How to Make Sure That Only Numbers Are Entered in a Column (141181)

SUMMARY

This article contains a sample Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro (Sub procedure) that you can use to ensure that a certain type of data entry occurs. This macro requires a user to enter only numbers in a specific column on a worksheet.

NOTE: Microsoft Excel 97 and Microsoft Excel 98 offer a new tool called Data Validation. This tool provides the same functionality as the sample macros in this article with an expanded range of restrictions and validation message options.

For additional information on Data Validation, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

157484 XL97: Error When Using Validation Drop-Down List Box

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. The following sample macros restrict the data type in column C of sheet 1 to numbers.

   Sub Auto_Open()
       Sheets("Sheet1").OnEntry = "numbers"
   End Sub

   Sub numbers()
       If ActiveCell.Column = 3 And Not IsNumeric(ActiveCell.Value) Then
           MsgBox "Enter a number."
           ActiveCell.Value = ""  ' Clears contents of active cell.
       End If
   End Sub

To restrict the data type in another column, replace the number 3 in the line that begins:

   If ActiveCell.Column = 3

with the number that represents the column you want. For example, use 1 for column A, 2 for column B, and so on.

REFERENCES

"Visual Basic User's Guide," version 5.0, Chapter 13, "Creating Automatic Procedures and Add-in Applications"

For more information about Data Validation, click the Index tab/button in Microsoft Excel 97 Help or MS Excel Help, type the following text

data validation, overview

and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Types of data restrictions" or "About defining the valid entries for a cell" topic.