Vba excel список списков

The VBA ListBox is a very useful control. If you are creating any kind of UserForm application you will most likely use it.

In this post, I’m going to show you everything you need to know about the VBA ListBox so you can avoid the common pitfalls and get up and running quickly and easily.

What is the VBA ListBox used for?

The ListBox is used to display a list of items to the user so that the user can then select one or more. The ListBox can have multiple columns and so it is useful for tasks like displaying records.

VBA ListBox versus the VBA ComboBox

The ListBox is very similar to the ComboBox which also allows the user to select an item from a list of items. The main differences are:

1. The Listbox allows multiple selections. The Combobox only allows one selection.
2. Items in the ListBox are always visible. The Combobox items are only visible when you click on the “down” icon.
3. The ComboBox has the ability to filter the contents when you type.

The VBA ListBox Properties Quick Guide

How to Add Items to the ListBox

There are 3 ways to add items to the VBA Listbox:

1. One at a time using the AddItem property.
2. Adding an array/range using the List property.
3. Adding a Range using the RowSource property.

The List and RowSource properties are the most commonly used. The table below provides a quick comparison of these properties:

VBA ListBox List Property

The List property allows you to add to contents of an array to a ListBox. As Range.Value is an array you can copy the contents of any range to the Listbox.

Here are some examples of using the List property:

' Add the contents of an array
ListBox1.List = Array("Apple", "Orange", "Banana")

' Add the contents of a Range
ListBox1.List = Range("A1:E5").Value

You can also use the List property to write from the ListBox to an array or range:

Range("A1:B3").Value = ListBox1.List

Important Note: If there is only one item in a range then VBA doesn’t covert it to an array. Instead, it converts the range to a string/double/date etc.

Sheet1.Range("A1:A2").Value ' Array
Sheet1.Range("A1").Value ' Single value variable

In this case, you need to use AddItem to add the value to the ListBox:

 If myRange.Count = 1 Then
    ListBox1.AddItem myRange
 Else
    ListBox1.List = myRange.Value
 End If

The List Property and Column Headers

The ListBox only displays column headers if you use RowSource. Otherwise, they are not available. The best way to add column headers(and it’s not a great way) is to add Labels above the ListBox columns. One advantage is that you can use the click event of the Label if you want to implement something like sorting.

Updating Items using the List Property

You can update individual items in the ListBox using the List Property.

Imagine we have a ListBox with data like this:

If we want to change Nelson in row 3, column 2 we do it like this:

ListBox1.List(2, 1) = "SMITH"

The result we get is:

The List property rows and columns are zero-based so this means row 1 is 0, row 2 is 1, row 3 is 2 and so on:

VBA ListBox RowSource

The RowSource property allows us to add a range to the ListBox. This is different from the List Property in that the Range is linked to the ListBox. If data in the Range changes then the data in the ListBox will update automatically.

When we use RowSource the data in the ListBox is read-only. We can change the RowSource range but we cannot change the values in the ListBox.

How to use RowSource

We add the RowSource range as a string like this:

 ListBox1.RowSource = "Sheet1!A1:A5"

If you don’t specify the sheet the VBA will use the active sheet

 ListBox1.RowSource = "A1:A5"

If you are using the Address of a range object with RowSource then it is important to use the External parameter. This will ensure that RowSource will read from the  sheet of the range rather than the active sheet:

 ' Get the range
 Dim rg As Range
 Set rg = Sheet1.Range("A1:A5")

 ' Address will be $A$1:$A$5 which will use the active sheet
 ListBox1.RowSource = rg.Address
 Debug.Print ListBox1.RowSource

 ' Address will be [Book2]Sheet1!$A$1:$A$5 which will use Sheet1
 ListBox1.RowSource = rg.Address(External:=True)
 Debug.Print ListBox1.RowSource

RowSource Column Headers

Column headers are automatically added to the ListBox when you use the RowSource property. The ColumnHeads property must be set to True or the headers will not appear. You can set this property in the code or in the properties window of the ListBox.

