XL2000: How to Populate an Array with a Discontiguous Range

To populate an array using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications in Microsoft Excel, you need to iterate through the range object to populate an array with the data if the range object is discontiguous (whether it is a selection, range name, or the reference).

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Using Discontiguous Data

When the range is contiguous, there is no need to iterate through the range. The following Visual Basic macro code includes an example of how you can iterate through a discontiguous range of data to populate an array and an example of how you can use a contiguous range of data to populate an array.

To use the sample macro code, follow these steps:

1. Open a new workbook and insert a Visual Basic module sheet.
2. On the module sheet, type the following macro code:

   Sub PopulateArrayThroughIteration()
   
       ' Dimension the variables.
       Dim MyArray() As Integer
       Dim cell As Object
       Dim counter As Integer
   
       ' Set the value of the counter variable.
       counter = 1
   
      ' Start the loop on the range.
       For Each cell In Range("a1,a3:a20")
   
           ' Redimension the array, while preserving the previous
           ' elements using the counter variable.
           ReDim Preserve MyArray(counter)
           ' Place a value into the array.
           MyArray(counter) = cell.Value
          ' Increase counter by 1.
          counter = counter + 1
       ' Loop.
       Next cell
   
      ' Check a value to make sure the array is populated
      ' this should return 5.
       MsgBox MyArray(4)
   
   End Sub
   					

3. On Sheet1, type the numbers 1 to 20 in the range A1:A20.
4. Activate Sheet1.
5. Run the macro. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros.
   2. In the Macro dialog box, select the name of the macro, and then click Run.

Using Contiguous Data

The following macro populates an array from a contiguous range of data.

For more information, see the Visual Basic User's Guide, version 5.0, Chapter 6, "Working with Visual Basic Code in Procedures."