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Определение первого вхождения одной строки в другую с помощью функции InStr из кода VBA Excel. Синтаксис функции, параметры, примеры использования.

InStr – это функция, которая предназначена для определения номера позиции первого вхождения одной строки в другую. Она возвращает значение типа Variant (Long).

Функция InStr ищет первое вхождение одной строки в другую с начала исходной строки. Для поиска первого совпадения с конца исходной строки используется функция InStrRev.

Функция InStr часто незаменима при определении параметров функций Left, Mid и Right. Также ее можно использовать для определения наличия искомой подстроки в заданной строке.

Еще есть в VBA Excel функция InStrB, которая работает с байтовыми данными, содержащимися в строке. Она возвращает позицию байта, а не символа первого вхождения одной строки в другую. Смотрите ниже Пример 3.

Синтаксис, параметры, значения

Синтаксис функции InStr

Полный вариант:

InStr([start], string1, string2, [compare])

Сокращенный вариант:

Чаще всего в VBA Excel используется сокращенный вариант функции со значениями необязательных параметров по умолчанию.

Параметры функции InStr

Параметр	Описание	Значение по умолчанию
start	Необязательный аргумент.* Числовое выражение, которое задает начальную позицию для поиска.	1
string1	Обязательный аргумент. Строковое выражение, в котором выполняется поиск.	–
string2	Обязательный аргумент. Искомое строковое выражение.	–
compare	Необязательный аргумент. Задает тип сравнения строк.	–1**

* Если задан аргумент compare, аргумент start является обязательным.
** Если аргумент compare не указан, используется значение инструкции Option Compare, заданное на уровне модуля. Если инструкция Option Compare в начале модуля отсутствует, используется ее значение по умолчанию – 0 (двоичное сравнение).

Если параметр start или параметр compare содержит значение NULL, возникает ошибка.

Значения аргумента «compare»

Константа	Значение	Описание
vbUseCompareOption	-1	Сравнение с помощью параметра инструкции Option Compare.
vbBinaryCompare	0	Двоичное (бинарное) сравнение.*
vbTextCompare	1	Текстовое сравнение.*
vbDatabaseCompare	2	Сравнение на основе сведений из базы данных. Только для Microsoft Access.

* При двоичном сравнении учитывается регистр букв, при текстовом – не учитывается.

Значения функции InStr

Если	Возвращаемое значение
string2 найдена в string1	Позиция первого найденного соответствия.
string2 не найдена в string1	0
string2 является пустой	start
string2 равна Null	Null
string1 является пустой	0
string1 равна Null	Null
start больше длины string1	0

Примеры использования в VBA Excel

Пример 1

Самый простой пример:

Sub Test1()

Dim x As Variant

x = InStr(«На горе Фернандо-По, где гуляет Гиппо-по», «Фернандо»)

MsgBox x

‘Здесь x будет равен 9

End Sub

Пример 2

В этом примере, используя одинаковые строки, в которых выполняется поиск, и искомые подстроки, применим разные виды сравнения – двоичное (бинарное) и текстовое, и посмотрим на результаты.

Sub Test2()

Dim x As Variant

x = InStr(10, «На горе Фернандо-По, где гуляет Гиппо-по», «по», 0)

MsgBox x

‘Здесь x будет равен 36 (поиск с учетом регистра символов)

x = InStr(10, «На горе Фернандо-По, где гуляет Гиппо-по», «по», 1)

MsgBox x

‘Здесь x будет равен 18 (поиск без учета регистра символов)

End Sub

Обратите внимание: несмотря на то, что начало поиска мы задали с 10 символа, номер позиции первого вхождения считается с начала строки, в которой выполняется поиск.

Пример 3

В этом примере посмотрим на результаты посимвольного и побайтового сравнения, опять же используя одинаковые строки и искомые подстроки.

Sub Test3()

Dim x As Variant

x = InStr(«На горе Фернандо-По, где гуляет Гиппо-по», «гор»)

MsgBox x

‘Здесь x будет равен 4

x = InStrB(«На горе Фернандо-По, где гуляет Гиппо-по», «гор»)

MsgBox x

‘Здесь x будет равен 7

End Sub

Результат 7 при побайтовом сравнении получен для кодировки, у которой один символ составляет 2 байта.

Источник

In this Article

INSTR Function
- Instr Example
- Instr Syntax
- Instr Start Position
- Case-Insensitive INSTR Test
InstrRev Function
VBA Coding Made Easy
InString Examples
- If String Contains Substring
- Find Text String in a Cell
- Find Position of a Character in a String
- Search String for Word
- If Variable Contains String
- Instr and the Left Function
Using Instr in Microsoft Access VBA

INSTR Function

The VBA Instr Function checks if a string of text is found in another string of text. It returns 0 if the text is not found. Otherwise it returns the character position where the text is found.

The Instr Function performs exact matches. The VBA Like Operator can be used instead to perform inexact matches / pattern matching by using Wildcards.

Instr Example

The following code snippet searches the string “Look in this string” for the word “Look”. The Instr Function returns 1 because the text is found in the first position.

Sub FindSomeText()
  MsgBox InStr("Look in this string", "Look")
End Sub

This second example returns 7 because the text is found starting in the 7th position:

Sub FindSomeText2()
  MsgBox InStr("Don't Look in this string", "Look")
End Sub

Important! The Instr Function is case-sensitive by default. This means “look” will not match with “Look”. To make the test case-insensitive read below.

Instr Syntax

The syntax for the Instr function is as follows:

Instr( [start], string, substring, [compare] )

[start] (optional) – This optional argument is the starting position of the search. Enter 1 to start searching from position 1 (or leave blank). Enter 5 to start searching from position 5. Important! The INSTR function calculates the character position by counting from 1 NOT from the [start] position.

string – The string of text to search in.

substring – The string of text to find in the primary string.

[compare] (optional) – By default, Instr is case-sensitive. By setting this argument you can make Instr Case insensitive:

Argument vb Value	Argument Integer	Description
vbBinaryCompare	0	(Default) Case-sensitive
vbTextCompare	1	Not Case-sensitive
vbDatabaseCompare	2	MS Access Only. Uses information in the database to perform comparison.

Instr Start Position

The Instr start position allows you to indicate the character position where you will begin your search. Keep in mind however, the Instr output will always count from 1.

Here we set the start position to 3 to skip the first B:

Sub Instr_StartPosition()
  MsgBox InStr(3, "ABC ABC", "B")
End Sub

The result is 6 because the second B is the 6th character in the string.

Case-Insensitive INSTR Test

By default, VBA treats “L” different from “l”. In other words, VBA is case-sensitive. This is true of all text functions. To make VBA case-insensitive, set the [compare] argument to 1 or vbTextCompare.

Public Sub FindText_IgnoreCase()
  MsgBox InStr(1, "Don't Look in this string", "look", vbTextCompare)
End Sub

Alternatively, you can add Option Compare Text to the top of your code module:

Option Compare Text

Option Compare Text

Public Sub FindText_IgnoreCase2()
  MsgBox InStr("Don't Look in this string", "look")
End Sub

Option Compare Text will impact all of the code in that module. I personally place this at the top of any module that deals with text because I never care about case differences.

InstrRev Function

The Instr Function searches from the left. Instead you can search from the right using the InstrRev Function. The InstrRev Function works very similarly to the Instr function.

Sub FindSomeText_FromRight()
  MsgBox InStrRev("Look in this string", "Look")
End Sub

Just like the Instr function this will return 1 because there is only one instance of “Look” in the text. But if we add a second “Look”, you’ll see that it returns the position of the right-most “Look”:

Sub FindSomeText_FromRight()
  MsgBox InStrRev("Look in this string Look", "Look")
End Sub

Next we will review more Instr examples.

