For those who have been around spreadsheet programs for quite some time, you may remember the old {?}~ command that was available in Lotus 1-2-3. This command allows you to pause the macro while the user enters data in the spreadsheet.
Excel doesn't include the same capability, but it does have ways that you can prompt the user for input. The two primary methods are these:
Both of these functions have been discussed in other issues of ExcelTips, as noted in the links above. Based on the user's input, you can modify what the macro does in any way desired. The only drawback to the functions is that they only return a single, discrete piece of data. In other words, they aren't designed to allow the user to input a range of cells and then continue processing. For instance, if you wanted to ask the user to provide five values destined for five cells, you would need to present an InputBox five times, depositing the user's responses into the desired cells one after the other.
Note:
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2019-06-05 11:42:18
Willy Vanhaelen
Here is a typical example of the use of InputBox and MsgBox: This macro asks to enter a column letter or letters and gives you the corresponding column number.
Sub ColNr()
X = InputBox("Column letter(s)")
X = Sheet1.Range(X & 1).Column
MsgBox "Column number is: " & X
End Sub
This is a simple macro that does not trap errors.
You can even combine it's 3 lines to one line:
Sub ColNr()
MsgBox "Column number is: " & Sheet1.Range(InputBox("Column letter(s)") & 1).Column
End Sub
By adding On Error Resume Next you trap all errors. You don't get an answer but neither do you get a crash message from vba:
Sub ColNr()
On Error Resume Next
MsgBox "Column number is: " & Sheet1.Range(InputBox("Column letter(s)") & 1).Column
End Sub
Here is something to play with:
Copy the following line to the clipboard:
MsgBox "Column number is: " & Sheet1.Range(InputBox("Column letter(s)") & 1).Column
paste it into the Immediate Window in vba and press enter. Have fun.
2019-06-04 13:21:52
JMJ
@J. Woolley: VERY interesting! I didn't know that form of InputBox, but it is the answer to many, many problems... Thank you!
2019-06-01 10:46:53
J. Woolley
Application.InputBox is more versatile than VBA.InputBox (which only returns a String). Application.InputBox can return a Range or an array of values. See
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/api/excel.application.inputbox
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