Scopes

Scopes

In this article I am simply going to show you the different 'scopes' a variable can have. The 'scope' defines the range of the variable (ie where it can be accessed from)

Dim

Variables declared with Dim in the general declarations section in a form or module are available to all procedures within the module or form. If declared in a procedure the variables are available only within the procedure. For example:

Dim gVar As String

This variable will only be available in the module, form or procedure it is declared in.

Public

Variables declared using the Public statement are available to all procedures in all modules and forms. If you declare a variable as public in a module, you can change it by using this syntax:

VariableName = Value

However, if you declare the variable as public in a form, you need to specify the form too:

FormName.VariableName = Value

Private

Private variables are available only to the module or form in which they are declared. Variables cannot be declared as Private inside a procedure.

That's it!

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James Crowley

James Crowley United Kingdom

James first started this website when learning Visual Basic back in 1999 whilst studying his GCSEs. The site grew steadily over the years while being run as a hobby - to a regular monthly audien...

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