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InString Examples

If String Contains Substring

Here we will use an If statement to test if a string contains a a substring of text:

Public Sub FindSomeText()

If InStr("Look in this string", "look") = 0 Then
   MsgBox "No match"
Else
   MsgBox "At least one match"
End If

End Sub

Find Text String in a Cell

You can also find a string in a cell:

Sub Find_String_Cell()
    If InStr(Range("B2").Value, "Dr.") > 0 Then
        Range("C2").Value = "Doctor"
    End If
End Sub

Or loop through a range of cells to test if the cells contain some text:

Sub Search_Range_For_Text()
Dim cell As Range

    For Each cell In Range("b2:b6")
        If InStr(cell.Value, "Dr.") > 0 Then
            cell.Offset(0, 1).Value = "Doctor"
        End If
    Next cell
    
End Sub

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Find Position of a Character in a String

This code will find the position of a single character in a string and assign the position to a variable:

Sub Find_Char()
  Dim n As Long
  n = InStr("Here Look Here", "L")
End Sub

Search String for Word

This code will search a string for a word:

Sub Search_String_For_Word()
    Dim n As Long
    n = InStr("Here Look Here", "Look")
  
    If n = 0 Then
        MsgBox "Word not found"
    Else
        MsgBox "Word found in position: " & n
    End If
End Sub

If Variable Contains String

This code will test if a string variable contains a string of text:

Sub Variable_Contains_String()
    Dim str As String
    str = "Look Here"
    
    If InStr(str, "Here") > 0 Then
        MsgBox "Here found!"
    End If
End Sub

Instr and the Left Function

Instr can be used along with other text functions like Left, Right, Len, and Mid to trim text.

With the Left function you can output the text prior to a string of text:

Sub Instr_Left()
    Dim str As String
    Dim n As Long
    
    str = "Look Here"
    
    n = InStr(str, "Here")
    
    MsgBox Left(str, n - 1)

End Sub

Using Instr in Microsoft Access VBA

All of the above examples work exactly the same in Access VBA as in Excel VBA.

To learn more, read our article: VBA text functions

<<Return to VBA Examples

Источник

Just to complete the possibilities listed, I would like to demonstrate how you can use Split() for an all-round function with the following variants depending on the optional argument n passed:

a) show whether a substring was found at all (-1 or omitted as default value)
b) show how many substrings were found (0) ,
c) show at which position the nth substring was found (1 .. n).

Function StrIncludes( _
      ByVal s As String, _
      Optional ByVal IncludeString As String = ",", _
      Optional n As Long = -1 _
    ) As Long
'Purp.: find specified substring based on numeric value n
'Note : 2nd argument IncludeString is optional (default value is comma if omitted)
'       3rd argument n:  -1~~>only boolean; 0~~>count(s); 1..n ~~>position
    Dim tmp: tmp = Split(s, IncludeString)
    StrIncludes = UBound(tmp) > 0           ' a) boolean return value indicating a found substring
    
    Select Case n                           ' individual numeric values:
        Case 0                              ' b) return Count(s), not boolean value
            StrIncludes = UBound(tmp)
        Case 1
            StrIncludes = IIf(StrIncludes, Len(tmp(n - 1)) + n, 0)
        Case Is > 1                        ' c) return Position of nth finding
            If n > UBound(tmp) Then StrIncludes = 0: Exit Function
            StrIncludes = IIf(StrIncludes, Len(tmp(0)) + n, 0)
            Dim i As Long
            For i = 2 To n: StrIncludes = StrIncludes + Len(tmp(i - 1)): Next
    End Select
End Function

Example call

Sub ExampleCall()
'   define base string
    Dim s As String
    s = "Take this example string, does it contain a comma, doesn't it?"
'a) check if base string contains indicated search string, e.g. a comma (default value)
    Debug.Print "Is Found: " & CBool(StrIncludes(s)) ' ~~> Is Found: True
'b) get number of substrings
    Debug.Print "Count(s): " & StrIncludes(s, , 0)   ' ~~> Count(s): 2
'c) get position of nth substring
    Debug.Print "~~~ Findings of nth substring ~~~ "
    Dim n As Long
    For n = 1 To 3
        Debug.Print n & ordinalSuffix(n) & " substring at Pos.:  " & StrIncludes(s, , n)
    Next
End Sub

Function ordinalSuffix(ByVal number As Long) As String
    Dim suffixes: suffixes = Split(" st nd rd th")
    ordinalSuffix = suffixes(Abs(number))
End Function