  ListBox1.ColumnHeads = True

The column headers are taken from the row above the range used for the RowSource.  For example, if your range is A2 to C5 then the column header will use the range A1 to C1:

Here is an example: We want to add the data below to our ListBox and we want A1 to C1 to be the header.

We set the RowSource property to A2:C5 and set the ColumnHeads property to true:

With ListBox1
    .RowSource = "sheet1!A2:C5"
    .ColumnHeads = True
    .ColumnWidths = "80;80;80"
End With

The result will look like this:

VBA ListBox AddItem

It is very rare that you would use the AddItem property to fill the ListBox. List and RowSource are much more efficient. AddItem is normally used when the Listbox already has items and you want to add a new item.

The AddItem property is simple to use. You provide the item you want to add as a parameter. The ListBox will automatically add it as the last item:

With ListBox
    .AddItem "Apple"
    .AddItem "Orange"
End With

If you want to Insert the item at a certain position you can use the second parameter. Keep in mind that this is a zero-based position, so if you want the item in position one then the value is 0, position 2 the value is 1, and so on.

With ListBox1
    .AddItem "Apple"
    .AddItem "Orange"
    
    ' Add "Banana" to position 1(Index 0)
    .AddItem "Banana", 0
End With

The order will be:
Banana
Apple
Orange

If you want to add multiple columns with AddItem then you need to use the List property after you use AddItem:

 With listboxFruit
    .List = myRange.Value
    .AddItem "Banana"
    
    ' Add to the second column of 'Banana' row
    .List(2, 1) = "$2.99"
 End With

One reason for using AddItem  is if you are adding from data that isn’t sequential so you cannot use the List or RowSource properties:

 Dim cell As Range
 ' Fill items with first letter is A
 For Each cell In Sheet1.Range("A1:A50")
    If Left(cell.Value, 1) = "A" Then
        comboBoxFruit.AddItem cell.Value
    End If
 Next

Important Note: If you fill a ListBox with RowSource then you cannot use AddItem to add a new item. If you try you will get a “Runtime Error 70 – Permission Denied”.

VBA ListBox Selected Items

If only one item is selected then you can use ListIndex to get the selected row. Remember that it is zero-based so row 1 in the ListBox is at ListIndex 0, row 2 at ListIndex 1 and so on.

   MsgBox "The selected item is " & ListBox1.ListIndex

If the ListBox has multiple columns then you can use the ListIndex and List properties together to return a value in the selected row:

  ' Display the value from the second column of the selected row
  MsgBox ListBox1.List(ListBox1.ListIndex, 2)

If multiple items are selected then you can use the GetSelectedRows function which returns a collection of selected rows:

 Sub Example()
    
    ' Store the row numbers of selected items to a collection
    Dim selectedRows As Collection
    Set selectedRows = GetSelectedRows()
    
    ' Print the selected rows numbers to the Immediate Window
    Dim row As Long
    For Each row In selectedRows
        ' Print to the Immediate Window Ctrl + G
        Debug.Print row
    Next row

 End Sub

 ' Returns a collection of all the selected items
 Function GetSelectedRows() As Collection

    ' Create the collection
    Dim coll As New Collection

    ' Read through each item in the listbox
    Dim i As Long
    For i = 0 To listboxFruit.ListCount - 1
    
        ' Check if item at position i is selected
        If listboxFruit.Selected(i) Then
            coll.Add i
        End If
    Next i

    Set GetSelectedRows = coll

End Function

Reading Data from the VBA Listbox

To read data from the ListBox we can use the ListBox.Value property. This only works when the ListBox is set to only select one item i.e. MultiSelect is set to frmMultiSelectSingle(see the section VBA ListBox MultiSelect below for more about this).

Single selection only  with one column

When only one item is selected we can use the Value property to get the currently selected item:

 Dim fruit As String
 fruit = ListBox1.Value

Keep in mind that if there are multiple columns, Value will only return the value in the first column.

Single selection only with multiple columns

If the ListBox has Multiple columns you can use the Value property to get the value in the first column. You need to read through the List property to get the values in the other column(s). The List property is essentially an array so you can treat it like one.

