Using Square Brackets in a Visual Basic Procedure

ID: Q114320

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual Basic programming system, Applications Edition, version 1.0

SUMMARY

Square brackets ([]) are used in Visual Basic 3.0 so that the contents of the brackets are ignored when the code is run. This is useful when you are using OLE Automation statements because the brackets allow a manual override of the syntax checker.

Microsoft Visual Basic Programming System, Applications Edition also uses a syntax checker. When you use brackets in your procedure, they are sometimes removed after you run the procedure. In most cases, this does not cause a problem. However, if the statement needs to be recompiled, for example, if you copy the statement that no longer contains the brackets, and paste it to another location in a module, a syntax error appears when you run the pasted statement.

In most cases, there is another way to reference an object or method with the correct syntax without using brackets. The following is an example.

Example

The Microsoft Excel Name object conflicts with a reserved word.

The following statement works correctly in Visual Basic, Applications Edition:


    Dim xl as [Name]

When you run the procedure that contains this statement, however, the brackets are removed. To use this statement without brackets, and without receiving an error message, use the following:


    Dim xl as Excel.Name

MORE INFORMATION

In Visual Basic version 3.0, type declaration characters are not allowed in procedures. However, they are allowed in Visual Basic, Applications Edition. The following is the required syntax in Visual Basic 3.0:


   Dim Word As Object
   Set Word = CreateObject("Word.Basic")
   MsgBox Word.[GetBookmark$](Word.[BookmarkName$](1))

In Visual Basic, Applications Edition, you can use the following:


   MsgBox = Word.GetBookmark$(Word.BookmarkName$(1))

Note that in this example, the CreateObject function is used to create an object-linking-and-embedding (OLE) Automation object using the Microsoft Word for Windows macro language. When you call a function in the Microsoft Word for Windows macro language, the brackets are generally not required, as shown in the example above. However, there are at least two functions that you must enclose in brackets in order to use in a Visual Basic, Applications Edition macro. These are Language$() and Font$(). The following is an example of how to use the Language$() function in a Visual Basic, Applications Edition macro:


   Dim Word As Object
   Set Word = CreateObject("Word.Basic")
   MsgBox Word.[Language$](0)

When you run a Visual Basic, Applications Edition procedure that uses a Microsoft Word for Windows function and you use the brackets, the brackets are not removed after you run the commands.

Microsoft provides examples of Visual Basic procedures for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This Visual Basic procedure is provided "as is" and Microsoft does not guarantee that it can be used in all situations. Microsoft does not support modifications of this procedure to suit customer requirements for a particular purpose. Note that a line that is preceded by an apostrophe introduces a comment in the code--comments are provided to explain what the code is doing at a particular point in the procedure. Note also that an underscore character (_) indicates that code continues from one line to the next. You can type lines that contain this character as one logical line or you can divide the lines of code and include the line continuation character. For more information about Visual Basic for Applications programming style, see the "Programming Style in This Manual" section in the "Document Conventions" section of the Visual Basic "User's Guide."

Additional query words: kbmacro wordbasic

Keywords :
Version : :1.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :