Definition of Excel VBA Variable and Datatype
Today, We will know the Definition of Excel VBA Variables and Datatype. We will also explain the variable and their data type. Read: How to Write Macros in Excel and Use
Variables are used in almost all computer programs and VBA is no different. It’s a good practice to declare a variable at the beginning of the procedure. It is not necessary, but it helps to identify the nature of the content (text, data, numbers, etc).
VBA Variables
Variables are specific values that are stored in a computer memory or storage system. Later, you can use that value in code and execute. The computer will fetch that value from the system and show it in the output. Each of the Excel VBA variable types must be given a name.
To name the variable in VBA, you need to follow the following rules.
- It must be less than 255 characters
- No spacing is allowed
- It must not begin with a number
- Period is not permitted
Here is some example for Valid and Invalid names for variables in VBA.
Valid Names | Invalid Names |
---|---|
My_Car | My.Car |
MyNewCar1 | 1_MyNewCar (not begin with number) |
EmployeeID | Employee ID ( Space not allowed) |
In VBA, we need to declare the variables before using them by assigning names and data types.
In VBA, Variables are either declared Implicitly or Explicitly.
- Implicitly: Below is an example of a variable declared Implicitly.
- label=Eduguru
- volume=7
- Explicitly: Below is an example of variable declared Explicitly. You can use “Dim” keyword in syntax
- Dim Num As Integer
- Dim password As String
VBA variable is no different than other programming languages. To declare a variable in VBA you use the keyword “Dim.”
The syntax for VBA Variable,
To declare a variable in VBA, type Dim followed by a name:
Sub Exercise () Dim <name> End Sub
Before we execute the variables we have to record a macro in Excel. To record, a macro do the following –
Step 1): Record the Macro 1
Step 2) : Stop Macro 1
Step 3): Open the Macro editor, enter the code for variable in the Macro1
Step 4): Execute the code for Macro 1
For example, for VBA Variable
Sub Macro1() Dim Num As Integer Num = 99 MsgBox " Eduguru" & Num End Sub
Run this code and See what the Output is coming.
Excel VBA Data Types
The computer cannot differentiate between the numbers (1,2,3..) and strings (a,b,c,..). To make this differentiation, we use Data Types.
VBA data types can be segregated into two types
- Numeric Data Types
Type | Storage | Range of Values |
---|---|---|
Byte | 1 byte | 0 to 255 |
Integer | 2 bytes | -32,768 to 32,767 |
Long | 4 bytes | -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,648 |
Single | 4 bytes | -3.402823E+38 to -1.401298E-45 for negative values 1.401298E-45 to 3.402823E+38 for positive values. |
Double | 8 bytes | -1.79769313486232e+308 to -4.94065645841247E-324 for negative values 4.94065645841247E-324 to 1.79769313486232e+308 for positive values. |
Currency | 8 bytes | -922,337,203,685,477.5808 to 922,337,203,685,477.5807 |
Decimal | 12 bytes | +/- 79,228,162,514,264,337,593,543,950,335 if no decimal is use +/- 7.9228162514264337593543950335 (28 decimal places) |
- Non-numeric Data Types
Data Type | Bytes Used | Range of Values |
---|---|---|
String (fixed Length) | Length of string | 1 to 65,400 characters |
String (Variable Length) | Length + 10 bytes | 0 to 2 billion characters |
Boolean | 2 bytes | True or False |
Date | 8 bytes | January 1, 100 to December 31, 9999 |
Object | 4 bytes | Any embedded object |
Variant(numeric) | 16 bytes | Any value as large as Double |
Variant(text) | Length+22 bytes | Same as variable-length string |
In VBA, if the data type is not specified, it will automatically declare the variable as a Variant.
Constant in VBA
Constant is like a variable, but you cannot modify it. To declare VBA constants, you can use the keyword const.
There are two types of constant,
- Built-in or intrinsic provided by the application.
- Symbolic or user defined
You can either specify the scope as private by default or public. For example,
Public Const DaysInYear=365
Private Const Workdays=250
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