In the example below we read through the columns of row 1(the index of row 1 is 0):

 With ListBox1
 
     For j = LBound(.List, 2) To UBound(.List, 2)
         ' Print the columns of the first row to the Immediate Window
         Debug.Print .List(0, j)
     Next j
     
 End With

Normally you want to print the values in the selected row. You can use the ListIndex property to get the selected item(Note that ListIndex returns the last selected items so it won’t work where there are multiple items selected):

 ' ExcelMacroMastery.com
 Sub ReadValuesFromSelectedRow()

    ' Write contents of the row to the Immediate Window(Ctrl G)
    With ListBox1 
        For j = LBound(.List, 2) To UBound(.List, 2) 
            ' Print the columns of the selected row to the Immediate Window 
            Debug.Print .List(.ListIndex, j) Next j 
    End With
 End Sub
 

Multiple selections

If the ListBox has multiple selections and you want to get all the data from each then you can use the GetSelectedRows() sub from the section VBA ListBox Selected Items. This will get a collection of all selected rows. You can use this to print the data from the selected rows:

Sub PrintMultiSelectedRows()

    ' Get all the selected rows
    Dim selectedRows As Collection
    Set selectedRows = GetSelectedRows(Me.ListBox1)

    Dim i As Long, j As Long, currentRow As Long
    ' Read through the selected rows
    For i = 1 To selectedRows.Count
        With ListBox1
            
            ' Get the current row
            currentRow = selectedRows(i)
            
            ' Print row header
            Debug.Print vbNewLine & "Row : " & currentRow
            
            ' Read items in the current row
            For j = LBound(.List, 2) To UBound(ListBox1.List, 2)
                ' Print the columns of the first row to the Immediate Window
                Debug.Print .List(currentRow, j)
            Next j
        
        End With
    Next i
    
End Sub

Function GetSelectedRows(currentListbox As MSForms.ListBox) As Collection

    ' Create the collection
    Dim coll As New Collection

    ' Read through each item in the listbox
    Dim i As Long
    For i = 0 To currentListbox.ListCount - 1
    
        ' Check if item at position i is selected
        If currentListbox.Selected(i) Then
            coll.Add i
        End If
    Next i

    Set GetSelectedRows = coll

End Function

VBA ListBox MultiSelect

We can use the MultiSelect property of the ListBox to allow the user to select either a single item or multiple items:

There are 3 selections:

• 0 = frmMultiSelectSingle –  [Default]Multiple selection isn’t allowed.
• 1 = frmMultiSelectMulti – Multiple items are selected or deselected by choosing them with the mouse or by pressing the Spacebar.
• 2 = frmMultiSelectExtended – Multiple items are selected by holding down Shift and choosing them with the mouse, or by holding down Shift and pressing an arrow key to extend the selection from the previously selected item to the current item. You can also select items by dragging with the mouse. Holding down Ctrl and choosing an item selects or deselects that item.

VBA ListBox Columns

You can have multiple columns in a ListBox. For example, you can load a Range or two-dimensional array to a ListBox using List or RowSource.

Often when you load data with multiple columns only one column appears. This can be very confusing when you are using the Listbox. To get the columns to appear you have to set the ColumnCount property to the number of Columns.

You should also make sure that the ColumnWidths property is correct or one of the columns may not appear.

You can do it like this:

With listboxFruit
    .RowSource = "Sheet1!A2:B4"
    .ColumnCount = 2
    .ColumnWidths = "100,100"
End With

In a real-world application, you could set the RowSource and ColumnCount properties like this:

With listboxFruit
    .RowSource = myRange.Address(External:=True)
    .ColumnCount = myRange.Columns.Count
End With

See the AddItem section for how to add data to the other columns when you are using the AddItem property.

VBA ListBox Column Headers

Column Headers are another confusing element of the ListBox. If you use the RowSource property to add data to the ListBox then the line above the Range will be automatically used as the header.

