XL: VB Procedure to Emulate Find Command

ID: Q124924

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

You can create a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications procedure that emulates the behavior of the Microsoft Excel Find command. To do this, use the Find and FindNext methods in a Visual Basic module.

The code in the "More Information" section of this article allows you to find all occurrences of a search string in the active worksheet without changing the selection or the active cell. When the search text is located, the code displays a message box with the address of the cell that contains the search string. If the search text is not found, a "Search Value Not Found" message box is displayed.

NOTE: You can easily modify this code by replacing the MsgBox statements with the code that you want to run whenever the search text is or is not found.

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/

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

   Sub FindStrings()
       Dim firstCell, nextCell, stringToFind As String
       ' Show an input box and return the entry to a variable.
       stringToFind = _
           Application.InputBox("String to find?", "Search String")
       ' Set an object variable to evaluate the Find command.
       Set firstCell = Cells.Find(what:=stringToFind, lookat:=xlWhole, _
           searchdirection:=xlPrevious)
       ' If the string is not found, show this message box.
       If firstCell Is Nothing Then
           MsgBox "Search Value Not Found.", vbExclamation
       Else
           ' Otherwise, find the next occurrence of the search text.
           nextCell = _
               Cells.FindNext(after:=Range(firstCell.Address)).Address
           ' Show its address in a message box.
           MsgBox nextCell
           ' Continue finding the next occurrence as long as the address of
           ' the found cell is not the same as the first cell.
           Do While firstCell.Address <> nextCell
               nextCell = Cells.FindNext(after:=Range(nextCell)).Address
               MsgBox nextCell
           Loop
       End If
   End Sub
If the range in which the search text is to be found is in a small portion of the worksheet, use the For...Each control structure instead of the Find method (For...Each requires less code). The advantage to the Find method is

that it is faster than For...Each on large ranges such as an entire worksheet.

If the string that you are searching for is only a portion of the contents of a cell, use the "xlPart" constant for the lookat named argument of the Find method.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q108892
   TITLE     : XL: Cells.Find Returns Error When No Match Found

REFERENCES

"Visual Basic User's Guide," pages 148-149

Additional query words: 7.00 8.00 XL97 XL98 XL7 XL5 5.00 FindNext Find Searching 

Keywords          : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode PgmOthr 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