ETABS 2016 VBA SetOConcrete_1 assigns only the last Fc value for all definitions - vba

Question

I'm working on an Excel VBA module that supplies certain data to ETABS 2016, part of the code is to define multiple material properties through using API methods SetMaterial and SetOConcrete_1.
The effective part of the code is this
'Values:-
'Val(0)=label, Val(1)=Fc', Val(2)=E, Vals(3)=StrainAtFc, Val(4)=UltimateStrain, Val(5)=PoisonRatio, Val(6)=Thermal Coef
'Val(7) = UnitWeight
For i = 0 To iCount - 1
.
.
SOME LONG CODE TO RETRIEVE DATA TO A DYNAMIC ARRAY OF VARIANTS CALLED "VAL"
.
.
With myModel.PropMaterial
MsgBox Val(0) & " " & Val(1) & " " & i 'debug line to display input values for label and FC'
ret = .SetMaterial(Val(0), eMatType_Concrete)
ret = .SetOConcrete_1(Val(0), Val(1), False, 0, 2, 4, Val(3), Val(4), -0.1)
ret = .SetWeightAndMass(Val(0), 1, Val(7))
ret = .SetMPIsotropic(Val(0), Val(2), Val(5), Val(6))
End With
Next i
I've even added a debugging part to display the values of interest, per one definition, two definitions, and so on, this part is
'Debugging part
If i >= 0 Then
On Error GoTo 0
Err.Raise (2)
End If
'End of Debugging part
and then, I change i >= 0 to i >= 1 and to i >= 2 to display the needed number of iterations .
The debugging part always displays the correct and needed values of Val(0)(the material's Name) and Val(1)(the material's Fc) for every iteration,
for example, the values for every iteration are:-
1- Iteration no.1: Val(0) = "C35", Val(1) = 35000, i = 0
2- Iteration no.2: Val(0) = "C37", Val(1) = 37000, i = 1
3- Iteration no.3: Val(0) = "C38", Val(1) = 38000, i = 2
and Then, what happens in ETABS is the following:-
1- With i >= 0 I get one iteration and one material definition of "C35", "C35" has Fc = 35MPa [Correct Result]
2- With i >= 1 I get two iterations and two material definitions of "C35" and "C37", but all of them have Fc = 37 MPa [Wrong Result]
3- With i >= 2 I get three iterations and three material definitions of "C35", "C37" and "C38", but all of them have Fc = 38 MPa [Wrong Result]
So, How Can the supplied values of the material's name and Fc to SetOConcrete_1 be different at every iteration and ETABS just ignores all that work and just supplies only the last Fc value to all materials?!

Answer 1

Is the ETABS API taking the value you supply it as a reference? That's what it seems like based on your explanation.
Public Sub Temp()
'In order to use early-binding Dictionary you need to set a
'reference in Tools>References>"Microsoft Scripting Runtime"
Dim foo As Dictionary
Set foo = New Dictionary
Dim bar As Range
Set bar = ActiveSheet.Range("A1")
bar.Value2 = "Original"
foo.Add "1", bar.Value2
foo.Add "2", bar
bar.Value2 = "Changed"
Debug.Print foo("1")
Debug.Print foo("2")
End Sub
If you go through this example you'll notice that when an item is added with .Value2, value type, it doesn't change. When it's fed in as a Range, reference type, it will change.
You may have a different outcome if you extract each value in the Val variable into their respective type before feeding them in.
Dim label As String
label = Val(0)
Dim Fc As Long
Fc = Val(1)
Dim strainAtFc As Long
strainAtFc = Val(3)
Dim ultimateStrain As Long
ultimateStrain = Val(4)
Dim poisonRatio As Long
poisonRatio = Val(5)
Dim thermalCoefficient As Long
thermalCoefficient = Val(6)
Dim unitWeight As Long
unitWeight = Val(7)
***Note that Val is also a member of VBA.Conversion and could cause issues if it isn't Dimd.