For the Column headers to appear the ColumnHeads property must be set to true. You can do this in the properties window of the ListBox or in the code list this:

ListBox1.ColumnHeads = True

If you use the List or AddItem property to fill the ListBox then the column headers are not available. The best solution, albeit a frustrating one, is to use labels above the ListBox. I know it sounds crazy but that unfortunately is the reality. The one advantage is that you can use the Label click event which is useful if you plan to sort the data by a column.

Creating a ListBox Dynamically

Controls are normally created at design time but you can also create them dynamically at run time:

    Dim myListbox As MSForms.ListBox
    Set myListbox = Controls.Add("Forms.ListBox.1")

If you want to add an event to a dynamic control you can do it like this:

1. First of all create a Class like this:

   Public WithEvents myListBox As MSForms.ListBox
   
   Private Sub myListBox_Change()
     MsgBox "Selection changed"
   End Sub
   

2. Name the class clsListBoxEvents.  Create a variable of this class object in the UserForm like this:

   Private listBoxEvents As New clsListBoxEvents
   

3.   Attach the events to the ListBox:

   Sub CreateDynamicListBox()
   
       ' Create the ListBox
       Dim newListBox As MSForms.ListBox
       Set newListBox = Controls.Add("Forms.ListBox.1")
       
       ' Add some items
       newListBox.List = Array("Apple", "Orange", "Pear")
      
       ' Connect the ListBox to the ListBox events class
       Set listBoxEvents.myListBox = newListBox
   
   End Sub
   

Note that you can attach events to any ListBox. It doesn’t have to be created dynamically to do this.

Loop through ListBoxes

If you want to loop through all the ListBoxes on a UserForm you can do it like this:

 Dim ctrl As Variant
 For Each ctrl In Me.Controls
    If TypeName(ctrl) = "ListBox" Then
        Debug.Print ctrl.Name
    End If
 Next ctrl

YouTube Video

Check out this video where I use the ListBox. The source code for the video is available from here

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 this Free 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.)

Элемент управления ListBox vba позволяет добавлять список с данными на форму. В отличии от комбинированного списка ComboBox, ListBox имеет следующие отличия:

• Тут нельзя вводить собственные значения, а лишь любоваться теми, что были добавлены изначально
• Есть возможность выбирать сразу несколько значений.

Хорошо, прежде чем продолжить, вспоминаем – для запуска редактора VBA служит комбинация клавиш Alt + F11, все элементы управления находятся в окне ToolBox (меню Insert, пункт ToolBox). Вот некоторые свойства для объекта ListBox:

ColumnCount – позволяет задать количество столбиков в списке

ColumnHeads – позволяет задать режим отображения заголовков для колонок: true – заголовки отображаются, false – заголовки не отображаются. Данное свойство актуально при использовании компонента vba ListBox в Exel.

ColumnWidths – свойство определяет ширину колонок, например, “20;30;15”. Как видим, значение строковое, тут мы задали ширину для трех столбиков, если мы зададим ноль, то столбик не будет отображаться.

TextColumn – содержит целое значение, определяющее, содержимое которого столбца должно возвращать свойство Text.

BoundColumn — содержит целое значение, определяющее, содержимое которого столбца должно возвращать свойство Value.

Если для TextColumn и BoundColumn прописать 0, то будет возвращаться номер выбранного значения в списке объекта ListBox VBA языка.

Если вам надо вывести значение для заданного столбика, то надо просто прописать свойство Column задав после него в круглых скобках числовой индекс. Как все это работает, я покажу на примере дальше.

MultiSelect – позволяет определить, как происходит выбор элементов: 0 – fmMultuSelectSingle (только одиночный выбор), 1 — fmMultuSelectMulti (возможность выбирать несколько элементов щелчком мыши или посредством нажатия клавиши “Пробел”), 2  — fmMultuSelectExtended (возможность выбирать несколько элементов посредством нажатия клавиши “Shift”).

