Array Pointer

[Mike H.]

Is there an array pointer available in VBA? I use it in other languages to
easily and quickly sort and search arrays. My problem is I have two very
large spreadsheets and want to get data from one to the other based on a link
and the arraypointer would make this easier in my opinion. A simple vlookup
formula in the spreadsheet is very slow for a large qty of numbers so I don't
really want to use it. Any ideas?

 

[Bernie Deitrick]

Mike,

VBA does not use pointers.

A better explanation of what you are doing may lead to some suggestions on ways to improve speed....

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP

 

[Mike H.]

Here is what I do. I read into Dataarray() all my entries in a spreadsheet
(about 5000). The array is like this: Dataarray(REC#,1)=Account #
DataArray(Rec#,2)=Account description if there is one (if it is a valid
account). To fill in the second element I do this:



Windows("Chart of Accounts.xls").Activate
Sheets("Entire Chart").Select
Let Counterx = 0
For YY = 1 To X
Let XX = 0
Set myRange = Range("A1:A65000")
flag = 0
For Each c In myRange
Let XX = XX + 1
If c.Value = DataArray(YY, 1) Then flag = 1
If flag = 1 Then
Exit For
End If
Next
If flag = 1 Then
DataArray(YY, 2) = Cells(XX, 2)
Else
Let Counterx = Counterx + 1
BadAccts(Counterx, 1) = DataArray(YY, 1)
'MsgBox ("Account " & DataArray(YY, 1) & " is not in the chart of
accounts!")
End If
Next

This code takes about 45 minutes to go through 5000 records. Any
suggestions would be welcomed.

 

[Bernie Deitrick]

Mike,

Not sure where your Account#/Account desc table is, but assuming that it is in columns A and B

For i = LBound(DataArray) To UBound(DataArray)
DataArray(i, 2) = Application.WorksheetFunction.VLookup(DataArray(i, 1), Range("A:B"), 2, False)
Next i

But why are you putting this into an array? You could just use the VLOOKUP whenever you want the
value.

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP

 

[Mike H.]

I don't have to put it into an array. I just want the description for the
account in my journal entry file so that I can verify it is a valid account
before I upload it. I will see how this goes. Thanks.

 

[Richard Winstone]

Take a look at this link:
http://www.ozgrid.com/News/LookUpMatchIndexVBAFind.htm

One of the FindBillyBrown() routines look close to what you want.

Is there an array pointer available in VBA? I use it in other languages to
easily and quickly sort and search arrays. My problem is I have two very
large spreadsheets and want to get data from one to the other based on a link
and the arraypointer would make this easier in my opinion. A simple vlookup
formula in the spreadsheet is very slow for a large qty of numbers so I don't
really want to use it. Any ideas?

Richard
--

 

[Mike H.]

Bernie, This works tremendously! Instead of 45 minutes, it takes less than
45 seconds. Just one question, the LBound and UBound, does that stand for
lower and upper boundary or something like that?

 

[Bernie Deitrick]

Mike,

LBound and UBound are used to read the lower and upper bounds of arrays whose size you don't know.

If you had coded

Dim DataArray(1 to 5000) As Double

then it would be okay to use

For i = 1 To 5000

But a lot of operations return arrays of unknown size, so using LBound and UBound to read the size
makes sense. There is one other complication - Option Base, which can be used to set the Lower
bound of arrays automatically...

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP

 

[Mike H.]

Why would the lower bound not always be one? Would not an array be
populated from 1 to x?

 

[Gary Keramidas]

try this:
Sub test()
Dim arr As Variant
arr = Array("A", "B", "C")
MsgBox arr(0)
End Sub

 

[Bernie Deitrick]

Would not an array be populated from 1 to x?

No. Many arrays are 0 based by default, which is from indexing in binary (0 to 7 can be done using
the same number of bits, 1 to 8 requires one more bit than that):

Sub CompareArrays()
Dim FileArray As Variant
Dim myArray As Variant

myArray = Array(4, 5, 6)

FileArray = Application.GetOpenFilename(MultiSelect:=True)
If IsArray(FileArray) Then
MsgBox "The lower bound of the file array is " & LBound(FileArray)
End If
MsgBox "The lower bound of the constant array is " & LBound(myArray)

End Sub

But then try the same macro with this at the top of your codemodule

Option Base 1

and then again with

Option Base 0


And, IF you use

Dim myArray(1 to 3) As Variant

Then you have to use this

myArray(1) = 4
myArray(2) = 5
myArray(3) = 6

instead of just estting the variant to an array.

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP

 

[Mike H.]

try this:
Sub test()
Dim arr As Variant
arr = Array("A", "B", "C")
MsgBox arr(0)
End Sub

 

[Gary Keramidas]

even if you try it in a new workbook?
do you have option base 1 at the top of your module?
try this and see if you get the same result:

Option Base 0
Sub test()
Dim arr As Variant
arr = Array("A", "B", "C")
MsgBox arr(0)
End Sub

 

[Mike H.]

In an empty sheet, I get "A".

 

[Mike H.]

In an empty sheet, I get "A".

 

[Chip Pearson]

Why would the lower bound not always be one? Would not an array be

populated from 1 to x?

You can have any lower and upper bound you want.

Dim Arr(-100 To 100) As Long
Debug.Print LBound(Arr), UBound(Arr)


--
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Pearson Software Consulting
www.cpearson.com
(email on the web site)

 

[Mike H.]

I don't have any particular lower bound. In the other language that I am
more familiar with than VBA, an array would be sized from 1 to X, but here, I
now see it can be from 0 to X. No big deal, I didn't understand that before,
however.