XL97: Text Property Limited to 1,024 Characters (157350)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
This article was previously published under Q157350

SYMPTOMS

In Visual Basic for Applications macros in Microsoft Excel 97, when you use the Text property to read text from a cell, not all of the text contained in the object is returned.

CAUSE

This will occur if you use the Text property to read text from a cell that contains more than 1,024 characters; the Text property can only read 1,024 characters from a cell.

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel.

WORKAROUND

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If there is a chance that a cell will contain more than 1,024 characters, use the Value property to read the text from the cell. The Value property can read up to 32,767 characters from a cell.

For example, if you want to read the text from cell A1, when cell A1 contains more than 1,024 characters, do the following:

  1. Enter the following macro code into a module sheet:
    Sub Read_Text()

    MyVar = Range("A1").Value
    MsgBox MyVar

End Sub
  2. Run the Read_Text macro.
A message box with the text from cell A1 will be displayed.

MORE INFORMATION

You can use the Text property in Microsoft Excel to read text from cells: 
MyVar = Range("A1").Text
In earlier versions of Microsoft Excel, the problem described above does not occur, since cells can only contain up to 256 characters.

However, Microsoft Excel 97 allows up to 32,767 characters per cell. Because of this, the Text property may not work as expected when you use it to read a cell that contains more than 1,024 characters.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/11/2006
Keywords:kbdtacode kbprb kbProgramming KB157350
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