XL98: How to Determine Which Items Are Selected in a ListBox

ID: Q182491

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article explains how to retrieve selected items from a ListBox control that allows you to select multiple values.

MORE INFORMATION

In a UserForm, when you set the MultiSelect property to "1 - fmMultiSelectMulti" (without the quotation marks) for a ListBox control, you can choose any number of items from a list. For example, if a list contains Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie, you can select any, none, or all of the items.

To determine which items are selected, use the Selected property of the list box. The Selected property of a list box is an array of values in which each value is either True (if the item is selected) or False (if the item is not selected). For example, if the list contains 1, 2, 3, and 4, and 2 and 3 are selected, the Selected property is the following array:

   False, True, True, False

This is true because the first item (1) is not selected, the second and third items (2 and 3) are selected, and the fourth item (4) is not selected.

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

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   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/

The steps in the following example read the array for the Selected property:

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

 2. On Sheet1, type the following values:

       A1: Alpha
       A2: Bravo
       A3: Charlie
       A4: Delta
       A5: Echo
       A6: Foxtrot
       A7: Golf
       A8: Hotel

 3. Start the Visual Basic Editor (press OPTION+F11).

 4. On the Insert menu, click UserForm.

 5. Place a ListBox control on the UserForm.

 6. Activate the Properties window (press F6).

 7. Change the MultiSelect property to the following value:

       1 - fmMultiSelectMulti

 8. Place a CommandButton control on the UserForm.

 9. Double-click the CommandButton to display the Code window for the
    UserForm.

10. In the module, type the following code:

       Sub UserForm_Initialize

          ' Assign the values in cells A1:A8 on sheet1 to ListBox1.
          Listbox1.List = Sheet1.Range("A1:A8").Value

       End Sub

       Sub CommandButton1_Click ()

          ' Loop through the items in the ListBox control.
          For x = 0 to ListBox1.ListCount - 1

             ' If the item is selected...
             If ListBox1.Selected(x) = True Then

                '...display the Selected item.
                MsgBox ListBox1.List(x)

            End If

         Next x

         ' Close the UserForm.
         Unload Me

      End Sub

11. Run the UserForm.

12. Select one or more items in the list.

13. Click CommandButton1.

After you click CommandButton1, each item you have select in the list box is displayed in a separate message box. After all the selected items are displayed by a message box, the UserForm is automatically dismissed.

REFERENCES

For more information about list boxes, click the Office Assistant, type listbox," click Search, and then click to view "ListBox Control."

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

   ARTICLE-ID: Q179216
   TITLE     : OFF98: How to Use the Microsoft Office Installer Program

Additional query words: XL97
Keywords          : kbprg xlvbahowto xlvbainfo 
Version           : MACINTOSH:98
Platform          : MACINTOSH
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: May 18, 1999