XL: How to Use Dynamic Arrays in a Macro

ID: Q142134

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, an array can be declared to be dynamic so that the number of elements and dimensions can be changed later while the code is running.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web: 

   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/
If the size of an array is not known during declaration, you can declare the array to be dynamic. To do this, use a Static, Dim, Private, or Public statement to declare the array and leave the parentheses empty. The following examples are statements you can use to declare a dynamic array: 

   ' Static must be used at the procedural level.
   Static MyArray1() As String

   ' Dim may be used at the module or procedural levels.
   Dim MyArray2() As Integer

   ' Private and Public must be used at the module level.
   Private MyArray3() As Single
   Public MyArray4() As Double
After an array is declared in this fashion, you can use the ReDim statement to change the number of elements and dimensions. If the array is contained in a Variant variable, you can also change the type of the array elements using the As clause. In order to change the size of the array contained in a variant, the Variant variable must be explicitly declared first. The following are examples of using the ReDim statement: 

   ' Declare the array using Dim.
   Dim MyArray1() As String

   ' ReDim used to change the number of elements.
   ReDim MyArray1(10)

   ' ReDim used to change the number of elements and dimensions.
   ReDim MyArray1(15, 35)

   ' ReDim used to change the lower and upper bounds of the array
   ' dimensions.
   ReDim MyArray1(5 to 10, 10 to 30)

   ' Using variables to indicate the new sizes of an array's dimensions.
   ReDim MyArray1(X, Y)

   ' Using ReDim to change the type of the elements in an array
   ' contained in a variant.
   Dim MyArray as Variant
   ReDim MyArray(10, 20) as String
Each time the ReDim statement is used, the values stored in the array are lost. To retain the existing data, you can use the Preserve keyword with the ReDim statement, as in the following examples: 

   ' Change the size of the array but maintain the current values that
   ' are stored in the array.
   Dim MyArray1(10, 20)

   ' Note only the last dimension can be changed when using Preserve.
   ReDim Preserve MyArray1(10, 30)
When the Preserve keyword is used, you can change only the upper bound of the last array dimension. If you make the size of an array smaller than the number of data elements currently stored in the array, the excess data will be lost. The number of dimensions in the array cannot be changed.

The only exception to this situation is that the lower bound of the last array element can be changed if the array is contained in a Variant variable, for example, when an array is declared as a variant variable. The ReDim statement is used to resize the array to one dimension with a lower bound of 1 and an upper bound of 20. The array is then filled with data.

Again, the ReDim statement is used with the Preserve keyword to resize the array so that the lower bound is 5 and the upper bound is 34. Because the Preserve keyword was used, the data has been preserved and the subscripts for the elements of the array have been remapped to the original data. The following macro illustrates this operation (you will need a worksheet named

Sheet1 that is blank and in the same workbook as the macro). 

   Sub UsingReDim()

       ' Declare a Variant variable called MyArray.
       Dim MyArray As Variant

       ' Declare looping variable.
       Dim Counter As Integer

       ' Redimension MyArray for 20 elements as type Integer.
       ReDim MyArray(1 To 20) As Integer

       ' Loop 20 times.
       For Counter = 1 To 20

           ' Fill the elements of the array with the values 1 though 20.
           MyArray(Counter) = Counter
           ' Place values of MyArray in column A of worksheet
           ' on the row corresponding to the subscript.
           Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(Counter, 1).Value = MyArray(Counter)
       Next Counter

       ' Redimension MyArray for 30 elements,
       ' change the lower and upper bounds, and
       ' retain the current values stored in the array
       ReDim Preserve MyArray(5 To 34) As Integer

       ' Loop 30 times.
       For Counter = 5 To 34

           ' Place values of MyArray in column B of worksheet
           ' on the row corresponding to the subscript.
           Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(Counter, 2).Value = MyArray(Counter)
       Next Counter

   End Sub
When the macro is run, Sheet1 will contain the values before and after the ReDim is used. Note that the excess elements have already been initialized to zero.

REFERENCES

For more information about declaring resizable arrays in Visual Basic for Applications and the ReDim Statement, click Answer Wizard on the Help menu and type: 

   tell me about the redim statement
Additional query words: 5.00 5.00a 5.00c 7.00 8.00 XL97 XL98 XL7 XL5 
Keywords          : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode PgmHowto KbVBA 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,5.0c,7.0,97; MACINTOSH:5.0,5.0a,98
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: May 17, 1999