Does VBA have dictionary structure? Like key<>value array?
Does VBA have dictionary structure? Like key<>value array?
Yes.
Set a reference to MS Scripting runtime ('Microsoft Scripting Runtime'). As per @regjo's comment, go to Tools->References and tick the box for 'Microsoft Scripting Runtime'.
Create a dictionary instance using the code below:
Set dict = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
or
Dim dict As New Scripting.Dictionary
Example of use:
If Not dict.Exists(key) Then
dict.Add key, value
End If
Don't forget to set the dictionary to Nothing when you have finished using it.
Set dict = Nothing
VBA does not have an internal implementation of a dictionary, but from VBA you can still use the dictionary object from MS Scripting Runtime Library.
Dim d
Set d = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
d.Add "a", "aaa"
d.Add "b", "bbb"
d.Add "c", "ccc"
If d.Exists("c") Then
MsgBox d("c")
End If
VBA can use the dictionary structure of Scripting.Runtime.
And its implementation is actually a fancy one - just by doing myDict(x) = y, it checks whether there is a key x in the dictionary and if there is not such, it even creates it. If it is there, it uses it.
And it does not "yell" or "complain" about this extra step, performed "under the hood". Of course, you may check explicitly, whether a key exists with Dictionary.Exists(key). Thus, these 5 lines:
If myDict.exists("B") Then
myDict("B") = myDict("B") + i * 3
Else
myDict.Add "B", i * 3
End If
are the same as this 1 liner - myDict("B") = myDict("B") + i * 3. Check it out:
Sub TestMe()
Dim myDict As Object, i As Long, myKey As Variant
Set myDict = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
For i = 1 To 3
Debug.Print myDict.Exists("A")
myDict("A") = myDict("A") + i
myDict("B") = myDict("B") + 5
Next i
For Each myKey In myDict.keys
Debug.Print myKey; myDict(myKey)
Next myKey
End Sub
You can access a non-Native HashTable through System.Collections.HashTable.
Represents a collection of key/value pairs that are organized based on the hash code of the key.
Not sure you would ever want to use this over Scripting.Dictionary but adding here for the sake of completeness. You can review the methods in case there are some of interest e.g. Clone, CopyTo
Example:
Option Explicit
Public Sub UsingHashTable()
Dim h As Object
Set h = CreateObject("System.Collections.HashTable")
h.Add "A", 1
' h.Add "A", 1 ''<< Will throw duplicate key error
h.Add "B", 2
h("B") = 2
Dim keys As mscorlib.IEnumerable 'Need to cast in order to enumerate 'https://stackoverflow.com/a/56705428/6241235
Set keys = h.keys
Dim k As Variant
For Each k In keys
Debug.Print k, h(k) 'outputs the key and its associated value
Next
End Sub
This answer by @MathieuGuindon gives plenty of detail about HashTable and also why it is necessary to use mscorlib.IEnumerable (early bound reference to mscorlib) in order to enumerate the key:value pairs.