VBA Excel - Putting columns into range in right order - vba

Question

so recently I have been looking into using defined ranges to copy data instead of selecting, copying and pasting cells. This way I hope to optimise the performance and the runtime of my code.
Unfortunately I have come to face a problem I wasn't able to solve on my own.
When defining a range I want to rearrange the columns in a different order.
For example:
Set my_range = Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A2:E2,G2:H2,J2:K2,M2")
Works well, as the columns I fill into the range are behind each other in the sheet. But now I have this:
Set yo_range = Sheets("Sheet2").Range("D2,AV2,L2,H2,Q2,AE2,AG2")
If I fill these ranges into a new sheet the yo_range will fill the columns I put into it but not in the order I written down. It will put it down in the order according to the original one. In this example yo_range would put the data in this order into the new sheet:
D2 | H2 | L2 | Q2 | AE2 | AG2 | AV2
How can I fix this? I want the order to be another one than the original one.
Also - as you can see my_range has more columns than yo_range. How can I let yo_range be filled into the new sheet but at certain points leave columns out? For example:
my_range(A2:E2) goes into A2:E2 in the new sheet
yo_range(D2,AV2) goes into A:B in the new sheet, then leave C out and then paste yo_range(L2,H2) into D:E in the new sheet
I hope that I was able to explain my problem well and that there is somebody able and willing to help me. Any help is appreciated.
Edit:
Here's the code that puts the values from the ranges into the new sheet
Do
If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(my_range) > 0 Then
my_range.Copy ws.Range("A" & ws.Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Offset(1, 0)
Set my_range = my_range.Offset(1, 0)
Else
Exit Do
End If
Loop
Do
If Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(yo_range) > 0 Then
yo_range.Copy ws.Range("A" & ws.Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Offset(1, 0)
Set yo_range = yo_range.Offset(1, 0)
Else
Exit Do
End If
Loop

Answer 1

We can see that the Copy method will re-arrange the data left-to-right. Try this:
Option Explicit
Public Sub CheckClipboard()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim rngToCopy As Range
Dim objData As Object
Dim varContents As Variant
' test data b,c,d,e,f,g in Sheet1!B1:G1
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1")
ws.Range("B1:G1").Value = Array("b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g")
Set rngToCopy = ws.Range("E1:F1,G1,B1:C1") '<-- note not left-to-right order
rngToCopy.Copy '<-- copy
' this is a late bound MSForms.DataObject
Set objData = CreateObject("New:{1C3B4210-F441-11CE-B9EA-00AA006B1A69}")
' copy current cell formula to clipboard
objData.GetFromClipboard
varContents = objData.GetText
Debug.Print varContents '<-- re-arranged left-to-right
' cancel copy
Application.CutCopyMode = False
End Sub
I get this in the immediate window:
b c d e f g
So, using Copy is not going to work for what you want to do.
In order to 'paste' the data in the order that you set it in the Range, you need to iterate each Area of the Range and then each cell (i.e. Range) in each Area. See the test code below which replicates your issue and presents a solution:
Option Explicit
Sub MixColumns()
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim rngIn As Range
Dim rngOut As Range
Dim lng As Long
Dim rngArea As Range
Dim rngCell As Range
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Sheet1")
' example 1
Set rngIn = ws.Range("B1:C1,E1:F1,G1") '<-- 5 cells, non-contiguous, forward order
Set rngOut = ws.Range("B2:F2") '<-- 5 contiguous cells
rngIn.Copy rngOut '<-- works
' example 2 - OP problem
Set rngIn = ws.Range("E1:F1,G1,B1:C1") '<-- 5 cells, non-contiguous, odd order
Set rngOut = ws.Range("B3:F3") '<-- 5 contiguous cells
rngIn.Copy rngOut '<-- should be e,f,g,b,c but gets b,c,e,f,g
' example 3 - solution for OP problem
Set rngIn = ws.Range("E1:F1,G1,B1:C1") '<-- 5 cells, non-contiguous, odd order
Set rngOut = ws.Range("B4:F4") '<-- 5 contiguous cells
lng = 1 '<-- rngOut cell counter
' iterate areas
For Each rngArea In rngIn.Areas
' iterate cells in area
For Each rngCell In rngArea.Cells
rngOut.Cells(1, lng).Value = rngCell.Value '<-- copy single value
lng = lng + 1 '<-- increment rngOut counter
Next rngCell
Next rngArea '<-- results in e,f,g,b,c
End Sub
Give this output: