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If the size of an array is not known during declaration, you can declare
the array to be dynamic. To do this, use a Static, Dim, Private, or Public
statement to declare the array and leave the parentheses empty. The
following examples are statements you can use to declare a dynamic array:
' Static must be used at the procedural level.
Static MyArray1() As String
' Dim may be used at the module or procedural levels.
Dim MyArray2() As Integer
' Private and Public must be used at the module level.
Private MyArray3() As Single
Public MyArray4() As Double
After an array is declared in this fashion, you can use the ReDim
statement to change the number of elements and dimensions. If the array is
contained in a Variant variable, you can also change the type of the array
elements using the As clause. In order to change the size of the array
contained in a variant, the Variant variable must be explicitly declared
first. The following are examples of using the ReDim statement:
' Declare the array using Dim.
Dim MyArray1() As String
' ReDim used to change the number of elements.
ReDim MyArray1(10)
' ReDim used to change the number of elements and dimensions.
ReDim MyArray1(15, 35)
' ReDim used to change the lower and upper bounds of the array
' dimensions.
ReDim MyArray1(5 to 10, 10 to 30)
' Using variables to indicate the new sizes of an array's dimensions.
ReDim MyArray1(X, Y)
' Using ReDim to change the type of the elements in an array
' contained in a variant.
Dim MyArray as Variant
ReDim MyArray(10, 20) as String
Each time the ReDim statement is used, the values stored in the array are
lost. To retain the existing data, you can use the Preserve keyword with
the ReDim statement, as in the following examples:
' Change the size of the array but maintain the current values that
' are stored in the array.
Dim MyArray1(10, 20)
' Note only the last dimension can be changed when using Preserve.
ReDim Preserve MyArray1(10, 30)
When the Preserve keyword is used, you can change only the upper bound of
the last array dimension. If you make the size of an array smaller than
the number of data elements currently stored in the array, the excess data
will be lost. The number of dimensions in the array cannot be changed.
The only exception to this situation is that the lower bound of the last
array element can be changed if the array is contained in a Variant
variable, for example, when an array is declared as a variant variable.
The ReDim statement is used to resize the array to one dimension with a
lower bound of 1 and an upper bound of 20. The array is then filled with
data.
Again, the ReDim statement is used with the Preserve keyword to resize the
array so that the lower bound is 5 and the upper bound is 34. Because the
Preserve keyword was used, the data has been preserved and the subscripts
for the elements of the array have been remapped to the original data. The
following macro illustrates this operation (you will need a worksheet
named Sheet1 that is blank and in the same workbook as the macro).
Sub UsingReDim()
' Declare a Variant variable called MyArray.
Dim MyArray As Variant
' Declare looping variable.
Dim Counter As Integer
' Redimension MyArray for 20 elements as type Integer.
ReDim MyArray(1 To 20) As Integer
' Loop 20 times.
For Counter = 1 To 20
' Fill the elements of the array with the values 1 though 20.
MyArray(Counter) = Counter
' Place values of MyArray in column A of worksheet
' on the row corresponding to the subscript.
Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(Counter, 1).Value = MyArray(Counter)
Next Counter
' Redimension MyArray for 30 elements,
' change the lower and upper bounds, and
' retain the current values stored in the array
ReDim Preserve MyArray(5 To 34) As Integer
' Loop 30 times.
For Counter = 5 To 34
' Place values of MyArray in column B of worksheet
' on the row corresponding to the subscript.
Worksheets("Sheet1").Cells(Counter, 2).Value = MyArray(Counter)
Next Counter
End Sub
When the macro is run, Sheet1 will contain the values before and after
the ReDim is used. Note that the excess elements have already been
initialized to zero.