Debugging results in immediate window

Is Found: Wahr
Count(s): 2
~~~ Findings of nth substring ~~~ 
1st substring at Pos.:  25
2nd substring at Pos.:  50
3rd substring at Pos.:  0  ' no finding at all

Источник

This Excel tutorial explains how to use the Excel INSTR function with syntax and examples.

Description

The Microsoft Excel INSTR function returns the position of the first occurrence of a substring in a string.

The INSTR function is a built-in function in Excel that is categorized as a String/Text Function. It can be used as a VBA function (VBA) in Excel. As a VBA function, you can use this function in macro code that is entered through the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor.

Syntax

The syntax for the INSTR function in Microsoft Excel is:

InStr( [start], string, substring, [compare] )

Parameters or Arguments

start

Optional. It is the starting position for the search. If this parameter is omitted, the search will begin at position 1.

string

The string to search within.

substring

The substring that you want to find.

compare

Optional. It is the type of comparison to perform. It can be one of the following values:

VBA Constant	Value	Explanation
vbUseCompareOption	-1	Uses option compare
vbBinaryCompare	0	Binary comparison
vbTextCompare	1	Textual comparison

Returns

The INSTR function returns a numeric value. The first position in string is 1.
If substring is not found in string, then the INSTR function will return 0.

Note

When finding the location of a substring in a string, the INSTR function performs a case-sensitive search.

Applies To

Excel for Office 365, Excel 2019, Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2011 for Mac, Excel 2010, Excel 2007, Excel 2003, Excel XP, Excel 2000

Type of Function

VBA function (VBA)

Example (as VBA Function)

The INSTR function can only be used in VBA code in Microsoft Excel.

Let’s look at some Excel INSTR function examples and explore how to use the INSTR function in Excel VBA code:

InStr("Tech on the Net", "T")
Result: 1    'Shows how start is defaulted to 1 if omitted

InStr(1, "Tech on the Net", "T")
Result: 1

InStr(1, "Tech on the Net", "t")
Result: 9    'Shows that search is case-sensitive

InStr(10, "Tech on the Net", "t")
Result: 15

InStr(1, "Tech on the Net", "the")
Result: 9

InStr(1, "Tech on the Net", "M")
Result: 0    'Shows what is returned if substring is not found

For example:

Dim LPosition As Integer

LPosition = InStr(10, "Tech on the Net", "t")

In this example, the variable called LPosition would now contain the value 15.

Источник

VBA InStr function in Excel is categorized as a Text/String function in VBA. It is a built-in function in MS Office Excel. Finds the position of specified sub-string with the given string. Returns the first occurrence position as a integer value. If it doesn’t find specified sub string, It returns a value ‘0’. Performs a case sensitive search. It has four parameters.

The VBA InStr function use in either procedure or function in a VBA editor window in Excel. We can use this VBA InStr function any number of times in any number of procedures or functions. In the following section we learn what is the syntax and parameters of the InStr function, where we can use this VBA InStr function and real-time examples.

Table of Contents:

Overview
Syntax of VBA InStr Function in Excel:
Parameters or Arguments:
Where we can apply or use the InStr Function?
Example 1: Search specified substring in given string, starting at position 1
Example 2: Search specified substring within string, starting at position 3
Example 3: InStr Function using ‘vbBinaryCompare’ (Case Sensitive Search)
Example 4: InStr Function using vbTextCompare (Avoid Case Sensitive Search)
Example 5: Search for ‘@’ symbol in specified email
Example 6: Search for ‘.’ and file extension within specified file name
Instructions to Run VBA Macro Code
Other Useful Resources

The syntax of the VBA InStr function is

InStr ([start], string, substring, [compare])

In the above syntax the second and third arguments are mandatory (string & substring) parameters. And the first and last two parameters are optional (start & compare) Arguments.

Parameters or Arguments:

Where
Start: The start is an optional argument, and its default value is ‘1’. It represents the starting position for the search. It accepts integer type input value. If we don’t specify any value, default it considers default value as one.
String: The string is a mandatory argument. The string in which we want to search.
Substring: The substring is a mandatory argument. The substring that you want to find within string.
Compare: The compare is an optional argument. It represents which type of comparison needs to perform. It has four numeric values. It we don’t specify any value, default it considers a binary comparison. Here are the different four comparisons, which are shown in the below table.

VBA Compare	Value	Explanation
vbUseCompareOption	-1	Performs a comparision using the ‘option compare’
vbBinaryCompare	0	Performs a Binary comparison
vbTextCompare	1	Performs a Textual comparison
vbDatabaseCompare	2	Microsoft Access only. Performs a comparison based on information in your database.

Where we can apply or use the VBA InStr Function in Excel?

We can use this VBA InStr function in MS Office 365, MS Excel 2016, MS Excel 2013, 2011, Excel 2010, Excel 2007, Excel 2003, Excel 2016 for Mac, Excel 2011 for Mac, Excel Online, Excel for iPhone, Excel for iPad, Excel for Android tablets and Excel for Android Mobiles.

Example 1: Search specified substring in given string, starting at position 1

Here is a simple example of the VBA InStr function. This below example macro uses the InStr function and finds specified substring in within given string, starting at position 1

'Search for "if" in string "Life is Beautiful", starting at position 1.
Sub VBA_InStr_Function_Ex1()
    
    'Variable declaration
    Dim iPosition As Integer
    Dim sWord As String
    
    sWord = "Life is Beautiful"
    
    'Search for 'if' in given string
    iPosition = InStr(1, sWord, "if")
    'or
    iPosition = InStr(sWord, "if")
        
    'You can see answer in the Worksheet
    Sheets("VBAF1.com").Range("F8") = "The text 'if' position : " & iPosition
    
    'Display output message
    MsgBox "The text 'if' position: " & iPosition, vbInformation, "Example of InStr Function"
    
End Sub

In the above example ‘iPosition & sWord’ are declared as an integer and string data type. This variable ‘iPosition’ now contains the starting position of substring.
Output: Here is the screen shot of first example output.

Example 2: Search specified substring within string, starting at position 3

Here is another example of the VBA InStr function. This below example macro uses the InStr function and finds specified substring in within given string, starting at position 3

'Search for "if" in string "Life is Beautiful", starting at position 3.
Sub VBA_InStr_Function_Ex2()
    
    'Variable declaration
    Dim iPosition As Integer
    Dim sWord As String
    
    sWord = "Life is Beautiful"
    
    'Search for 'if' in given string
    iPosition = InStr(3, sWord, "if")
        
    'You can see answer in the Worksheet
    Sheets("VBAF1.com").Range("F11") = "The text 'if' position : " & iPosition
    
    'Display output message
    MsgBox "The text 'if' position : " & iPosition, vbInformation, "Example of InStr Function"
    
End Sub

Output: Here is the screen shot of second example output.

Example 3: InStr Function using ‘vbBinaryCompare’ (Case Sensitive Search)

Here is a simple example of the VBA InStr function. This below example macro uses the InStr function and finds ‘b’ substring in within given string, starting at position 1. Where ‘b’ is a small letter. It returns ‘0’ as an output. Notice fourth argument in InStr function. It performs a binary comparison.

'Search for "b" in string "Life is Beautiful", starting at position 1.
Sub VBA_InStr_Function_Ex3()
    
    'Variable declaration
    Dim iPosition As Integer
    Dim sWord As String
    
    sWord = "Life is Beautiful"
    
    'Search for 'b' in given string
    iPosition = InStr(1, sWord, "b")
    ‘or
   ‘iPosition =InStr(1, sWord, "b", vbBinaryCompare)

        
    'You can see answer in the Worksheet
    Sheets("VBAF1.com").Range("F14") = "The text 'b' position : " & iPosition
    
    'Display output message
    MsgBox "The text 'b' position : " & iPosition, vbInformation, "Example of InStr Function"
    
End Sub

Note: VBA InStr is a Case sensitive search.
Output: Here is the screen shot of third example output.

Example 4: InStr Function using vbTextCompare (Avoid Case Sensitive Search)

Here is one more example of the VBA InStr function. This below example macro uses the InStr function and finds ‘b’ substring in within given string, starting at position 1. Where ‘b’ is a small letter, but It avoids case sensitive search and returns ‘9’ as an output. Notice fourth argument in InStr function. It performs a textual comparison.

'Search for "b" in string "Life is Beautiful", starting at position 1.
Sub VBA_InStr_Function_Ex4()
    
    'Variable declaration
    Dim iPosition As Integer
    Dim sWord As String
    
    sWord = "Life is Beautiful"
    
    'Search for 'b' in given string
    iPosition = InStr(1, sWord, "b", vbTextCompare)
        
    'You can see answer in the Worksheet
    Sheets("VBAF1.com").Range("F17") = "The text 'b' position : " & iPosition
    
    'Display output message
    MsgBox "The text 'b' position : " & iPosition, vbInformation, "Example of InStr Function"
    
End Sub

Output: Here is the screen shot of fourth example output.

Example 5: Search for ‘@’ symbol in specified email

