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  2. XL2000: Min and Max Functions Do Not Work Properly with Arrays

XL2000: Min and Max Functions Do Not Work Properly with Arrays

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This article was previously published under Q213328

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Symptoms

In Visual Basic for Applications, when you use the Date data type in an array, the Max and Min functions return zero.

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Workaround

Use Max and Min functions against individual items in an array to return the correct values.

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More information

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:
https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104
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 example below demonstrates the use of the Min and Max functions against arrays. When the Min and Max functions are applied to the entire array of the Date data type, they return zero. However, when they are applied to the individual elements of the array the correct values are returned.

If you want to apply the Min and Max functions to the entire array you must use the Double data type, as demonstrated in the last part of the code.
NOTE: Microsoft Excel stores dates as serial numbers calculated as the number of days since January 01, 1900. The sample code in this article displays dates as serial numbers.

Sample Visual Basic Procedure

Option Explicit
				
Sub DateArrayTest()
   Dim dtarr(1 To 2) As Date
   
   Sheets("sheet1").Activate
   dtarr(1) = "1963-01-17"
   dtarr(2) = "1996-05-08"
   
   ActiveSheet.Cells(1, 2).Value = "Entire Array"
   ActiveSheet.Cells(1, 3).Value = "Individual Elements"
   ActiveSheet.Cells(1, 4).Value = "Double"
   ActiveSheet.Cells(2, 1).Value = "Min"
   ActiveSheet.Cells(3, 1).Value = "Max"
   
   'Evaluate the entire array - result is 0
   ActiveSheet.Cells(2, 2).Value = Application.Min(dtarr)
   ActiveSheet.Cells(3, 2).Value = Application.Max(dtarr)
   
   'Evaluate individual elements of array - correct result
   ActiveSheet.Cells(2, 3).Value = Application.Min(dtarr(1), dtarr(2))
   ActiveSheet.Cells(3, 3).Value = Application.Max(dtarr(1), dtarr(2))

   Dim dblarr(1 To 2) As Double
   
   'Initialize the array
   dblarr(1) = dtarr(1)
   dblarr(2) = dtarr(2)
   
   'Evaluate the Double datatype array - correct result
   ActiveSheet.Cells(2, 4).Value = Application.Min(dblarr)
   ActiveSheet.Cells(3, 4).Value = Application.Max(dblarr)
End Sub

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References

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
226118� OFF2000: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

For more information about array variables, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type using arrays in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

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Keywords: KB213328, kbprogramming, kbprb, kbhowto, kbdtacode

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Article Info
Article ID : 213328
Revision : 7
Created on : 11/23/2006
Published on : 11/23/2006
Exists online : False
Views : 278