XL97: Using the New Keyword to Create Instances of a UserForm

ID: Q167180

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel 97, you can use the New keyword to create multiple instances of a particular class. This article includes sample Visual Basic for Applications code that uses the New keyword to create multiple instances of a UserForm. The new instances of the UserForm are copies of the original UserForm and can be controlled independently of the original UserForm.

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/

Creating the Sample UserForm

To create the sample UserForm, do the following:

1. Close all open workbooks, and then create a new workbook.

2. Start the Visual Basic Editor (press ALT+F11).

3. On the Insert menu, click UserForm.

4. Add a ListBox control to the lower-left portion of the UserForm.

5. Add a Label control above the ListBox control and change the Caption

   property to "Click an item" (without the quotation marks).

7. Use the following properties for the command buttons:

      Top Command Button:

         Property    Value
         -------------------------------

         Name        cmdNewForm
         Caption     create new instance

      Middle Command Button:

         Property    Value
         ----------------------------

         Name        cmdFormCaption
         Caption     UserForm caption

      Bottom Command Button:

         Property    Value
         ----------------------

         Name        cmdClose
         Caption     close form

Entering Macro Code

To create the macro, do the following:

1. On the Insert menu, click Module.

2. Enter the following code in the General Declarations section of the new

   module:

      Option Base 1
      ' Counter for instances of UserForms.
      Public mycount As Integer

      ' Array containing UserForm objects
      Public MyForms() As UserForm1

      Sub New_UserForms()

         ' Display the UserForm.
         UserForm1.Show

      End Sub

   the Click event for the cmdNewForm command button:

      Private Sub cmdNewForm_Click()

         mycount = mycount + 1

         ' Increase the size of the MyForms array by one.
         ReDim Preserve MyForms(mycount)

         ' Create a new instance that is of type UserForm1.
         Set MyForms(mycount) = New UserForm1

         ' Set the caption of the UserForm to the instance number.
         MyForms(mycount).Caption = "instance " & mycount

         MyForms(mycount).cmdClose.Caption = "hide form"

         ' Add new item to the list box.
         UserForm1.ListBox1.AddItem mycount

      End Sub

   the Click event for the cmdFormCaption command button:

      Private Sub cmdFormCaption_click()

         ' Display the Caption of the current UserForm.
         MsgBox Me.Caption

      End Sub

   the Click event for the cmdClose command button:

      Private Sub cmdClose_Click()

         ' Hide the current instance of the UserForm.
         Me.Hide

      End Sub

   the MouseUp event:

      Private Sub ListBox1_MouseUp _
      (ByVal Button As Integer, ByVal Shift As Integer, _
      ByVal X As Single, ByVal Y As Single)

         ' Display the selected instance of the UserForm.
         MyForms(UserForm1.ListBox1.ListIndex + 1).Show

      End Sub

      Private Sub UserForm_QueryClose _
      (Cancel As Integer, CloseMode As Integer)

         On Error Resume Next ' Ignore if no forms exist.

         ' Setting the value of Cancel to any integer other than 0 prevents
         ' you from clicking the Close ("X") button to close the UserForm.
         Cancel = 1

      End Sub

Running the Macros

To run the example macros, do the following:

1. Run the New_UserForms macro.

   This step displays the UserForm.

   Each time you click the Create New Instance command button, a new
   instance of the UserForm is created, and a new item is added to the list
   box.

   The relevant instance of the UserForm is displayed.

   A message box displays the caption for the currently visible UserForm.

   The currently visible UserForm is hidden, and UserForm1 is displayed.

   NOTE: The caption on the bottom command button was programmatically
   changed to Hide Form to differentiate it from the bottom button on
   UserForm1. When you hide one of the created instances of the UserForm,
   and UserForm1 is active, the caption on the bottom command button is
   "Close Form," which is the value set at design time.

REFERENCES

For more information about using the New keyword, click the Office Assistant in the Visual Basic Editor, type "dim" (without the quotation marks), click Search, and then click to view the "Dim Statement" topic.

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Microsoft Excel Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q120802
   TITLE     : Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office Program or
               Component

Keywords          : kbprg kbdta KbVBA kbhowto 
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: May 18, 1999