VBA Excel ListBox

Теперь надо попрактиковаться, напишем пример использования компонента VBA ListBox в Excel. Но прежде всего, надо заполнить четыре столбика различными данными. Я создал книгу в Excel и заполнил первые четыре столбика такими данными:

1. A – первое поле Автомобиль (оно будет служить заголовком), далее следуют марки автомобилей.
2. B – первое поле Телефон (оно будет служить заголовком), далее следуют модели телефона Samsung.
3. C – первое поле Компьютер (оно будет служить заголовком), далее следуют марки производителей PC.
4. D – первое поле Напиток (оно будет служить заголовком), далее следуют марки напитков.

Хорошо, таблицу в Excel мы сделали, теперь можно приступить к работе с проектом. И так, добавьте в проект новый модуль и форму.

Внешний вид формы вы можете увидеть на рисунке. На форме должны быть расположены два элемента управления vba excel ListBox, три элемента TextBox и одна кнопка (CommandButton). Первый список будет содержать четыре столбца, в которых будет отображаться содержимое первых пятидесяти ячеек для A, B, C и D. Второй список будет содержать также все 4 столбика, но отображаться будет только первый.  При нажатии на кнопку, произойдет считывание выбранного элемента во втором списке, и в текстовых полях отобразится содержимое для второй, третьей и четвертой колонки.

Чтобы не путать все еще больше, приступим к практике:

Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
    With ListBox1
        .ColumnHeads = True
        .ColumnCount = 4
        .ColumnWidths = "60;80;60;30"
        .RowSource = "=A2:D50"
        .MultiSelect = fmMultiSelectSingle
        .TextColumn = 1
        .BoundColumn = 0
    End With
 
    With ListBox2
        .ColumnHeads = False
        .ColumnCount = 4
        .ColumnWidths = "60;0;0;0"
        .RowSource = "=A2:D50"
        .MultiSelect = fmMultiSelectSingle
        .TextColumn = 0
        .BoundColumn = 0
    End With
End Sub
 
Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
    If ListBox2.Value <> "" Then
        TextBox1.Value = ListBox2.Column(1)
        TextBox2.Value = ListBox2.Column(2)
        TextBox3.Value = ListBox2.Column(3)
    End If
End Sub

UserForm_Initialize – настройка данных при инициализации формы (UserForm). Тут происходит настройка свойств для первого и второго объекта ListBox vba языка:

ListBox1 – будет отображаться заголовок, компонент содержит четыре колонки, их ширина: 60;80;60;30. Данные в список будут добавляться из диапазона A2:D50, присутствует возможность выделять только один элемент в списке.

ListBox2 – тут практически все тоже самое, что и для первого списка, только ширина колонок: 60;0;0;0 – то есть, будет отображаться содержимое только первой колонки.

CommandButton1_Click – тут происходит обработка щелчка по кнопке, а именно: происходит проверка, выбрано ли что-то во втором списке (vba excel ListBox), если да, то в первое текстовое поле запишется содержимое из второй колонки, во второе – из третей и в третье – из четвертой.

Using a VBA ArrayList

An ArrayList is a VBA object that can be used to store values. It is similar to a Collection object, but it has far greater flexibility from a programming point of view. Let’s discuss some difference between ArrayLists and Collections and Arrays.

• The Collection object only has two methods (Add, Remove) and two properties (Count, Item) whereas an Array List has many more.
• The Collection object is read only. Once values have been added, the indexed value cannot be changed, whereas on an Array List, editing is possible.
• The ArrayList object expands and contracts in size according to how many items that it contains.  It does not need to be dimensioned before use like an Array.
• The ArrayList is one dimensional (same as the Collection object) and the default data type is Variant, which means that it will accept any type of data, whether it be numeric, text, or date.

In many ways the Array List addresses a number of shortcomings of the Collection object. It is certainly far more flexible in what it can do.

The Array List object is not part of the standard VBA library. You can use it in your Excel VBA code by using late or early binding.

