In VBA (Visual Basic for Applications), the ‘Object’ data type is a versatile and powerful tool that allows us to work with various objects within our code. This data type represents any object in an application or in the VBA language itself. Objects can be anything from cells, ranges, charts, or even entire workbooks. In this blog post, we will explore the ‘Object’ data type in detail, including its syntax, storage, range, as well as its usage in the top 5 examples of VBA code.
Syntax:
The syntax for declaring an ‘Object’ data type is as follows:
Dim variableName as Object
Here, ‘variableName’ can be any name chosen by the user to represent the object. This tells the VBA compiler that the variable will be an object type and can store any type of object.
Storage:
The ‘Object’ data type does not have any specific size or storage requirement. It can store objects of any type, including simple data types like integers or strings, or even more complex objects like worksheets or charts. Since the size of an object can vary, it is not recommended to use Object variables when the data type of the object is already known.
Range:
When using the ‘Object’ data type, we can work with a range of objects. This means that we can manipulate not just one particular object but multiple objects at once. This allows for more efficient coding and makes it easier to work with large datasets or applications.
VBA Object Data Type Examples:
Example 1: Looping through Workbooks
In this example, we will use the ‘Object’ data type to loop through all the workbooks in a folder and perform a specific task. The use of ‘Object’ data type allows us to store each workbook as an object and iterate through them one by one.
Option Explicit
Sub LoopingThroughWorkbooks()
Dim wb As Object
Dim folderPath As String
Dim i As Integer
folderPath = "C:\Users\User\Desktop\Test Folder" 'change the folderPath to your desired location
'loop through all workbooks in the folder and perform a specific task
For Each wb In CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject").GetFolder(folderPath).Files
If Right(wb.Name, 4) = "xlsx" Then
Workbooks.Open (wb.Path)
'perform task here
Workbooks.Close 'close the workbook
End If
Next wb
End Sub
Example 2: Traversing through Cells in a Worksheet
Using the ‘Object’ data type, we can traverse through cells in a worksheet and perform specific operations. Here, we will use the ‘Range’ property of the ‘Object’ data type to access different cells and change their values.
Option Explicit
Sub TraversingCells()
Dim ws As Object 'worksheet object
Dim cell As Object 'cell object
Set ws = Sheets("Sheet1") 'change the sheet name to your desired sheet
'loop through all cells in column A and change their value to "Hello"
For Each cell In ws.Range("A:A")
cell.Value = "Hello"
Next cell
End Sub
Example 3: Working with Chart Object
In this example, we will use the ‘Object’ data type to work with chart objects in our workbook. We will first create a chart and then change its properties using VBA code.
Option Explicit
Sub WorkingWithCharts()
Dim cht As Object 'chart object
Dim ws As Object 'worksheet to store the chart
Set ws = Sheets("Sheet1") 'change the sheet name to your desired sheet
'create a column chart in cell B10
Set cht = ws.Shapes.AddChart(xlColumnClustered, ws.Range("B10").Left, ws.Range("B10").Top).Chart
'change the chart title and axis titles
With cht
.ChartTitle.Text = "Sample Chart"
.Axes(xlCategory).HasTitle = True
.Axes(xlCategory).AxisTitle.Text = "Months"
.Axes(xlValue).HasTitle = True
.Axes(xlValue).AxisTitle.Text = "Sales"
End With
End Sub
Example 4: Combining Multiple Worksheets
The ‘Object’ data type can also be used to combine data from multiple worksheets into one. In this example, we will use the ‘Object’ data type to loop through all the worksheets in a workbook and copy their data into one consolidated sheet.
Option Explicit
Sub CombiningWorksheets()
Dim ws As Object 'worksheet object
Dim finalWS As Object 'consolidated worksheet object
Dim lastRow As Long 'variable to store last row of data in finalWS
Dim wsLastRow As Long 'variable to store last row of data in a specific worksheet
Set finalWS = Sheets("CombinedData") 'change the sheet name to your desired sheet
'loop through all worksheets in the workbook (except finalWS) and copy their data into finalWS
For Each ws In ThisWorkbook.Worksheets
If ws.Name <> finalWS.Name Then 'check if current worksheet is not finalWS
With ws
wsLastRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row 'find last row with data
.Range("A2:E" & wsLastRow).Copy finalWS.Cells(lastRow + 1, 1) 'copy data and paste it in finalWS starting from last empty row
End With
lastRow = finalWS.Cells(finalWS.Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row 'update lastRow variable
End If
Next ws
End Sub
Example 5: Extracting Data from External Files
The ‘Object’ data type can also be used to extract data from external files such as text or CSV files. In this example, we will use the ‘Object’ data type to open a text file and extract specific data from it.
Option Explicit
Sub ExtractingData()
Dim myFile As Object 'text file object
Dim textLine As Object 'line object
'open the file and assign it to myFile object
Set myFile = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject").OpenTextFile("C:\Users\User\Desktop\SampleTextFile.txt")
'loop through each line in the file and extract the data
Do Until myFile.AtEndOfStream 'checks if there is any more data to be read
Set textLine = myFile.ReadLine 'read a line and assign it to textLine object
'use textLine object to extract data
MsgBox textLine
Loop
myFile.Close 'close the file
End Sub
In conclusion, the ‘Object’ data type in VBA is a very useful tool that allows us to work with various types of objects and make our code more dynamic. It is important to note that using ‘Object’ data type should be avoided when the data type of the object is already known, as it can result in slower code execution. However, in cases where we need to work with a range of objects or objects of unknown data types, the ‘Object’ data type comes in handy. We hope this blog post has helped you understand the ‘Object’ data type better and how it can be used in your VBA projects.
