XL97: How to Fill ListBox Control with Multiple Ranges

ID: Q161534

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

This article contains an example that fills the list of a ListBox control on a UserForm with data from multiple cell ranges.

MORE INFORMATION

You cannot use the RowSource property to bind a ListBox control to a worksheet when you want the list to draw from multiple ranges. You must loop through the various ranges with a Visual Basic for Applications procedure and add the items to the list one at a time.

The following examples populate a ListBox control as it is loaded by using the Initialize event for the UserForm.

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/

Populating the ListBox Directly from Worksheet Cells

To populate the ListBox, follow these steps:

1. Close and save any open workbooks and then create a new workbook.

2. On Sheet1, enter the following values:

      A1: Planes        C1: Alpha
      A2: Trains        C2: Bravo
      A3: Automobiles   C3: Charlie

4. On the Insert menu, click UserForm.

5. Draw a ListBox control on the UserForm.

6. Double-click the UserForm to open the Code window for the UserForm.

7. In the module type the following code for the UserForm Initialize

   event:

      Private Sub UserForm_Intialize()
          Dim Lrange As Range
          Dim x As Variant

          'Set the range to loop through
          Set Lrange = Union(Sheet1.Range("A1:A3"), Sheet1.Range("C1:C3"))

          'Loops through the ranges
          For Each x In Lrange

              'Adds an item to the list
              Listbox1.AddItem x.Value

          Next x

      End Sub

   The items in the ranges A1:A3 and C1:C3 on Sheet1 are added to the
   list in ListBox1.

Using an Array to Populate the ListBox

It is also possible to assign the contents of a Visual Basic array as the list of a ListBox control. The following example reads the values from the worksheet into an array, and then assigns the array to the ListBox control as the list:

1. In the module, change the code for the UserForm Initialize event:

      Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
          Dim Lrange As Range
          Dim Larray() As Variant
          Dim x As Variant
          Dim ctr As Integer

          'Set the range to loop through
          Set Lrange = Union(Sheet1.Range("A1:A3"), Sheet1.Range("C1:C3"))

          'Loops through the ranges
          For Each x In Lrange

              ReDim Preserve Larray(ctr)

              'Add an item to the array
              Larray(ctr) = x.Value

              ctr = ctr + 1

          Next x

          'Assign the array to the listbox
          ListBox1.List = LArray

      End Sub

   The items in the ranges A1:A3 and C1:C3 on Sheet1 are read into an
   array and are then assigned to the list of ListBox1.

REFERENCES

For additional information about populating list boxes in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel, please see the following article here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q153603
   TITLE     : XL: Macro to Fill a List Box with Multiple Ranges

Additional query words: 97 8.00 XL97

Keywords          : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode KbVBA 
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: May 18, 1999