Dimension Arguments?

[ww2u]

So, the more I learn about Excel the more I learn how little I know about Excel.


Dim test as long ' variable declaration
Dim test(3) as long 'what does this add to the variable? How can this be used? Is this a "variable with an argument"? Can all types of declarations be used?


ww

[tigeravatar]

ww2u,

That turns the variable into an array. Arrays have a number of elements that they can store. When you Dim test(3), you are saying "I want an array starting at element 0 and going to element 3, so it will have 4 elements: 0, 1, 2, and 3"
As for what types of declarations can be used, yes they can be any type. However, if you type an array, then every element within the array must be that type. For example, element 0 couldn't be a Long while element 1 was a string. You can get around this (have an array with multiple types) by declaring it as Variant (which is the same as not typing the variable in the first place).

Generally speaking, I find it is better practice to declare both the lower and upper bounds of an array when you dimension the variable, like Dim test(1 to 3) so that I know it has exactly three elements starting at 1. You can also declare multi-dimensional arrays, like so:
Dim test(1 to 3, 1 to 2)

This means it is an array with two dimensions. Think of it as a table from cells A1:B3, there are three rows and two columns. You can have 3 dimensional arrays and higher also. You can also have arrays of arrays if you'd like. It just depends on what your coding preferences/needs are.

[tigeravatar]

Here's an example of using an array:

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[ww2u]

Cool! Now the fun begins.


ww