Using Numbers in Code (VBA / VB)

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Good Morning,

I work in a department that shares VBA and VB applications (who doesn’t). There is one particular programer here who uses #’s and &’s when using constants, for example:

dim lnArray(1& to 10&) as integer

Why the ‘1&’ instead of just using ‘1’?
Where can I get a listing of all of these codes and what they mean?
Have you tried searching the help file for ‘&’?

Cheers

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You should have found something in VBA help searching for “&” etc. These characters are used as Type descriptors for variables. Try searching for Data Types in help. You can use

    Dim a$

instead of using

    Dim a as String

but the latter is preferable for clarity. the following is a sample of some others :

    % = Integer
    & = Long
    ! = Single
    # = Double
    @ = Currency
    $ = String 

Andrew C

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As Andrew says, it looks like your programmer is taking shortcuts by using type declaration characters and not explicitly declaring his variables. It’s important for maintenance and to avoid problems that *all* variables be explicitly declared, so turn on the Option Explicit in your modules by checking Require Variable Declaration in Tools–>Options–>Module.

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You and your fellow programmers need to get this guy into a room and him

Seriously, you should get together as a group and decide on programming standards. Variable naming conventions, programming styles, use of comments, …

http://www.devx.com/upload/free/features/v…ul98/bc0798.pdf

http://www.devx.com/upload/free/features/v…pr98/bc0498.pdf

http://www.devx.com/free/newsletters/ent/ented013101.asp

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hang on, hang on, hang on …

now that is just getting carried away. Who said that he didn’t declare his variables. He does, and he follows the naming convension too.

However, he does put things like

dim i as integer
for i = 1% to 5%

in his code instead of

dim i as integer
for i = 1 to 5

Therefore, I was asking what the ‘%’s meant and wondering if there was any difference between the two.

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Tim,

Dim a$ is the exact same a Dim a As String, and hence is an explicit declaration, though the latter is preferable as it is more readable. There is no point in Dim a$ As String.

There is nothing to be gained from using 1% to 5% in place of 1 to 5, as i is an integer type and so any value it holds will be an integer. It’s use in this instance is superfluous.

Andrew C

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Excellent. Thanks Andrew.

How about when you reference or dimension an array. For example …

dim lsArray(1% to 10%) as string
lsArray(1%) = "Hello World!"

as opposed to …

dim lsArray(1 to 10) as string
lsArray(1) = "Hello World!"

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Tim,

As the numbers in dim lsArray(1% to 10%) are indices, they must be integer so I suggest there is no point in declaring them as such. I would setlle for the latter syntax.

Andrew

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As a member of a team, you are having difficulty reading his code. Shouldn’t the team decide on coding conventions? Shouldn’t you all be on the same playing field? It’s not good to have rouge programmers doin’ their own thing, and others having trouble figuring out what they are doing. What if he leaves, and you get stuck supporting his code? Good code is code that another developer/programmer can look at and easily determine what it’s doing. Using arcane ancient syntax (% and &) that’s long been abandoned for more descriptive syntax isn’t good code.

In your examples of his code, I believe the %, $, and & are unnecessary and should be removed for clarity. They only serve to confuse.

All I’m saying is as a group, you should decide on coding standards so issues like the one you brought to the lounge don’t come up.

Take care,

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Especially true in VBA where “&” is also used to concatate strings and other symbols have their own meaning.
Ewan

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