Sub LateBindingExample()
Dim MyList As Object
Set MyList = CreateObject("System.Collections.ArrayList")
End Sub

Sub EarlyBindingExample()
Dim MyList As New ArrayList
End Sub

In order to use the early binding example, you must first enter a reference in VBA to the file ‘mscorlib.tlb’

You do this by selecting ‘Tools | References ‘ from the Visual Basic Editor (VBE) window. A pop-up window will appear with all available references. Scroll down to ‘mscorlib.dll’ and tick the box next to it. Click OK and that library is now part of your project:

One of the big drawbacks of an Array List object is that it does not have ‘Intellisense’. Normally, where you are using an object in VBA such as a range, you will see a pop-up list of all the available properties and methods.  You do not get this with an Array List object, and it sometimes needs careful checking to make sure that you have spelt the method or property correctly.

Also, if you press F2 in the VBE window, and search on ‘arraylist’, nothing will be displayed, which is not very helpful to a developer.

Your code will run considerably faster with early binding, because it is all compiled up front. With late binding, the object has to be compiled as the code runs

Distributing Your Excel Application Containing an Array List

As already pointed out, the ArrayList object is not part of Excel VBA. This means that any of your colleagues that you distribute the application to must have access to the file ‘mscorlib.tlb’

This file is normally located in:

C:WindowsMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv4.0.30319

It could be worth writing some code (using the Dir method) to check that this file exists when a user loads the application so that they experience a ‘soft landing’ if not found. If it is not present, and the code runs then errors will occur.

Also, the user must have the correct .Net Framework version installed. Even if the user has a later version, V3.5 must be installed otherwise your application will not work

Scope of an Array List Object

In terms of scope, the Array List object is only available whilst the workbook is open. It does not get saved when the workbook is saved. If the workbook is re-opened then the Array List object needs to be re-created using VBA code.

If you want your Array List to be available to all the code in your code module, then you need to declare the Array List object in the Declare section at the very top of the module window

This will ensure that all your code within that module can access the Array List.  If you want any module within your workbook to access the Array List object, then define it as a global object.

Global MyCollection As New ArrayList

Populating and Reading from Your Array List

The most basic action that you want to take is to create an array list, put some data into it and then prove that the data can be read.  All the code examples in this article assume that you are using early binding, and have added ‘mscorlib.tlb’ to the VBA references, as described above.

Sub ArrayListExample()
'Create new array list object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList

'Add items to list
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"

'Iterate through array list to prove values
For N = 0 To MyList.Count - 1
    MsgBox MyList(N)
Next N

End Sub

This example creates a new ArrayList object, populates it with 3 items, and the iterates through the list displaying each item.

Note that the ArrayList index starts at 0, not 1, so you need to subtract 1 from the Count value

You can also use a ‘For…Each’ loop to read the values:

Sub ArrayListExample()
'Create new array list object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList

'Add items to list
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"

'Iterate through array list to prove values
For Each I In MyList
    MsgBox I
Next I

End Sub

Editing and Changing Items in an Array List

A major advantage of an Array List over a Collection is that the items in the list can be edited and changed within your code. The Collection object is read only whereas the Array List object is read / write.

Sub ArrayListExample()
'Create new array list object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList

'Add items to list
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"

'Change item 1 from ‘Item2’ to ‘Changed’
MyList(1) = "Changed"

'Iterate through array list to prove change worked
For Each I In MyList
    'Display item name
    MsgBox I
Next I

End Sub

In this example, the second item, ‘Item2’ is altered to the value ‘Changed’ (remember that the index starts at 0). When the iteration is run at the end of the code, the new value will be displayed.

Adding an Array of Values to an Array List

You can enter values into your Array List by using an array containing a list of these values or references to cell values on a worksheet

Sub AddArrayExample()
'Create Array list object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList

'iterate through array values adding them to the array list
For Each v In Array("A1", "A2", "A3")
    'Add each array value to list		
    MyList.Add v
Next

'iterate through array values with worksheet references adding them to the array list
For Each v In Array(Range("A5").Value, Range("A6").Value)
    MyList.Add v
Next

'Iterate through array list to prove values
For N = 0 To MyList.Count – 1
   'Display list item
    MsgBox MyList.Item(N)
Next N

End Sub

Reading / Retrieving a Range of Items from an Array List

By using the GetRange method on an Array List, you can specify a rage of consecutive items to be retrieved. The two parameters required are the starting index position and the number of items to be retrieved. The code populates a second Array List object with the sub set of items which can then be read separately.

