
Dim myBytArr() As Byte
myBytArr = "I am a string."
myString = myBytArr
MsgBox myString
End Sub
"Mid" is also an operator. Using it you overwrite specific portions of strings without VBA's notoriously slow string concatenation:
Public Sub Example1()
''// This takes about 47% of time Example2 does:
Dim myString As String
myString = "I liek pie."
Mid(myString, 5, 2) = "ke"
Mid(myString, 11, 1) = "!"
MsgBox myString
End Sub
Public Sub Example2()
Dim myString As String
myString = "I liek pie."
myString = "I li" & "ke" & " pie" & "!"
MsgBox myString
End Sub
There is an important but almost always missed feature of the Mid() statement. That is where Mid() appears on the left hand side of an assignment as opposed to the Mid() function that appears in the right hand side or in an expression.
The rule is that if the if the target string is not a string literal, and this is the only reference to the target string, and the length of segment being inserted matches the length of the segment being replaced, then the string will be treated as mutable for the operation.
What does that mean? It means that if your building up a large report or a huge list of strings into a single string value, then exploiting this will make your string processing much faster.
Here is a simple class that benefits from this. It gives your VBA the same StringBuilder capability that .Net has.
' Class: StringBuilder
Option Explicit
Private Const initialLength As Long = 32
Private totalLength As Long ' Length of the buffer
Private curLength As Long ' Length of the string value within the buffer
Private buffer As String ' The buffer
Private Sub Class_Initialize()
' We set the buffer up to it's initial size and the string value ""
totalLength = initialLength
buffer = Space(totalLength)
curLength = 0
End Sub
Public Sub Append(Text As String)
Dim incLen As Long ' The length that the value will be increased by
Dim newLen As Long ' The length of the value after being appended
incLen = Len(Text)
newLen = curLength + incLen
' Will the new value fit in the remaining free space within the current buffer
If newLen <= totalLength Then
' Buffer has room so just insert the new value
Mid(buffer, curLength + 1, incLen) = Text
Else
' Buffer does not have enough room so
' first calculate the new buffer size by doubling until its big enough
' then build the new buffer
While totalLength < newLen
totalLength = totalLength + totalLength
Wend
buffer = Left(buffer, curLength) & Text & Space(totalLength - newLen)
End If
curLength = newLen
End Sub
Public Property Get Length() As Integer
Length = curLength
End Property
Public Property Get Text() As String
Text = Left(buffer, curLength)
End Property
Public Sub Clear()
totalLength = initialLength
buffer = Space(totalLength)
curLength = 0
End Sub
And here is an example on how to use it:
Dim i As Long
Dim sb As StringBuilder
Dim result As String
Set sb = New StringBuilder
For i = 1 to 100000
sb.Append CStr( i)
Next i
result = sb.Text
VBA itself seems to be a hidden feature. Folks I know who've used Office products for years have no idea it's even a part of the suite.
I've posted this on multiple questions here, but the Object Browser is my secret weapon. If I need to ninja code something real quick, but am not familiar with the dll's, Object Browser saves my life. It makes it much easier to learn the class structures than MSDN.
The Locals Window is great for debugging as well. Put a pause in your code and it will show you all the variables, their names, and their current values and types within the current namespace.
And who could forget our good friend Immediate Window? Not only is it great for Debug.Print standard output, but you can enter in commands into it as well. Need to know what VariableX is?
?VariableX
Need to know what color that cell is?
?Application.ActiveCell.Interior.Color
In fact all those windows are great tools to be productive with VBA.
It's not a feature, but a thing I have seen wrong so many times in VBA (and VB6): Parenthesis added on method calls where it will change semantics:
Sub Foo()
Dim str As String
str = "Hello"
Bar (str)
Debug.Print str 'prints "Hello" because str is evaluated and a copy is passed
Bar str 'or Call Bar(str)
Debug.Print str 'prints "Hello World"
End Sub
Sub Bar(ByRef param As String)
param = param + " World"
End Sub
Hidden Features
Although it is "Basic", you can use OOP - classes and objects
You can make API calls
Possibly the least documented features in VBA are those you can only expose by selecting "Show Hidden Members" on the VBA Object Browser. Hidden members are those functions that are in VBA, but are unsupported. You can use them, but microsoft might eliminate them at any time. None of them has any documentation provided, but you can find some on the web. Possibly the most talked about of these hidden features provides access to pointers in VBA. For a decent writeup, check out; Not So Lightweight - Shlwapi.dll
Documented, but perhaps more obscure (in excel anyways) is using ExecuteExcel4Macro to access a hidden global namespace that belongs to the entire Excel application instance as opposed to a specific workbook.
