XL2000: How to Fill List Box Control with Multiple Ranges

This article contains an example of a macro that fills the list of a list box control on a UserForm with data from multiple cell ranges.

You cannot use the RowSource property to bind a list box control to a worksheet when you want the list to draw from multiple ranges. You must loop through the various ranges with a Visual Basic for Applications procedure and add the items to the list one at a time.

The following examples populate a list box control as it is loaded by using the Initialize event for the UserForm.

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Populating the List Box Directly from Worksheet Cells

To populate the list box, follow these steps:

1. Close and save any open workbooks, and then create a new workbook.
2. On Sheet1, enter the following values:

      A1: Planes        C1: Alpha
      A2: Trains        C2: Bravo
      A3: Automobiles   C3: Charlie
   					

3. Start the Visual Basic Editor (press ALT+F11).
4. On the Insert menu, click UserForm.
5. Draw a list box control on the UserForm.
6. Double-click the UserForm to open the Code window for the UserForm.
7. In the module, type the following code for the UserForm Initialize event:

   Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
      Dim Lrange As Range
      Dim x As Variant
   
      'Set the range to loop through
      Set Lrange = Union(Sheet1.Range("A1:A3"), Sheet1.Range("C1:C3"))
   
      'Loops through the ranges
      For Each x In Lrange
   
         'Adds an item to the list
         Listbox1.AddItem x.Value
   
      Next x
   
   End Sub
   					

8. Run the UserForm.
   
   The items in the ranges A1:A3 and C1:C3 on Sheet1 are added to the list in ListBox1.
9. Close the UserForm.

Using an Array to Populate the List Box

It is also possible to assign the contents of a Visual Basic array as the list of a list box control. The following example reads the values from the worksheet into an array, and then assigns the array to the ListBox control as the list. to use an array to populate the list box, follow these steps:

1. In the module, change the code for the UserForm Initialize event as follows:

   Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
      Dim Lrange As Range
      Dim Larray() As Variant
      Dim x As Variant
      Dim ctr As Integer
   
      'Set the range to loop through
      Set Lrange = Union(Sheet1.Range("A1:A3"), Sheet1.Range("C1:C3"))
   
      'Loops through the ranges
      For Each x In Lrange
   
         ReDim Preserve Larray(ctr)
   
         'Add an item to the array
         Larray(ctr) = x.Value
   
         ctr = ctr + 1
   
      Next x
   
      'Assign the array to the listbox
      ListBox1.List = LArray
   
   End Sub
   					

2. Run the UserForm. The items in the ranges A1:A3 and C1:C3 on Sheet1 are read into an array and are then assigned to the list of ListBox1.
3. Close the UserForm.

For additional information about populating list boxes in earlierversions of Microsoft Excel, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about list box controls, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type listbox control in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

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