Here is a simple example of the VBA InStr function. This below example macro uses the InStr function and finds specified substring in within given string, starting at position 1. We can also search special characters within string. Sometimes we want to search ‘@’ position in email. Let’s see.

'Search for "@" in string "abcde@gmail.com", starting at position 1.
Sub VBA_InStr_Function_Ex5()
    
    'Variable declaration
    Dim iPosition As Integer
    Dim sWord As String
    
    sWord = "abcde@gmail.com"
    
    'Searh for '@' in given string
    iPosition = InStr(1, sWord, "@")
        
    'You can see answer in the Worksheet
    Sheets("VBAF1.com").Range("I8") = "The Special Character '@' position : " & iPosition
    
    'Display output message
    MsgBox "The Special Character '@' position : " & iPosition, vbInformation, "Example of InStr Function"
    
End Sub

Output: Here is the screen shot of fifth example output.

Example 6: Search for ‘.’ and file extension within specified file name

Here is a simple example of the VBA InStr function. This below example macro uses the InStr function and finds specified substring(.) in within given string, starting at position 1. Most of the time while writing VBA codes we try to extract file extension or file name. Before that we need to identify ‘.’ Position In file name.

'Search for '.' and file extension in the file name "xyz.xlsm"
Sub VBA_InStr_Function_Ex6()
    
    'Variable declarations
    Dim iPosition As Integer
    Dim sWord As String
    Dim sFileExtn As String
    
    sWord = "xyz.xlsm"
    
    'Search file extension in given string
    iPosition = InStr(1, sWord, ".")
    
    'Get File Extension
    sFileExtn = Right(sWord, Len(sWord) - iPosition)
        
    'You can see answer in the Worksheet
    Sheets("VBAF1.com").Range("I11") = "Specified File Extension is : " & sFileExtn
    
    'Display output message
    MsgBox "Specified File Extension is : " & sFileExtn, vbInformation, "Example of InStr Function"
    
End Sub

Output: Here is the screen shot of sixth example output.

Instructions to Run VBA Macro Code or Procedure:

You can refer the following link for the step by step instructions.

Instructions to run VBA Macro Code

Other Useful Resources:

Click on the following links of the useful resources. These helps to learn and gain more knowledge.

VBA Tutorial VBA Functions List VBA Arrays in Excel Blog

VBA Editor Keyboard Shortcut Keys List VBA Interview Questions & Answers

Источник

InStr Function in Excel VBA

The VBA InStr function helps find the position of a given substring within a string. It returns the first occurrence of the substring in the form of an integer (output). A string is a series of characters or text supplied to the function in double quotation marks.

For example, the InStr can extract a substring from a sentence, apply the desired font to a particular string, find the position of a character within the string, and so on.

The VBA InStr function in excel begins searching from left to right.

InStr Function in Excel VBA
- The Syntax of the VBA InStr Function
- VBA InStr Examples
  - Example #1–“Start” Argument is Omitted
  - Example #2–“Start” Argument is Specified
  - Example #3–Case-sensitive Search
  - Example #4–Case-insensitive Search
  - Example #5–Advanced Level
- Properties of VBA InStr Function
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Recommended Articles

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The Syntax of the VBA InStr Function

The syntax of the function is shown in the following image:

The function accepts the following arguments:

Start: This is the position from which the function begins to search. For example, if “start” is set at 3 and the character “a” is to be found in the word “Bangalore,” the output is 5.
String 1: This is the actual string within which the substring is to be found. For example, if the character “a” is to be found in the word “Bangalore,” “string 1” is “Bangalore.”
String 2: This is the substring to be found. For example, if the character “a” is to be found in the word “Bangalore,”“string 2” is “a.”
Compare: This is the type of comparison to be performed. The types of comparison methods are shown in the following image.

The three comparison methods are explained as follows:

1. vbBinaryCompare: This is a binary comparison and can be entered as zero (0). It is a case-sensitive search of the substring (string 2) in the actual string (string 1).

For example, if 0 is specified in the argument and:

a. The character “a” is to be found in the word “Bangalore,” the output is 2.

b. The character “A” is to be found in the word “Bangalore,” the output is 0. This is because the supplied string is in uppercase which is not found in “string 1.”

2. vbTextCompare: This is a textual comparison and can be entered as one (1). It is a case-insensitive search of the “string 2” in the “string 1.”

For example, if 1 is specified in the argument and:

a. The character “a” is to be found in the word “Bangalore,” the output is 2.

b. The character “A” is to be found in the word “Bangalore,” the output is 2. This is because this comparison method ignores the casing of the substring.

3. vbDatabaseCompare: This can be entered as two (2). It compares based on the information of the Microsoft Access database.

The “string 1” and “string 2” are required arguments, while “start” and “compare” are optional.

Note 1: If the “start” parameter is omitted, the default is 1, implying that the search begins from the first position.

Note 2: If the “compare” parameter is omitted, the default method is “vbBinaryCompare.”

VBA InStr Examples

You can download this VBA Instr Function Excel Template here – VBA Instr Function Excel Template

Example #1–“Start” Argument is Omitted

We have to find the position of character “a” in the word “Bangalore.”

Step 1: Enter the following code.

Sub Instr_Example1()

Dim i As Variant

i = InStr("Bangalore", "a")

MsgBox i

End Sub

Step 2: Press F5 or run the VBA codeVBA code refers to a set of instructions written by the user in the Visual Basic Applications programming language on a Visual Basic Editor (VBE) to perform a specific task.read more manually, as shown in the following image.

Step 3: The output is 2, as shown in the following image. Hence, the character “a” is at the second position in the word “Bangalore.”

Example #2–“Start” Argument is Specified

We have to find the position of character “a” in the word “Bangalore.” The search should begin from the third position.

Step 1: Enter the following code.

Sub Instr_Example2()

Dim i As Variant

i = InStr(3, "Bangalore", "a")

MsgBox i

End Sub

Step 2: Press F5 or run the VBA code manually, as shown in the following image.

Step 3: The output is 5, as shown in the following image. Since the search begins from the third letter (n), the VBA InStr function in excel ignores the first occurrence (second position) of the character “a.”

Hence, in this case, the character “a” is at the fifth position in the word “Bangalore.”

Example #3–Case-sensitive Search

We have to find the character “A” in the word “Bangalore.”

Let us supply the compare argument “vbBinaryCompare” to the VBA InStr function.

Step 1: Enter the following code.

Sub Instr_Example3()

Dim i As Variant

i = InStr(1, "Bangalore", "A", vbBinaryCompare)

MsgBox i

End Sub

Step 2: Press F5 or run the VBA code manually, as shown in the following image.

Step 3: The output is 0, as shown in the following image. Since the argument “vbBinaryCompare” is supplied, the VBA InStr function in excel searches for the uppercase letter “A.”

Hence, the function returns 0 because it could not find the uppercase letter “A” in the word “Bangalore.”

Example #4–Case-insensitive Search

We have to find the character “A” in the word “Bangalore” using the case-insensitive approach.

Let us supply the compare argument “vbTextCompare” to the VBA InStr function.

Step 1: Enter the following code.

Sub Instr_Example4()

Dim i As Variant

i = InStr(1, "Bangalore", "A", vbTextCompare)

MsgBox i

End Sub

Step 2: Press F5 or run the VBA code manually, as shown in the following image.

Step 3: The output is 2, as shown in the following image. Since the argument “vbTextCompare” is supplied, the InStr function ignores the casing of the substring “A.”

Hence, the function returns 2 because the letter “A” or “a” is present at the second position in the word “Bangalore.”

Example #5–Advanced Level

Let us consider an example of the advanced level of VBA InStr function in excel.

The succeeding image shows five worksheets in Excel with the names, “Data,” “Summary 1,” “Summary 2,” “Summary 3,” and “Summary 4.”

We want to hide all worksheets except for the sheet “Data.”

Step 1: Enter the following code to hide all those sheets which contain the word “Summary” in their name.

Sub To_Hide_Specific_Sheet()

Dim Ws As Worksheet

For Each Ws In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets

If InStr(Ws.Name, "Summary") > 0 Then
Ws.Visible = xlSheetVeryHidden
End If

Next Ws
'InStr function looks for word or phrase in the sheet name
'If it finds then it will be hidden
End Sub

Step 2: Press F5 or run the VBA code manually, as shown in the following image. In the output, only the sheet “Data” is visible. The remaining four sheets are hidden.

Likewise, we can unhide those sheetsThere are different methods to Unhide Sheets in Excel as per the need to unhide all, all except one, multiple, or a particular worksheet. You can use Right Click, Excel Shortcut Key, or write a VBA code in Excel. read more which contain the word “Summary” in their name.

Step 1: Enter the following code to unhide all the sheets.