You can implement interfaces with the Implements keyword.
Dictionaries. VBA is practically worthless without them!
Reference the Microsoft Scripting Runtime, use Scripting.Dictionary for any sufficiently complicated task, and live happily ever after.
The Scripting Runtime also gives you the FileSystemObject, which also comes highly recommended.
Start here, then dig around a bit...
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa164509%28office.10%29.aspx
Typing VBA. will bring up an intellisense listing of all the built-in functions and constants.
With a little work, you can iterate over custom collections like this:
' Write some text in Word first.'
Sub test()
Dim c As New clsMyCollection
c.AddItems ActiveDocument.Characters(1), _
ActiveDocument.Characters(2), _
ActiveDocument.Characters(3), _
ActiveDocument.Characters(4)
Dim el As Range
For Each el In c
Debug.Print el.Text
Next
Set c = Nothing
End Sub
Your custom collection code (in a class called clsMyCollection):
Option Explicit
Dim m_myCollection As Collection
Public Property Get NewEnum() As IUnknown
' This property allows you to enumerate
' this collection with the For...Each syntax
' Put the following line in the exported module
' file (.cls)!'
'Attribute NewEnum.VB_UserMemId = -4
Set NewEnum = m_myCollection.[_NewEnum]
End Property
Public Sub AddItems(ParamArray items() As Variant)
Dim i As Variant
On Error Resume Next
For Each i In items
m_myCollection.Add i
Next
On Error GoTo 0
End Sub
Private Sub Class_Initialize()
Set m_myCollection = New Collection
End Sub
Save 4 whole keystrokes by typing debug.? xxx instead of debug.print xxx.
Crash it by adding: enum foo: me=0: end enum to the top of a module containing any other code.
Support for localized versions, which (at least in the previous century) supported expressions using localized values. Like Pravda for True and Fałszywy (not too sure, but at least it did have the funny L) for False in Polish... Actually the English version would be able to read macros in any language, and convert on the fly. Other localized versions would not handle that though.
FAIL.
The VBE (Visual Basic Extensibility) object model is a lesser known and/or under-utilized feature. It lets you write VBA code to manipulate VBA code, modules and projects. I once wrote an Excel project that would assemble other Excel projects from a group of module files.
The object model also works from VBScript and HTAs. I wrote an HTA at one time to help me keep track of a large number of Word, Excel and Access projects. Many of the projects would use common code modules, and it was easy for modules to "grow" in one system and then need to be migrated to other systems. My HTA would allow me to export all modules in a project, compare them to versions in a common folder and merge updated routines (using BeyondCompare), then reimport the updated modules.
The VBE object model works slightly differently between Word, Excel and Access, and unfortunately doesn't work with Outlook at all, but still provides a great capability for managing code.
IsDate("13.50") returns True but IsDate("12.25.2010") returns False
This is because IsDate could be more precisely named IsDateTime. And because the period (.) is treated as a time separator and not a date separator. See here for a full explanation.
VBA supports bitwise operators for comparing the binary digits (bits) of two values. For example, the expression 4 And 7 evaluates the bit values of 4 (0100) and 7 (0111) and returns 4 (the bit that is on in both numbers.) Similarly the expression 4 Or 8 evaluates the bit values in 4 (0100) and 8 (1000) and returns 12 (1100), i.e. the bits where either one is true.
Unfortunately, the bitwise operators have the same names at the logical comparison operators: And, Eqv, Imp, Not, Or, and Xor. This can lead to ambiguities, and even contradictory results.
As an example, open the Immediate Window (Ctrl+G) and enter:
? (2 And 4)
This returns zero, since there are no bits in common between 2 (0010) and 4 (0100).
Deftype Statements
This feature exists presumably for backwards-compatibility. Or to write hopelessly obfuscated spaghetti code. Your pick.