XL2000: Grouping ActiveX Option Buttons on a Worksheet

In the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor, when you add option buttons from the Control Toolbox to a worksheet, the option buttons form one group by default. All of the option buttons are mutually exclusive; when you click one option button in a group, all other option buttons in the same group are set to False.

This article discusses how you can create multiple groups of option buttons on a worksheet.

You can set the GroupName property for an option button to determine the group for which the control is a member. All option buttons with the same group name within a single worksheet are mutually exclusive. You can use the same group name in two worksheets; however, doing so creates two groups (one in each worksheet) rather than one group that includes the option buttons in both worksheets.

NOTE: On a UserForm in a Visual Basic for Applications project, you can use a frame control to group option buttons. The ActiveX frame control is not available on the Control Toolbox for worksheets.

The following example demonstrates how to create two groups of option buttons on a worksheet by setting the GroupName property for the controls.

Drawing the Option Button Controls on a Worksheet

1. Open a new workbook.
2. Click Toolbars on the View menu and click Control Toolbox to display the Control Toolbox toolbar.
3. Click Option Button on the Control Toolbox, and then draw the control on the worksheet. Repeat this step three times until there are four option button controls on the worksheet.
4. Click Exit Design Mode on the toolbar.
5. Test the option buttons by clicking each one.

NOTE: Only one option button on the worksheet can be set to True at a time. (The four option buttons you added to the worksheet make up a single group.)

Separating the Option Buttons into Multiple Groups

Using the option buttons you created in step 3 in the previous section, do the following:

1. Click Design Mode on the Control Toolbox toolbar.
2. Click OptionButton1, and then press SHIFT and click OptionButton2 to select both buttons.
3. Click Properties on the Control Toolbox toolbar.
4. In the Properties window, type Group1 for the GroupName property.
5. Click OptionButton3, and then press SHIFT and click OptionButton4 to select both buttons.
6. If the Properties window is not visible, click Properties on the Control Toolbox toolbar.
7. In the Properties window, type Group2 for the GroupName property.
8. Click Exit Design Mode on the Control Toolbox toolbar and close the Properties window.
9. Click each option button on the worksheet. Notice that only one button in Group1 can be set to True, and only one button in Group2 can be set to True.

For more information about ActiveX controls, click Microsoft Excel Help on the Help menu, type activex in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.