VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language

Choose Function

Named Arguments

No

Syntax

Choose(index, item1[, item2, ...[,itemn]])

index

Use: Required

Data Type: Single

An expression that evaluates to the number of the item to choose from the list.

item1 - n

Use: Required

Data Type: Variant

A comma-delimited list of values from which to choose.

Return Value

A variant data type item chosen from the list; the data subtype is that of the chosen item.

Description

Programmatically selects an item from a predefined list of values (which are passed as parameters to the function) based on its ordinal position in the list. Using Choose is a simpler alternative to populating an array with fixed values.

Rules at a Glance

• The list of items is based from 1, rather than the more usual VB default base of 0.

• Because the list of values is a variant parameter array, you can mix data subtypes within the list; you aren't forced to use the same data subtype for each item in the list. For example, item1 can be a variant string, item2 a long integer, and item3 a floating point number.

• The list of values can't be expanded or contracted programmatically, but the items within the list can be generated dynamically by including the return value of a function call. For example:

  vChosenOption = Choose(iOption, vFunction1(), _
                  vFunction2(), vFunction3())

Example

Choose is useful for returning some result based on an option button selection. This is most straightforward with Visual Basic, which supports control arrays. For example:

Private Sub Option1_Click(Index ...