XL2000: How to Use Visual Basic Constants in Text Strings

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications includes a number of intrinsic constants that you can use in macro code to insert certain formatting characters, such as tabs, line feeds, and carriage returns. This article contains information about using these constants and about issues that may occur when you use them.

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For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS The constants referred to in the "Summary" section are listed in the following table. You can use these constants anywhere in Visual Basic code that you want them to appear. For example, you can use them to display a multi-line message in a message box, as in the following example: Make sure that you do not enclose the constants in quotation marks; if you do, the constants appear in the text string instead of as the characters that they represent.

When you use these constants, you may notice the following issues.

Text Boxes and Cells

In Excel 2000, if you use these constants when you insert text into a text box or into a cell, a square character may appear in the text box or cell. This behavior occurs if you use any of the following constants:

• vbBack
• vbCr
• vbCrLf
• vbNewLine
• vbTab

Additionally, the following behaviors can occur under the following conditions:

• If you run the following line of code

  ActiveCell.Value = "AAA" & vbNewLine & "BBB"
  						

  the cell displays the following value:
  AAA[square character]
  BBB
  You can remove the square character by manually editing the cell.
• If you use the vbNullChar constant, text following the constant may be cut off. For example, if you run the following line of code

  ActiveCell.Value = "AAA" & vbNullChar & "BBB"
  						

  the cell displays only "AAA."
• The vbLf and vbNullString constants work correctly when you use them with text boxes and cells. For example, if you run the following line of code

  ActiveCell.Value = "AAA" & vbLf & "BBB"
  						

  the cell displays the following value:
  AAA
  BBB
  If you run the following line of code

  ActiveCell.Value = "AAA" & vbNullString & "BBB"
  						

  the cell displays the following value
  AAABBB
  because vbNullString creates a string of value 0 (the string has no length so nothing appears in the cell).

Message Boxes (MsgBox)

All of the constants listed in this article work correctly when used in a MsgBox, with the exception of the following:

• If you use the vbBack constant, a square character appears in the message box. For example, if you run the following line of code

  MsgBox "AAA" & vbBack & "BBB"
  						

  the message box displays the following message:
  AAA[square character]BBB
• If you use the vbNullChar constant, text following the constant is cut off.