Sub ReadRangeExample()
'Define objects
Dim MyList As New ArrayList, MyList1 As Object

'Add items to ‘MyList’ object
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"
MyList.Add "Item6"
MyList.Add "Item4"
MyList.Add "Item7"

'Capture 4 items in ‘MyList’ starting at index position 2
Set MyList1 = MyList.GetRange(2, 4)

'Iterate through the object ‘MyList1’ to display the sub set of items
For Each I In MyList1
   'Display item name
    MsgBox I
Next I

End Sub

Searching for Items Within an Array List

You can test whether a named item is in your list by using the ‘Contains’ method. This will return True or False

MsgBox MyList.Contains("Item2")

You can also find the actual index position by using the ‘IndexOf’ method. You need to specify the start index for the search (usually 0).  The return value is the index of the first instance of the found item.  You can then use a loop to change the starting point to the next index value to find further instances if there are several duplicate values.

If the value is not found then a value of -1 is returned

This example demonstrates using ‘Contains’, item not found, and looping through the array list to find the position of all duplicate items:

Sub SearchListExample()
'Define array list and variables
Dim MyList As New ArrayList, Sp As Integer, Pos As Integer

'Add new items including a duplicate
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"
MyList.Add "Item1"

'Test for “Item2” being in list - returns True
MsgBox MyList.Contains("Item2")

'Get index of non-existent value – returns -1
MsgBox MyList.IndexOf("Item", 0)

'Set the start position for the search to zero
Sp = 0

'Iterate through list to get all positions of ‘Item1”
Do
     'Get the index position of the next ‘Item1’ based on the position in the variable ‘Sp’
    Pos = MyList.IndexOf("Item1", Sp)
   'If no further instances of ‘Item1’ are found then exit the loop
    If Pos = -1 Then Exit Do
   'Display the next instance found and the index position
    MsgBox MyList(Pos) & " at index " & Pos
   'Add 1 to the last found index value – this now becomes the new start position for the next search
    Sp = Pos + 1
Loop

End Sub

Note that the search text used is case sensitive and wild cards are not accepted.

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Insert and Remove Items

If you do not wish to add your items onto the end of the list, you can insert them at a particular index position so that the new item is in the middle of the list. The index numbers will be automatically adjusted for the subsequent items.

Sub InsertExample()
'Define array list object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList

'Add items to array list
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"
MyList.Add "Item1"

'Insert ‘Item6’ at index position 2
MyList.Insert 2, "Item6"

'Iterate through items in the array list to show new order and index position
For N = 0 To MyList.Count - 1
    MsgBox MyList(N) & " Index " & N
Next N

End Sub

In this example, ‘Item6’ is added into the list at index position 2, so the ‘item3’ which was at index position 2 now moves to index position 3.

An individual item can be removed by using the ‘Remove’ method.

MyList.Remove "Item"

Note that there is no error produced if the item name is not found. All the subsequent index numbers will be changed to suit the removal.

If you know the index position of the item you can use the ‘RemoveAt’ method e.g.

MyList.RemoveAt 2

Note that if the index position given is greater than the number of items in the array list, then an error will be returned.

You can remove a range of values from the list by using the ‘RemoveRange’ method.  The parameters are the starting index and then the number of items to remove e.g.

MyList.RemoveRange 3, 2

Note that you will get an error in your code if the number of items offset from the start value is greater than the number of items in the array list.

In both the ‘RemoveAt’ and ‘RemoveRange’ methods, some code would be advisable to check whether the index numbers specified are greater than the total number of items in the array list in order to trap any possible errors.  The ‘Count’ property will give the total number of items in the array list.

