Special Characters refer to the keys on your keyboards that aren't letters, numbers, space or control keys.
!@#$%^&*()_=- are examples of special characters. Most of the special characters are above the numbered keys on the keyboard and accessed by pressing the Shift key
In Excel we will first discuss the $ character and then go on to different ones
$
Known as the Dollar sign it is used to represent money, especially money in US Dollars. See Currencies for more information.
The usage of the $:
Declaring a string variable, ex. name$
Formatting a number to money, ex. "$#, 0.00"
Declaring a function to return a string, ex. First_name$
Declaring a parameter to a subroutine or a function as string
= - Equal Sign
The equal sign appears in a number of places in Excel.
Formulas begin with =
Can be used to determine equality, i.e. if 2 values are the same, ex. if a = b then
Can be used for assignment, ex. a = 1
Can be used for parameters but prefixed with a colon :, Sort:=xlAscending
used in a for statement, ex. for i = 1 to 20
# - Hash or Number Sign
The Hash or Number sign can be used in:
Define a number as a double??
Excel uses to show the number is too large to fit in column width, ex.
# is used to denote a number is Double
print #1, Line Input #1, ... used for file number in sequential input
Number formatting - #, 0.00
Date constant #3/21/2021#
^ - Hat or Caret
3^2 raise the number 3 to the power of two aka squares the value
Ctrl key in a sendkeys or Onkey statement
+ - Plus Sign
Addition
String Concatenation
Shift key in an OnKey or SendKey statment
* - Asterisk or Star
Multiplication sign
Wildcard in a Like statement
/ - Forward Slash
Division sign
Date separator
. - Period
decimal point, ex. 23.7
Cents, ex. $15.22
Object.method separator
Object.property separator
.Property or .Method - within a "With - End With" block
, - Comma
formatting for thousands
Array separator, ex. a(3,2)
Parameter separator, ex. call GetDate(10, 12, 2020)
; - Semicolon
Ctrl+; generates the date
print #1,s; ' don't add linefeed
: - Colon
Used as a range indicator, ex. A1:C4 - the range of cells from A1 to C4
Used with := equal sign to set a parameter
Ctrl+: - sets the time
used to end a "GoTo label" label_name:
< - Less Than Sign
Used to test if a < b (a is less than b)
<> - Not Equal
<= - Less than or equal to
> - Greater than sign
Used to test if a > b (a is greater than b)
<> - not equal
>= - Greater than or equal to
( ) - Parenthesis
used to set precedence of calculations. Anything in the inner most parenthesis are calculated first
Used for Array reference, ex. a(7)
used for defining Sub or Functions, ex. Sub Main() or Function Sqrt(x)
used for Collections, ex. Sheets(3).select or Sheets("Table of contents").select
- - Dash
Minus sign, ex. -5
Subtraction, ex. 7 - 2
Date separator, ex. 2020-10-15
_ - Underscore
VBA continuation character
Separator for variables
[] - Brackets
Used in formulas to specify a file name [c:\temp.xls]sheet2!A2
Used in like statement like [a-z]
in VBA used to get results of an Excel Formula, ex. a = [=SUBTOTAL(3,B:B)]
in VBA from macro recorder Activecell.formulaR1C1 = "=If(RC[-32]=0,0,RC[-10]/RC[-32]
' - Single Quote
VBA Comment character
Formula the value following is text
Sheet names that have a space in them, ex. 'This is a sheet'!A2
in SQL should be converted to even number of single quotes
" - Double Quote
Used to delineate a string, ex. "this is a string"
Use "" two double quotes if string should include the quote, ex. "This is a ""String"""
\ - Back Slash
VBA integer division, ex. 10\3 = 3 where as 10/3 = 3.333333333
File seperator c:\temp\fiile.txt
network drive \\net\temp\file.txt
| - Vertical Bar aka Pipe Character
? - Question Mark
Used as like for files ex. dir("*.xls?")
@ - At Sign
Currency: @
% - Percent Sign
Percent value
format character to format number as a percentage
Like wildcard for SQL statements
Integer: %
& - Ampersand
String Concatenation
Long variable declaration: &
! - Exclamation Point
Single: !
Used in math as factorial sign but not in VBA
Used to separate sheet name from cell in a formula, ex. Sheet2!A2
&tilda; - Tilda
Not used
` - Left Single Quote
Use with Ctrl key to toggle spreadsheet from hiding formula in a cell to showing them
{ } - Curly Braces
arrays
array formulas
Sendkeys to enclose a key like {Tab}
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