Hi All,

I was looking at some code on Dev Ashish's site, and one function was
declared differently than I had seen before.

Function Lpad(MyValue$, MyPadCharacter$, MyPaddedLength%)
<<some vba code here>>
End Function

I understand the code, but I'm wondering about the declaration.

Is "MyValue$" the same as "MyValue AS String"?

Does the % then specify an integer?

Is there a list of other character declarations?

Does that work with a regular dim statement?
i.e. DIM strMyString$, intMyInteger%

Thanks so much,
Chris M.

It's an ancient way of declaring variables, so ancient that it doesn't
include all data types.

There are 5 type-declaration symbols that I'm aware of:

! - Single
# - Double
$ - String
% - Integer
& - Long

(no Date, Boolean, Currency or Double.)

Dim strMyString$, intMyInteger%

is identical to

Dim strMyString As String, intMyInteger As Integer


--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no e-mails, please!)


"mcescher" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:94788162-001b-48ae-be0e-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi All,
>
> I was looking at some code on Dev Ashish's site, and one function was
> declared differently than I had seen before.
>
> Function Lpad(MyValue$, MyPadCharacter$, MyPaddedLength%)
> <<some vba code here>>
> End Function
>
> I understand the code, but I'm wondering about the declaration.
>
> Is "MyValue$" the same as "MyValue AS String"?
>
> Does the % then specify an integer?
>
> Is there a list of other character declarations?
>
> Does that work with a regular dim statement?
> i.e. DIM strMyString$, intMyInteger%
>
> Thanks so much,
> Chris M.

"mcescher" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:94788162-001b-48ae-be0e-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi All,
>
> I was looking at some code on Dev Ashish's site, and one function was
> declared differently than I had seen before.
>
> Function Lpad(MyValue$, MyPadCharacter$, MyPaddedLength%)
> <<some vba code here>>
> End Function
>
> I understand the code, but I'm wondering about the declaration.
>
> Is "MyValue$" the same as "MyValue AS String"?
>
> Does the % then specify an integer?

Yes. It's a "type declaration character".

> Is there a list of other character declarations?

Here's one:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/191713

> Does that work with a regular dim statement?
> i.e. DIM strMyString$, intMyInteger%

Yes. But it's a discouraged practice.

One place where the type declaration characters come in handy -- when you're
programming for absolute maximum run-time efficiency -- is in the
specification of numeric literals, where you want to avoid any unnecessary
conversions. For example

Dim sngMyVar As Single
' ...
sngMyVar = 1!

Observe this in the Immediate Window:

?typename(1)
Integer
?typename(1.0)
Double
?typename(1!)
Single
?typename(1@)
Currency


--
Dirk Goldgar, MS Access MVP
www.datagnostics.com

(please reply to the newsgroup)

"Douglas J. Steele" <NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_canada.com> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> It's an ancient way of declaring variables, so ancient that it doesn't
> include all data types.
>
> There are 5 type-declaration symbols that I'm aware of:
>
> ! - Single
> # - Double
> $ - String
> % - Integer
> & - Long
>
> (no Date, Boolean, Currency or Double.)


There's Currency: @


--
Dirk Goldgar, MS Access MVP
www.datagnostics.com

(please reply to the newsgroup)

On Aug 21, 2:29*pm, "Douglas J. Steele"
<NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_canada.com> wrote:
> It's an ancient way of declaring variables, so ancient that it doesn't
> include all data types.
>
> There are 5 type-declaration symbols that I'm aware of:
>
> ! *- Single
> # - Double
> $ - String
> % - Integer
> & - Long
>
> (no Date, Boolean, Currency or Double.)
>
> Dim strMyString$, intMyInteger%
>
> is identical to
>
> Dim strMyString As String, intMyInteger As Integer
>
> --
> Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVPhttp://I.Am/DougSteele
> (no e-mails, please!)
>
> "mcescher" <chris.meind...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:94788162-001b-48ae-be0e-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
>
> > Hi All,
>
> > I was looking at some code on Dev Ashish's site, and one function was
> > declared differently than I had seen before.
>
> > Function Lpad(MyValue$, MyPadCharacter$, MyPaddedLength%)
> > *<<some vba code here>>
> > End Function
>
> > I understand the code, but I'm wondering about the declaration.
>
> > Is "MyValue$" the same as "MyValue AS String"?
>
> > Does the % then specify an integer?
>
> > Is there a list of other character declarations?
>
> > Does that work with a regular dim statement?
> > *i.e. DIM strMyString$, intMyInteger%
>
> > Thanks so much,
> > Chris M.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thank you so much for your quick response. Should this be avoided?

Thanks again,
Chris M.

"Dirk Goldgar" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:11BC9AEA-BEE9-4F29-B8D0-(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Douglas J. Steele" <NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_canada.com> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> It's an ancient way of declaring variables, so ancient that it doesn't
>> include all data types.
>>
>> There are 5 type-declaration symbols that I'm aware of:
>>
>> ! - Single
>> # - Double
>> $ - String
>> % - Integer
>> & - Long
>>
>> (no Date, Boolean, Currency or Double.)
>
>
> There's Currency: @

Hmm. Don't know how I missed it. Thanks, Dirk.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no private e-mails, please)

On Aug 21, 3:41*pm, "Douglas J. Steele"
<NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_canada.com> wrote:
> "Dirk Goldgar" <d...@NOdataSPAMgnostics.com.invalid> wrote in message
>
> news:11BC9AEA-BEE9-4F29-B8D0-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
>
>
>
> > "Douglas J. Steele" <NOSPAM_djsteele@NOSPAM_canada.com> wrote in message
> >news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> It's an ancient way of declaring variables, so ancient that it doesn't
> >> include all data types.
>
> >> There are 5 type-declaration symbols that I'm aware of:
>
> >> ! *- Single
> >> # - Double
> >> $ - String
> >> % - Integer
> >> & - Long
>
> >> (no Date, Boolean, Currency or Double.)
>
> > There's Currency: @
>
> Hmm. Don't know how I missed it. Thanks, Dirk.
>
> --
> Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVPhttp://I.Am/DougSteele
> (no private e-mails, please)- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks to all who replied.

Chris M.

"Linq Adams via AccessMonster.com" <u28780@uwe> wrote in message
news:899b2322f43ab@uwe...
> Hey, who you calling "ancient?" I grew up writing code like that, back
> when
> "basic" wasn't "visual," hard drives were 20 mbs and Bill's operating
> systems
> actually came with an operator's manual!


Wow, you're a newbie, aren't you?

--
Dirk Goldgar, MS Access MVP
www.datagnostics.com

(please reply to the newsgroup)