XL97: How to Fill ListBox Control with Multiple Ranges

ID: Q161534


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows


SUMMARY

This article contains an example that fills the list of a ListBox control on a UserForm with data from multiple cell ranges.


MORE INFORMATION

You cannot use the RowSource property to bind a ListBox control to a worksheet when you want the list to draw from multiple ranges. You must loop through the various ranges with a Visual Basic for Applications procedure and add the items to the list one at a time.

The following examples populate a ListBox control as it is loaded by using the Initialize event for the UserForm.

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Populating the ListBox Directly from Worksheet Cells

To populate the ListBox, follow these steps:
  1. Close and save any open workbooks and then create a new workbook.


  2. On Sheet1, enter the following values:
    
          A1: Planes        C1: Alpha
          A2: Trains        C2: Bravo
          A3: Automobiles   C3: Charlie 


  3. Start the Visual Basic Editor (press ALT+F11).


  4. On the Insert menu, click UserForm.


  5. Draw a ListBox control on the UserForm.


  6. Double-click the UserForm to open the Code window for the UserForm.


  7. In the module type the following code for the UserForm Initialize event:
    
          Private Sub UserForm_Intialize()
              Dim Lrange As Range
              Dim x As Variant
    
              'Set the range to loop through
              Set Lrange = Union(Sheet1.Range("A1:A3"), Sheet1.Range("C1:C3"))
    
              'Loops through the ranges
              For Each x In Lrange
    
                  'Adds an item to the list
                  Listbox1.AddItem x.Value
    
              Next x
    
          End Sub 


  8. Run the UserForm.

    The items in the ranges A1:A3 and C1:C3 on Sheet1 are added to the list in ListBox1.


  9. Close the UserForm.


Using an Array to Populate the ListBox

It is also possible to assign the contents of a Visual Basic array as the list of a ListBox control. The following example reads the values from the worksheet into an array, and then assigns the array to the ListBox control as the list:
  1. In the module, change the code for the UserForm Initialize event:
    
          Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
              Dim Lrange As Range
              Dim Larray() As Variant
              Dim x As Variant
              Dim ctr As Integer
    
              'Set the range to loop through
              Set Lrange = Union(Sheet1.Range("A1:A3"), Sheet1.Range("C1:C3"))
    
              'Loops through the ranges
              For Each x In Lrange
    
                  ReDim Preserve Larray(ctr)
    
                  'Add an item to the array
                  Larray(ctr) = x.Value
    
                  ctr = ctr + 1
    
              Next x
    
              'Assign the array to the listbox
              ListBox1.List = LArray
    
          End Sub 


  2. Run the UserForm.

    The items in the ranges A1:A3 and C1:C3 on Sheet1 are read into an array and are then assigned to the list of ListBox1.


  3. Close the UserForm.



REFERENCES

For additional information about populating list boxes in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel, please see the following article here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q153603 XL: Macro to Fill a List Box with Multiple Ranges
For more information about ListBox Controls, click the Office Assistant, type listbox, click Search, and then click to view "ListBox control"

Additional query words: 97 8.00 XL97

Keywords : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode KbVBA
Version : WINDOWS:
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :


Last Reviewed: November 9, 1999
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