Sub To_UnHide_Specific_Sheet()

Dim Ws As Worksheet

For Each Ws In ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets

If InStr(Ws.Name, "Summary") > 0 Then
Ws.Visible = xlSheetVisible
End If

Next Ws
'InStr function looks for word or phrase in the sheet name
'If it finds then it will be hidden
End Sub

Step 2: Press F5 or run the VBA code manually, as shown in the following image. In the output, all the five sheets are unhidden.

Properties of VBA InStr Function

The properties of the function are listed as follows:

It is a case-sensitive function. To eliminate this issue, supply the “compare” argument “vbTextCompare.”
It is a VBA functionVBA functions serve the primary purpose to carry out specific calculations and to return a value. Therefore, in VBA, we use syntax to specify the parameters and data type while defining the function. Such functions are called user-defined functions.read more and cannot be used like other in-built formulas of Excel.
It returns zero if it cannot find “string 2” in “string 1.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Define the VBA InStr function.

The VBA InStr function returns the position of one string within another string. This position corresponds to the first occurrence of the substring. The function returns an integer as the output. It returns zero (0) if the substring is not found within the string.

The syntax and the arguments of the function are listed as follows:

“InStr([start],string1,string2,[compare])”

• Start: It specifies the position from which search should begin. The default value is 1.
• String 1: It is the actual string within which the substring is to be searched.
• String 2: It is the substring to be searched.
• Compare: It specifies the comparison method to be used. The methods are stated as follows:
a. vbBinaryCompare or 0: It is used for a case-sensitive search of the substring within the string.
b. vbTextCompare or 1: It is used for a case-insensitive search of the substring within the string.
c. vbDatabaseCompare or 2: It is used for comparison with Microsoft Access database.

The arguments “string 1” and “string 2” are mandatory, while “start” and “compare” are optional.

What is the difference between the InStr and the InStrRev functions of VBA?

How to use the VBA InStr function in excel with wildcards?

With the usage of wildcards, the InStr function returns “true” or “false” depending on whether it has found the specified substring within the string or not.

The function supports the usage of the following wildcards:
1. Asterisk (*): It represents one or more characters of a string and works as follows:
• “a*” refers to the text that begins with the character “a.”
• “*a” refers to the text that ends with the character “a.”
• “*a*” refers to the text that has the character “a” in the middle.
2. Question mark (?): It represents one character of a string and works as follows:
• “a?” refers to two characters beginning with “a.”
• “?a” refers to two characters ending with “a.”
• “?a?” refers to three characters having “a” in the middle.
Likewise, the VBA InStr function can be used with the tilde (~) as well.

Quick Guide to String Functions

String operations	Function(s)
Append two or more strings	Format or «&»
Build a string from an array	Join
Compare — normal	StrComp or «=»
Compare — pattern	Like
Convert to a string	CStr, Str
Convert string to date	Simple: CDate Advanced: Format
Convert string to number	Simple: CLng, CInt, CDbl, Val Advanced: Format
Convert to unicode, wide, narrow	StrConv
Convert to upper/lower case	StrConv, UCase, LCase
Extract part of a string	Left, Right, Mid
Format a string	Format
Find characters in a string	InStr, InStrRev
Generate a string	String
Get length of a string	Len
Remove blanks	LTrim, RTrim, Trim
Replace part of a string	Replace
Reverse a string	StrReverse
Parse string to array	Split

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Introduction

Using strings is a very important part of VBA. There are many types of manipulation you may wish to do with strings. These include tasks such as

extracting part of a string
comparing strings
converting numbers to a string
formatting a date to include weekday
finding a character in a string
removing blanks
parsing to an array
and so on

The good news is that VBA contains plenty of functions to help you perform these tasks with ease.

This post provides an in-depth guide to using string in VBA. It explains strings in simple terms with clear code examples. I have laid it out so the post can be easily used as a quick reference guide.

If you are going to use strings a lot then I recommend you read the first section as it applies to a lot of the functions. Otherwise you can read in order or just go to the section you require.

Read This First!

The following two points are very important when dealing with VBA string functions.

The Original String is not Changed

An important point to remember is that the VBA string functions do not change the original string. They return a new string with the changes the function made. If you want to change the original string you simply assign the result to the original string. See the section Extracting Part of a String for examples of this.

How To Use Compare

Some of the string functions such as StrComp() and Instr() etc. have an optional Compare parameter. This works as follows:

vbTextCompare: Upper and lower case are considered the same

vbBinaryCompare: Upper and lower case are considered different

The following code uses the string comparison function StrComp() to demonstrate the Compare parameter

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub Comp1()

    ' Prints 0  : Strings match
    Debug.Print StrComp("ABC", "abc", vbTextCompare)
    ' Prints -1 : Strings do not match
    Debug.Print StrComp("ABC", "abc", vbBinaryCompare)

End Sub

You can use the Option Compare setting instead of having to use this parameter each time. Option Compare is set at the top of a Module. Any function that uses the Compare parameter will take this setting as the default. The two ways to use Option Compare are:

1. Option Compare Text: makes vbTextCompare the default Compare argument

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Option Compare Text

Sub Comp2()
    ' Strings match - uses vbCompareText as Compare argument
    Debug.Print StrComp("ABC", "abc")
    Debug.Print StrComp("DEF", "def")
End Sub

2. Option Compare Binary: Makes vbBinaryCompare the default Compare argument

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Option Compare Binary

Sub Comp2()
    ' Strings do not match - uses vbCompareBinary as Compare argument
    Debug.Print StrComp("ABC", "abc")
    Debug.Print StrComp("DEF", "def")
End Sub

If Option Compare is not used then the default is Option Compare Binary.

Now that you understand these two important points about string we can go ahead and look at the string functions individually.

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Appending Strings

ABC Cube Pile © Aleksandr Atkishkin | Dreamstime.com

You can append strings using the & operator. The following code shows some examples of using it

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub Append()

    Debug.Print "ABC" & "DEF"
    Debug.Print "Jane" & " " & "Smith"
    Debug.Print "Long " & 22
    Debug.Print "Double " & 14.99
    Debug.Print "Date " & #12/12/2015#

End Sub

You can see in the example that different types such as dates and number are automatically converted to strings. You may see the + operator being used to append strings. The difference is that this operator will only work with string types. If you try to use it with other type you will get an error.

    ' This will give the error message:  "Type Mismatch"
    Debug.Print "Long " + 22

If you want to do more complex appending of strings then you may wish to use the Format function described below.

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Extracting Part of a String

The functions discussed in this section are useful when dealing with basic extracting from a string. For anything more complicated you might want to check out my post on How to Easily Extract From Any String Without Using VBA InStr.

Function	Parameters	Description	Example
Left	string, length	Return chars from left side	Left(«John Smith»,4)
Right	string, length	Return chars from right side	Right(«John Smith»,5)
Mid	string, start, length	Return chars from middle	Mid(«John Smith»,3,2)

The Left, Right, and Mid functions are used to extract parts of a string. They are very simple functions to use. Left reads characters from the left, Right from the right and Mid from a starting point that you specify.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub UseLeftRightMid()

    Dim sCustomer As String
    sCustomer = "John Thomas Smith"

    Debug.Print Left(sCustomer, 4)  '  Prints: John
    Debug.Print Right(sCustomer, 5) '  Prints: Smith

    Debug.Print Left(sCustomer, 11)  '  Prints: John Thomas
    Debug.Print Right(sCustomer, 12)  '  Prints: Thomas Smith

    Debug.Print Mid(sCustomer, 1, 4) ' Prints: John
    Debug.Print Mid(sCustomer, 6, 6) ' Prints: Thomas
    Debug.Print Mid(sCustomer, 13, 5) ' Prints: Smith

End Sub

As mentioned in the previous section, VBA string functions do not change the original string. Instead, they return the result as a new string.

In the next example you can see that the string Fullname was not changed after using the Left function

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub UsingLeftExample()

    Dim Fullname As String
    Fullname = "John Smith"

    Debug.Print "Firstname is: "; Left(Fullname, 4)
    ' Original string has not changed
    Debug.Print "Fullname is: "; Fullname

 End Sub

If you want to change the original string you simply assign it to the return value of the function

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ChangingString()

    Dim name As String
    name = "John Smith"

    ' Assign return string to the name variable
    name = Left(name, 4)

    Debug.Print "Name is: "; name

 End Sub

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Searching Within a String

Function	Params	Description	Example
InStr	String1, String2	Finds position of string	InStr(«John Smith»,»h»)
InStrRev	StringCheck, StringMatch	Finds position of string from end	InStrRev(«John Smith»,»h»)

InStr and InStrRev are VBA functions used to search through strings for a substring. If the search string is found then the position(from the start of the check string) of the search string is returned. If the search string is not found then zero is returned. If either string is null then null is returned.

InStr Description of Parameters

InStr() Start[Optional], String1, String2, Compare[Optional]

Start As Long[Optional – Default is 1]: This is a number that specifies the starting search position from the left
String1 As String: The string to search
String2 As String: The string to search for
Compare As vbCompareMethod : See the section on Compare above for more details

InStr Use and Examples

InStr returns the first position in a string where a given substring is found. The following shows some examples of using it

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub FindSubString()

    Dim name As String
    name = "John Smith"

    ' Returns 3 - position of first h
    Debug.Print InStr(name, "h")
    ' Returns 10 - position of first h starting from position 4
    Debug.Print InStr(4, name, "h")
    ' Returns 8
    Debug.Print InStr(name, "it")
    ' Returns 6
    Debug.Print InStr(name, "Smith")
    ' Returns 0 - string "SSS" not found
    Debug.Print InStr(name, "SSS")

End Sub

InStrRev Description of Parameters

InStrRev() StringCheck, StringMatch, Start[Optional], Compare[Optional]

StringCheck As String: The string to search
StringMatch: The string to search for
Start As Long[Optional – Default is -1]: This is a number that specifies the starting search position from the right
Compare As vbCompareMethod: See the section on Compare above for more details

InStrRev Use and Examples

The InStrRev function is the same as InStr except that it searches from the end of the string. It’s important to note that the position returned is the position from the start. Therefore if there is only one instance of the search item then both InStr() and InStrRev() will return the same value.

The following code show some examples of using InStrRev

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub UsingInstrRev()

    Dim name As String
    name = "John Smith"

    ' Both Return 1 - position of the only J
    Debug.Print InStr(name, "J")
    Debug.Print InStrRev(name, "J")

    ' Returns 10 - second h
    Debug.Print InStrRev(name, "h")
    ' Returns 3 - first h as searches from position 9
    Debug.Print InStrRev(name, "h", 9)

    ' Returns 1
    Debug.Print InStrRev(name, "John")

End Sub

The InStr and InStrRev functions are useful when dealing with basic string searches. However, if you are going to use them for extracting text from a string they can make things complicated. I have written about a much better way to do this in my post How to Easily Extract From Any String Without Using VBA InStr.

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Removing Blanks

Function	Params	Description	Example
LTrim	string	Removes spaces from left	LTrim(» John «)
RTrim	string	Removes spaces from right	RTrim(» John «)
Trim	string	Removes Spaces from left and right	Trim(» John «)

The Trim functions are simple functions that remove spaces from either the start or end of a string.

Trim Functions Use and Examples

LTrim removes spaces from the left of a string
RTrim removes spaces from the right of a string
Trim removes spaces from the left and right of a string

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub TrimStr()

    Dim name As String
    name = "  John Smith  "

    ' Prints "John Smith  "
    Debug.Print LTrim(name)
    ' Prints "  John Smith"
    Debug.Print RTrim(name)
    ' Prints "John Smith"
    Debug.Print Trim(name)

End Sub

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Length of a String

Function	Params	Description	Example
Len	string	Returns length of string	Len («John Smith»)

Len is a simple function when used with a string. It simply returns the number of characters the string contains. If used with a numeric type such as long it will return the number of bytes.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub GetLen()

    Dim name As String
    name = "John Smith"

    ' Prints 10
    Debug.Print Len("John Smith")
    ' Prints 3
    Debug.Print Len("ABC")

    ' Prints 4 as Long is 4 bytes in size
    Dim total As Long
    Debug.Print Len(total)

End Sub

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Reversing a String

Function	Params	Description	Example
StrReverse	string	Reverses a string	StrReverse («John Smith»)

StrReverse is another easy-to-use function. It simply returns the given string with the characters reversed.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub RevStr()

    Dim s As String
    s = "Jane Smith"
    ' Prints: htimS enaJ
    Debug.Print StrReverse(s)

End Sub

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Comparing Strings

Function	Params	Description	Example
StrComp	string1, string2	Compares 2 strings	StrComp («John», «John»)

The function StrComp is used to compare two strings. The following subsections describe how it is used.

Description of Parameters

StrComp() String1, String2, Compare[Optional]

String1 As String: The first string to compare
String2 As String: The second string to compare
Compare As vbCompareMethod : See the section on Compare above for more details

StrComp Return Values

Return Value	Description
0	Strings match
-1	string1 less than string2
1	string1 greater than string2
Null	if either string is null

Use and Examples

The following are some examples of using the StrComp function

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub UsingStrComp()

   ' Returns 0
   Debug.Print StrComp("ABC", "ABC", vbTextCompare)
   ' Returns 1
   Debug.Print StrComp("ABCD", "ABC", vbTextCompare)
   ' Returns -1
   Debug.Print StrComp("ABC", "ABCD", vbTextCompare)
   ' Returns Null
   Debug.Print StrComp(Null, "ABCD", vbTextCompare)

End Sub

Compare Strings using Operators

You can also use the equals sign to compare strings. The difference between the equals comparison and the StrComp function are:

The equals sign returns only true or false.
You cannot specify a Compare parameter using the equal sign – it uses the “Option Compare” setting.

The following shows some examples of using equals to compare strings

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Option Compare Text

Sub CompareUsingEquals()

    ' Returns true
    Debug.Print "ABC" = "ABC"
    ' Returns true because "Compare Text" is set above
    Debug.Print "ABC" = "abc"
    ' Returns false
    Debug.Print "ABCD" = "ABC"
    ' Returns false
    Debug.Print "ABC" = "ABCD"
    ' Returns null
    Debug.Print Null = "ABCD"

End Sub

The Operator “<>” means “does not equal”. It is essentially the opposite of using the equals sign as the following code shows

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Option Compare Text

Sub CompareWithNotEqual()

    ' Returns false
    Debug.Print "ABC" <> "ABC"
    ' Returns false because "Compare Text" is set above
    Debug.Print "ABC" <> "abc"
    ' Returns true
    Debug.Print "ABCD" <> "ABC"
    ' Returns true
    Debug.Print "ABC" <> "ABCD"
    ' Returns null
    Debug.Print Null <> "ABCD"

End Sub

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Comparing Strings using Pattern Matching

Operator	Params	Description	Example
Like	string, string pattern	checks if string has the given pattern	«abX» Like «??X» «54abc5» Like «*abc#»

Token	Meaning
?	Any single char
#	Any single digit(0-9)
*	zero or more characters
[charlist]	Any char in the list
[!charlist]	Any char not in the char list

Pattern matching is used to determine if a string has a particular pattern of characters. For example, you may want to check that a customer number has 3 digits followed by 3 alphabetic characters or a string has the letters XX followed by any number of characters.

If the string matches the pattern then the return value is true, otherwise it is false.

Pattern matching is similar to the VBA Format function in that there are almost infinite ways to use it. In this section I am going to give some examples that will explain how it works. This should cover the most common uses. If you need more information about pattern matching you can refer to the MSDN Page for the Like operator.

Lets have a look at a basic example using the tokens. Take the following pattern string

[abc][!def]?#X*

Let’s look at how this string works
[abc] a character that is either a,b or c
[!def] a character that is not d,e or f
? any character
# any digit
X the character X
* followed by zero or more characters

Therefore the following string is valid
apY6X

a is one of abc
p is not one of the characters d, e or f
Y is any character
6 is a digit
X is the letter X

The following code examples show the results of various strings with this pattern

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub Patterns()

    ' True
    Debug.Print 1; "apY6X" Like "[abc][!def]?#X*"
    ' True - any combination of chars after x is valid
    Debug.Print 2; "apY6Xsf34FAD" Like "[abc][!def]?#X*"
    ' False - char d not in [abc]
