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Variables

Variables are one of the most basic concepts of a programming language.

They store information that you can retrieve at a later time, sort of like short-term memory.

It's a way of adding a new word that VBA can understand. That word or variable has a value associated with it that can change over time. If you access the variable you'll get the latest value of it.

If you close Excel the value in a variable is lost.

Variable can store different types of data.

The most common are numbers and strings.

Variables have a name and naming standards.

New programmers should declare variables and use the Option Explicit command.

You should try to use names that have meaning, for example

sales_tax = price * tax_rate. Note that the * (Star or asterisk) mean multiply in this context.

You can declare variables via the Dim statement.

Dim i, j, sales_tax, price, tax_rate

By default the type is variant, which means it can be any type of data.

You can also declare what type the variable is

Dim i as integer, s as String, v as Variant.

You store data to a variable via the assignment statement.

i = 3
s = "some string"
v = 103.5

If you have the setting Option Explicit turned on (Recommended for New programmers) you are forced to declare all variables in the module, form, object or class.

In the VB editor go to Tools > Options...



Set Require Variable Declaration

This allows VBA to tell you when you've made a typing mistake.

Enter the following:


Sub test_Option_Explicit
dim sMisspelled_variable As String

sMisspelled_variable = "judgment"

debug.print "The word " & sMispelled & " is often misspelled"

End Sub

When you try the run the program you get



This allows you to find bugs at Compile time vs. Run time. A user might have your software and you could have easily found the bug.

Why do you recommend Option Explicit?

Variables can have a Scope
  • Global
  • Module
  • Local


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