Sub RemoveExample()
'Define array list object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList
'Add items to array list
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item4"
MyList.Add "Item5"
'Insert ‘Item6’ at index position 2
MyList.Insert 2, "Item6"
'Remove ‘Item2’
MyList.Remove "Item2"
'Remove ‘Item’ – this does not exist in the array list but does not error
MyList.Remove "Item"
'Remove the item at index position 2
MyList.RemoveAt 2
'Remove 2 consecutive items starting at index position 2
MyList.RemoveRange 3, 2
'Iterate through the array list to show what is left and what index position it is now in
For N = 0 To MyList.Count - 1
    MsgBox MyList(N) & " Index " & N
Next N
End Sub

Note that if you are using the ‘RemoveAt’ to remove an item at a specific position then as soon as that item is removed, all the subsequent index positions are altered. If you have multiple removals using the index position, then a good idea is to start with the highest index number and step backwards down to position zero so that you will always be removing the correct item. In this way you will not have the problem

Sorting an Array List

Another big advantage over a collection is that you can sort the items into ascending or descending order.

The Array List object is the only object in Excel VBA with a sorting method.  The sorting method is very fast and this can be an important consideration for using an Array List.

In the collection object, some ‘out of the box’ thinking was required to sort all the items, but with an array list, it is very simple.

The ‘Sort’ method sorts in ascending order, and the ‘Reverse’ method sorts in descending order.

Sub ArrayListExample()
'Create Array List object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList
'Add items in a non-sorted order
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item3"
MyList.Add "Item2"
'Sort the items into ascending order
MyList.Sort
'Iterate through the items to show ascending order
For Each I In MyList
    'Display item name
    MsgBox I
Next I
'Sort the items into descending order
MyList.Reverse
'Iterate through the items to show descending order
For Each I In MyList
    'Display item name
    MsgBox I
Next I
End Sub

Cloning an Array List

An array list has the facility to create a clone or copy of itself.  This is useful if a user makes changes to the items using a front end and your VBA code, but you need to keep a copy of the items in their original state as a backup.

This could provide the user with an ‘Undo’ feature. They may have made the changes, and wish to revert back to the original list.

Sub CloneExample()
'Define two objects – array list and an object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList, MyList1 As Object
'Populate first object with items
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"
'Copy Mylist to MyList1
Set MyList1 = MyList.Clone
'Iterate through MyList1 to prove cloning
For Each I In MyList1
    'Display item name
    MsgBox I
Next I
End Sub

‘MyList1’ now contains all the items from ‘MyList’ in the same order

Copying a List Array into a Conventional VBA Array Object

You can use a simple method to copy the array list into a normal VBA array:

Sub ArrayExample()
'Create array list object and a standard array object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList, NewArray As Variant
'Populate array list with items
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"
'Copy the array list to the new array
NewArray = MyList.ToArray
'Iterate through the new array – note that the array list count provides the maximum index
For N = 0 To MyList.Count – 1
    'Display item name
    MsgBox NewArray(N)
Next N
End Sub

Copying a List Array into a Worksheet Range

You can copy your array list to a specific worksheet and cell reference without the need to iterate through the array list. You need only specify the first cell reference

Sub RangeExample()
'Create new array list object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList
'Add items to list
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"
'Clear the target sheet
Sheets("Sheet1").UsedRange.Clear
'Copy items across a row
Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A1").Resize(1, MyList.Count).Value = MyList.toArray
'Copy items down a column
Sheets("Sheet1").Range("A5").Resize(MyList.Count, 1).Value =  _
WorksheetFunction.Transpose(MyList.toArray)
End Sub

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Empty All Items from an Array List

There is a simple function (Clear) to clear the array list completely

Sub ClearListExample()
'Create array list object
Dim MyList As New ArrayList
'Add new items
MyList.Add "Item1"
MyList.Add "Item2"
MyList.Add "Item3"
'Show count of items
MsgBox MyList.Count
'Clear all items
MyList.Clear
'Show count of items to prove that clear has worked
MsgBox MyList.Count
End Sub

This example creates items in an array list and then clears the array list.  Message boxes prove before and after the number of items in the array list.

Array List Methods Summary for Excel VBA