    Debug.Print 3; "dpY6X" Like "[abc][!def]?#X*"
    ' False - 2nd char e is in [def]
    Debug.Print 4; "aeY6X" Like "[abc][!def]?#X*"
    ' False - A at position 4 is not a digit
    Debug.Print 5; "apYAX" Like "[abc][!def]?#X*"
    ' False - char at position 5 must be X
    Debug.Print 6; "apY6Z" Like "[abc][!def]?#X*"

End Sub

Real-World Example of Pattern Matching

To see a real-world example of using pattern matching check out Example 3: Check if a filename is valid.

Important Note on VBA Pattern Matching

The Like operator uses either Binary or Text comparison based on the Option Compare setting. Please see the section on Compare above for more details.

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Replace Part of a String

Function	Params	Description	Example
Replace	string, find, replace, start, count, compare	Replaces a substring with a substring	Replace («Jon»,»n»,»hn»)

Replace is used to replace a substring in a string by another substring. It replaces all instances of the substring that are found by default.

Replace Description of Parameters

Replace() Expression, Find, Replace, Start[Optional], Count[Optional], Compare[Optional]

Expression As String: The string to replace chars in
Find As String: The substring to replace in the Expression string
Replace As String: The string to replace the Find substring with
Start As Long[Optional – Default is 1]: The start position in the string
Count As Long[Optional – Default is -1]: The number of substitutions to make. The default -1 means all.
Compare As vbCompareMethod : See the section on Compare above for more details

Use and Examples

The following code shows some examples of using the Replace function

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ReplaceExamples()

    ' Replaces all the question marks with(?) with semi colons(;)
    Debug.Print Replace("A?B?C?D?E", "?", ";")
    ' Replace Smith with Jones
    Debug.Print Replace("Peter Smith,Ann Smith", "Smith", "Jones")
    ' Replace AX with AB
    Debug.Print Replace("ACD AXC BAX", "AX", "AB")

End Sub

Output
A;B;C;D;E
Peter Jones,Sophia Jones
ACD ABC BAB

In the following examples we use the Count optional parameter. Count determines the number of substitutions to make. So for example, setting Count equal to one means that only the first occurrence will be replaced.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ReplaceCount()

    ' Replaces first question mark only
    Debug.Print Replace("A?B?C?D?E", "?", ";", Count:=1)
    ' Replaces first three question marks
    Debug.Print Replace("A?B?C?D?E", "?", ";", Count:=3)

End Sub

Output
A;B?C?D?E
A;B;C;D?E

The Start optional parameter allow you to return part of a string. The position you specify using Start is where it starts returning the string from. It will not return any part of the string before this position whether a replace was made or not.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ReplacePartial()

    ' Use original string from position 4
    Debug.Print Replace("A?B?C?D?E", "?", ";", Start:=4)
    ' Use original string from position 8
    Debug.Print Replace("AA?B?C?D?E", "?", ";", Start:=8)
    ' No item replaced but still only returns last 2 characters
    Debug.Print Replace("ABCD", "X", "Y", Start:=3)

End Sub

Output
;C;D;E
;E
CD

Sometimes you may only want to replace only upper or lower case letters. You can use the Compare parameter to do this. This is used in a lot of string functions. For more information on this check out the Compare section above.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ReplaceCase()

    ' Replace capital A's only
    Debug.Print Replace("AaAa", "A", "X", Compare:=vbBinaryCompare)
    ' Replace All A's
    Debug.Print Replace("AaAa", "A", "X", Compare:=vbTextCompare)

End Sub

Output
XaXa
XXXX

Multiple Replaces

If you want to replace multiple values in a string you can nest the calls. In the following code we want to replace X and Y with A and B respectively.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ReplaceMulti()

    Dim newString As String

    ' Replace A with X
    newString = Replace("ABCD ABDN", "A", "X")
    ' Now replace B with Y in new string
    newString = Replace(newString, "B", "Y")

    Debug.Print newString

End Sub

In the next example we will change the above code to perform the same task. We will use the return value of the first replace as the argument for the second replace.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ReplaceMultiNested()

    Dim newString As String

    ' Replace A with X and B with Y
    newString = Replace(Replace("ABCD ABDN", "A", "X"), "B", "Y")

    Debug.Print newString

End Sub

The result of both of these Subs is
XYCD XYDN

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Convert Types to String(Basic)

This section is about converting numbers to a string. A very important point here is that most the time VBA will automatically convert to a string for you. Let’s look at some examples

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub AutoConverts()

    Dim s As String
    ' Automatically converts number to string
    s = 12.99
    Debug.Print s

    ' Automatically converts multiple numbers to string
    s = "ABC" & 6 & 12.99
    Debug.Print s

    ' Automatically converts double variable to string
    Dim d As Double, l As Long
    d = 19.99
    l = 55
    s = "Values are " & d & " " & l
    Debug.Print s

End Sub

When you run the above code you can see that the number were automatically converted to strings. So when you assign a value to a string VBA will look after the conversion for you most of the time. There are conversion functions in VBA and in the following sub sections we will look at the reasons for using them.

Explicit Conversion

Function	Params	Description	Example
CStr	expression	Converts a number variable to a string	CStr («45.78»)
Str	number	Converts a number variable to a string	Str («45.78»)

In certain cases you may want to convert an item to a string without have to place it in a string variable first. In this case you can use the Str or CStr functions. Both take an expression as a function and this can be any type such as long, double, data or boolean.

Let’s look at a simple example. Imagine you are reading a list of values from different types of cells to a collection. You can use the Str/CStr functions to ensure they are all stored as strings. The following code shows an example of this

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub UseStr()

    Dim coll As New Collection
    Dim c As Range

    ' Read cell values to collection
    For Each c In Range("A1:A10")
        ' Use Str to convert cell value to a string
        coll.Add Str(c)
    Next

    ' Print out the collection values and type
    Dim i As Variant
    For Each i In coll
        Debug.Print i, TypeName(i)
    Next

End Sub

In the above example we use Str to convert the value of the cell to a string. The alternative to this would be to assign the value to a string and then assigning the string to the collection. So you can see that using Str here is much more efficient.

Multi Region

The difference between the Str and CStr functions is that CStr converts based on the region. If your macros will be used in multiple regions then you will need to use CStr for your string conversions.

It is good to practise to use CStr when reading values from cells. If your code ends up being used in another region then you will not have to make any changes to make it work correctly.

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Convert String to Number- CLng, CDbl, Val etc.

Function	Returns	Example
CBool	Boolean	CBool(«True»), CBool(«0»)
CCur	Currency	CCur(«245.567»)
CDate	Date	CDate(«1/1/2017»)
CDbl	Double	CCur(«245.567»)
CDec	Decimal	CDec(«245.567»)
CInt	Integer	CInt(«45»)
CLng	Long Integer	CLng(«45.78»)
CVar	Variant	CVar(«»)

The above functions are used to convert strings to various types. If you are assigning to a variable of this type then VBA will do the conversion automatically.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub StrToNumeric()

    Dim l As Long, d As Double, c As Currency
    Dim s As String
    s = "45.923239"

    l = s
    d = s
    c = s

    Debug.Print "Long is "; l
    Debug.Print "Double is "; d
    Debug.Print "Currency is "; c

End Sub

Using the conversion types gives more flexibility. It means you can determine the type at runtime. In the following code we set the type based on the sType argument passed to the PrintValue function. As this type can be read from an external source such as a cell, we can set the type at runtime. If we declare a variable as Long then it will always be long when the code runs.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub Test()
    ' Prints  46
    PrintValue "45.56", "Long"
    ' Print 45.56
    PrintValue "45.56", ""
End Sub

Sub PrintValue(ByVal s As String, ByVal sType As String)

    Dim value

    ' Set the data type based on a type string
    If sType = "Long" Then
        value = CLng(s)
    Else
        value = CDbl(s)
    End If
    Debug.Print "Type is "; TypeName(value); value

End Sub

If a string is not a valid number(i.e. contains symbols other numeric) then you get a “Type Mismatch” error.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub InvalidNumber()

    Dim l As Long

    ' Will give type mismatch error
    l = CLng("45A")

End Sub

The Val Function

The value function convert numeric parts of a string to the correct number type.

The Val function converts the first numbers it meets. Once it meets letters in a string it stops. If there are only letters then it returns zero as the value. The following code shows some examples of using Val

