SelStart Property

Applies To   See Also

Returns the starting point of a text selection made by the user in a text-entry area of a control, or indicates the position of the insertion point if no text is selected. Also, specifies the starting point of a text selection in a text-entry area of a control. Not available at design time; read-write at run time.

Syntax

[Form.]Control.SelStart[= nStart]

Settings

nStart

Specifies the starting point of text selected or indicates the position of the insertion point if no text is selected. Selected text appears shaded. The valid range of settings is 0 to the total number of characters in the edit area of the control.

Remarks

Use this property with the SelLength and SelText properties for tasks such as:

• Setting the insertion point within a string of characters.
  
  
• Establishing an insertion range that limits where the insertion point can go.
  
  
• Selecting a specific group of characters (substrings) in a control.
  
  
• Clearing text.

When working with these properties, be aware of the following behaviors:

• Setting SelLength to less than 0 causes a run-time error.
  
  
• Setting SelStart to greater than the text length sets the property to the existing text length. Changing SelStart changes the selection to an insertion point and sets SelLength to 0.
  
  
• Setting SelText to a new value sets SelLength to 0 and replaces the selected text with the new string.