Declares or redefines variables or arrays.
ReDim [Preserve] variable [(start To end)] [As type-name][, variable2 [(start To end)] [As type-name][,...]]
Optionally, add the Preserve keyword to preserve the contents of the array that is redimensioned. ReDim can only be used in subroutines.
variable: Any variable or array name.
typename: Keyword that declares the data type of a variable.
Byte: Byte variable (0-255)
Boolean: Boolean variable (True, False)
Currency: Currency variable (Currency with 4 Decimal places)
Date: Date variable
Double: Double-precision floating-point variable (1,79769313486232 x 10E308 - 4,94065645841247 x 10E-324)
Integer: Integer variable (-32,768 - 32,767)
Long: Long integer variable (-2,147,483,648 - 2,147,483,647)
Object: Object variable (Note: this variable can only subsequently be defined with Set!)
Single: Single-precision floating-point variable (3.402823 x 10E+38 - 1.401298 x 10E-45).
String: String variable consisting of a maximum of 64,000 ASCII characters.
Variant: Variant variable type (contains all types, specified by definition). If a type name is not specified, variables are automatically defined as Variant Type, unless a statement from DefBool to DefVar is used.
object: Universal Network object (UNO) object or ClassModule object instance.
char: Special character that declares the data type of a variable.
In Office Basic, you do not need to declare variables explicitly. However, you need to declare arrays before you can use them. You can declare a variable with the Dim statement, using commas (,) to separate multiple declarations. To declare a variable type, enter a type-declaration character following the name or use a corresponding type keyword name.
Declaration character | Variable type name |
---|---|
% | Integer |
& | Long |
! | Single |
# | Double |
$ | String |
@ | Currency |
array: Array declaration.
start, end: Numerical values or constants that define the number of elements (NumberElements=(end-start)+1) and the index range.
start and end can be numerical expressions if ReDim is applied at the procedure level.
Office Basic supports single or multi-dimensional arrays that are defined by a specified variable type. Arrays are suitable if the program contains lists or tables that you want to edit. The advantage of arrays is that it is possible to address individual elements according to indices which can be formulated as numeric expressions or variables.
Arrays are declared with the Dim statement. There are multiple ways to define the index range:
Dim text(20) As String ' 21 elements numbered from 0 to 20
Dim value(5 to 25) As Integer ' 21 values numbered from 5 to 25
Dim amount(-15 to 5) As Currency ' 21 amounts (including 0), numbered from -15 to 5
REM Two-dimensional data field
Dim table$(20,2) ' 63 items; from 0 to 20 level 1, from 0 to 20 level 2 and from 0 to 20 level 3.
You can declare an array types as dynamic if a ReDim statement defines the number of dimensions in the subroutine or the function that contains the array. Generally, you can only define an array dimension once, and you cannot modify it. Within a subroutine, you can declare an array with ReDim. You can only define dimensions with numeric expressions. This ensures that the fields are only as large as necessary.
Sub ExampleRedim
Dim iVar() As Integer, iCount As Byte
ReDim iVar(5) As Integer
For iCount = 1 To 5
iVar(iCount) = iCount
Next iCount
ReDim iVar(10) As Integer
For iCount = 1 To 10
iVar(iCount) = iCount
Next iCount
End Sub