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub UseVal()

    ' Prints 45
    Debug.Print Val("45 New Street")

    ' Prints 45
    Debug.Print Val("    45 New Street")

    ' Prints 0
    Debug.Print Val("New Street 45")

    ' Prints 12
    Debug.Print Val("12 f 34")

End Sub

The Val function has two disadvantages

1. Not Multi-Region – Val does not recognise international versions of numbers such as using commas instead of decimals. Therefore you should use the above conversion functions when you application will be used in multiple regions.

2. Converts invalid strings to zero – This may be okay in some instances but in most cases it is better if an invalid string raises an error. The application is then aware there is a problem and can act accordingly. The conversion functions such as CLng will raise an error if the string contains non-numeric characters.

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Generate a String of items – String Function

Function	Params	Description	Example
String	number, character	Converts a number variable to a string	String (5,»*»)

The String function is used to generate a string of repeated characters. The first argument is the number of times to repeat it, the second argument is the character.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub GenString()

    ' Prints: AAAAA
    Debug.Print String(5, "A")
    ' Prints: >>>>>
    Debug.Print String(5, 62)
    ' Prints: (((ABC)))
    Debug.Print String(3, "(") & "ABC" & String(3, ")")

End Sub

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Convert Case/Unicode – StrConv, UCase, LCase

Function	Params	Description	Example
StrConv	string, conversion, LCID	Converts a String	StrConv(«abc»,vbUpperCase)

If you want to convert the case of a string to upper or lower you can use the UCase and LCase functions for upper and lower respectively. You can also use the StrConv function with the vbUpperCase or vbLowerCase argument. The following code shows example of using these three functions

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ConvCase()

    Dim s As String
    s = "Mary had a little lamb"

    ' Upper
    Debug.Print UCase(s)
    Debug.Print StrConv(s, vbUpperCase)

    ' Lower
    Debug.Print LCase(s)
    Debug.Print StrConv(s, vbLowerCase)

    ' Sets the first letter of each word to upper case
    Debug.Print StrConv(s, vbProperCase)

End Sub

Output
MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
mary had a little lamb
mary had a little lamb
Mary Had A Little Lamb

Other Conversions

As well as case the StrConv can perform other conversions based on the Conversion parameter. The following table shows a list of the different parameter values and what they do. For more information on StrConv check out the MSDN Page.

Constant	Value	Converts
vbUpperCase	1	to upper case
vbLowerCase	2	to lower case
vbProperCase	3	first letter of each word to uppercase
vbWide*	4	from Narrow to Wide
vbNarrow*	8	from Wide to Narrow
vbKatakana**	16	from Hiragana to Katakana
vbHiragana	32	from Katakana to Hiragana
vbUnicode	64	to unicode
vbFromUnicode	128	from unicode

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Using Strings With Arrays

Function	Params	Description	Example
Split	expression, delimiter, limit, compare	Parses a delimited string to an array	arr = Split(«A;B;C»,»;»)
Join	source array, delimiter	Converts a one dimensional array to a string	s = Join(Arr, «;»)

String to Array using Split

You can easily parse a delimited string into an array. You simply use the Split function with the delimiter as parameter. The following code shows an example of using the Split function.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub StrToArr()

    Dim arr() As String
    ' Parse string to array
    arr = Split("John,Jane,Paul,Sophie", ",")

    Dim name As Variant
    For Each name In arr
        Debug.Print name
    Next

End Sub

Output
John
Jane
Paul
Sophie

You can find a complete guide to the split function here.

Array to String using Join

If you want to build a string from an array you can do so easily using the Join function. This is essentially a reverse of the Split function. The following code provides an example of using Join

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub ArrToStr()

    Dim Arr(0 To 3) As String
    Arr(0) = "John"
    Arr(1) = "Jane"
    Arr(2) = "Paul"
    Arr(3) = "Sophie"

    ' Build string from array
    Dim sNames As String
    sNames = Join(Arr, ",")

    Debug.Print sNames

End Sub

Output
John,Jane,Paul,Sophie

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Formatting a String

Function	Params	Description	Example
Format	expression, format, firstdayofweek, firstweekofyear	Formats a string	Format(0.5, «0.00%»)

The Format function is used to format a string based on given instructions. It is mostly used to place a date or number in certain format. The examples below show the most common ways you would format a date.

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub FormatDate()

    Dim s As String
    s = "31/12/2015 10:15:45"

    ' Prints: 31 12 15
    Debug.Print Format(s, "DD MM YY")
    ' Prints: Thu 31 Dec 2015
    Debug.Print Format(s, "DDD DD MMM YYYY")
    ' Prints: Thursday 31 December 2015
    Debug.Print Format(s, "DDDD DD MMMM YYYY")
    ' Prints: 10:15
    Debug.Print Format(s, "HH:MM")
    ' Prints: 10:15:45 AM
    Debug.Print Format(s, "HH:MM:SS AM/PM")

End Sub

The following examples are some common ways of formatting numbers

' https://excelmacromastery.com/
Sub FormatNumbers()

    ' Prints: 50.00%
    Debug.Print Format(0.5, "0.00%")
    ' Prints: 023.45
    Debug.Print Format(23.45, "00#.00")
    ' Prints: 23,000
    Debug.Print Format(23000, "##,000")
    ' Prints: 023,000
    Debug.Print Format(23000, "0##,000")
    ' Prints: $23.99
    Debug.Print Format(23.99, "$#0.00")

End Sub

The Format function is quite a large topic and could use up a full post on it’s own. If you want more information then the MSDN Format Page provides a lot of information.

Helpful Tip for Using Format

A quick way to figure out the formatting to use is by using the cell formatting on an Excel worksheet. For example add a number to a cell. Then right click and format the cell the way you require. When you are happy with the format select Custom from the category listbox on the left. When you select this you can see the format string in the type textbox(see image below). This is the string format you can use in VBA.

Format Cells Dialog

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Conclusion

In almost any type of programming, you will spend a great deal of time manipulating strings. This post covers the many different ways you use strings in VBA.

To get the most from use the table at the top to find the type of function you wish to use. Clicking on the left column of this function will bring you to that section.

If you are new to strings in VBA, then I suggest you check out the Read this First section before using any of the functions.

What’s Next?

Free VBA Tutorial If you are new to VBA or you want to sharpen your existing VBA skills then why not try out the The Ultimate VBA Tutorial.

Related Training: Get full access to the Excel VBA training webinars and all the tutorials.

(NOTE: Planning to build or manage a VBA Application? Learn how to build 10 Excel VBA applications from scratch.)

Источник

Синтаксис, параметры, значения

Синтаксис функции InStr

Параметры функции InStr

Значения аргумента «compare»

Значения функции InStr

Примеры использования в VBA Excel

Пример 1

Пример 2

Пример 3

INSTR Function

Instr Example

Instr Syntax

Instr Start Position

Case-Insensitive INSTR Test

InstrRev Function

VBA Coding Made Easy

InString Examples

If String Contains Substring

Find Text String in a Cell

Find Position of a Character in a String

Search String for Word

If Variable Contains String

Instr and the Left Function

Using Instr in Microsoft Access VBA

Description

Syntax

Parameters or Arguments

Returns

Note

Applies To

Type of Function

Example (as VBA Function)

Parameters or Arguments:

Where we can apply or use the VBA InStr Function in Excel?

Example 1: Search specified substring in given string, starting at position 1

Example 2: Search specified substring within string, starting at position 3

Example 3: InStr Function using ‘vbBinaryCompare’ (Case Sensitive Search)

Example 4: InStr Function using vbTextCompare (Avoid Case Sensitive Search)

Example 5: Search for ‘@’ symbol in specified email

Example 6: Search for ‘.’ and file extension within specified file name

Instructions to Run VBA Macro Code or Procedure:

Other Useful Resources:

InStr Function in Excel VBA

Table of contents

The Syntax of the VBA InStr Function

VBA InStr Examples

Example #1–“Start” Argument is Omitted

Example #2–“Start” Argument is Specified

Example #3–Case-sensitive Search

Example #4–Case-insensitive Search

Example #5–Advanced Level

Properties of VBA InStr Function

Frequently Asked Questions

Recommended Articles

Quick Guide to String Functions

The Webinar

Introduction

Read This First!

The Original String is not Changed

How To Use Compare

Appending Strings

Extracting Part of a String

Searching Within a String

InStr Description of Parameters

InStr Use and Examples

InStrRev Description of Parameters

InStrRev Use and Examples

Removing Blanks

Trim Functions Use and Examples

Length of a String

Reversing a String

Comparing Strings

Description of Parameters

StrComp Return Values

Use and Examples

Compare Strings using Operators

Comparing Strings using Pattern Matching

Real-World Example of Pattern Matching

Important Note on VBA Pattern Matching

Replace Part of a String