INTRODUCTION TO VBA
PROGRAMMING
LESSON5 [email protected]
Agenda
Strings
Iterative constructs
For– Next
Do – Loop
Do While –Loop
Do – Loop While
Do Until – Loop
Do – Loop Until
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Strings
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Strings
Variables that hold text
Can contain up to 231 characters
Declared as
Dim myString As String
Operators
& - concatenation
myString = “hello”, myString2=“world”
myString & myString2 “helloworld”;
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
String Functions
Len(myString)
Counts the number of characters in myString
Left(myString,8)
Returns the first 8 characters of myString
Right(myString,5)
Returns the last 5 characters of myString
Mid(myString, 4,3)
Returns3 characters of myString starting from the 4th
character from the left (included)
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Examples
myString = “Hello Everybody”
X = Len(myString) X = 15
A = Left(myString,5) A = “Hello”
B = Right(myString,6) B =
“rybody”
C = Mid(myString,4,5) C = “lo
Ev”
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
String Functions (cont.d)
myString = “The lazy dog sleeps in the garden”
Instr(1,myString,”sleeps”)
Returns the position of the first occurrence of the
“sleeps” string in myString starting to search from
position 1
E.g. 14
myString = UCase(myString)
myString = “THE LAZY DOG...”
myString = LCase(myString)
myString = “the lazy dog...”
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
String Functions (cont.d)
Val(myString)
Converts myString to a number
If myString starts with a number and then includes
characters, only the first number is converted
If myString starts with characters
Val(myString) returns 0
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
ASCII codes
Characters are
represented by
numbers
Codes from 0 to 128
are equal for every
machine
Standard ASCII set
(0-128)
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
ASCII-related functions
Asc(string) Chr(number)
Returns the ASCII code Returnsthe character
of the first character corresponding to a
of string given ASCII code
E.g. E.g.
Asc(“Hello”) = 72 Chr(72)= “H”
Asc(“hello”)=104 Chr(104) = “h”
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Comparison
If( myString = “Hello”) Then ...
Comparison performed by comparing ASCII codes from
left to right
Same characters compare the next couple
Different characters their relation establishes the
relation between the compared strings
Same characters, same lenght strings are equal
Different lenght, the shorter is a prefix for the longer
the longer is “greater”
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Example
“aid” < ”basket”
“help” > “hello”
“help” = “help”
“help” < “help me”
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
String Exercises
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 1
Write a program that given a string scrambles it by
applying the following algorithm:
1. Split the string in two substrings
1. The first substring lenght shall be randomly selected
2. The second substring is given by difference between the original
string and the first substring
2. Compose the final string by concatenating the first half of the
first string with the second half of the second string. Then
concatenate the resulting string with the second half of the first
string and with the first half of the second string.
Suggestion:
Rnd() returns a random number between 0 and 1
Rnd() must be preceded by a call to Randomize (at the
beginning of the program)
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Iterative Constructs
For-Next
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Why Loops?
Suppose we have to compute the factorial of a user-entered
number N
We do not know N cannot write the computation a priori
We know how to compute 4!
4! = 1*2*3*4
We can compute N! If we are able to perform
N! = 1*2*3*4*....*N-1*N
We need to repeat the base operation
(N)! = (N-1)! * N
Given that 0! = 1
1! = 0!*1=1*1=1
2! = 1!*2=1*2 = 2
3! = 2!*3=2*3=6
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Why Loops?
We need to repeat a given operation many times
Factorial example
Ask many information to the user
...other repetitive tasks
Constructs for repeating operations Iterative
Constructs
Informally Loops
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
For - Next
The For-Next loop is a “counting loop”
Automatically counts the number of times its operations
are executed
Shall be used when the total number of operations to
execute is a priori known
Structure
For index = start_value To end_value
body
Next index
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
For - Next
Print all the numbers between 0 and 10
Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 To 10
MsgBox(i)
Next i
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
For – Next
Reverse loop can be generated using the Step
clause
Dim i As Integer
For i = 100 To 0 Step -1
MsgBox(i)
Next i
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Factorial
Dim number As Integer
Dim factorial As Double
Dim i As Integer
'ask the number to the user
number = InputBox("Insert a positive number")
'init the factorial to 1
factorial = 1
If (number >= 0) Then
For i = 1 To number
factorial = factorial * i
Next i
MsgBox (number & "! = " & factorial)
Else
MsgBox ("Invalid Number...")
End If
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exit conditions
For-next exits when the index has reached the
end_value
In some case we may want to exit before the end_value
E.g. we want to compute the average of a given amount of
numbers by entering them one by one and we want to stop the
loop at some point.
Exit For
Allows for interrupting a For – Next loop
Not really clean (if we need to use Exit for, then the For-
Next loop might not be suited to our problem)
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Example
For i = 1 To 10
‘ask the current number
number = InputBox(“Number?”)
If(number=“stop”) Then
Exit For
Else
average = (average * (i-1) +
Val(number))/i
MsgBox (“Average = ” & average)
End If
Next i
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Nested Loop
We have to fill up a multiplication table
We need to compute all the products between row and
column indexes
1 2 3 4
1 1 2 3 4
2 2 4 6 8
3 3 6 9 12
4 4 8 12 16
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Solution
Dim i As Integer
Dim j As Integer
Dim table As String
For i = 1 To 4
Table = Table & “|”
For j = 1 To 4
Table = Table & (i*j) & “|”
Next j
Table = Table & VBNewLine
Next i
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 1
Write a program that, given a number N, computes
the sum of all the numbers between 1 and N
E.g N=4, sum = 4+3+2+1
Solve it using a For – Next cycle
Think what is the optimum solution
remember the Gauss formula
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 2
Write a program that, given a number N, computes
the value of the Fibonacci series at the Nth iteration
N = 1, Fibonacci = 1
N = 2, Fibonacci = 11
N = 3, Fibonacci = 112
N = 4, Fibonacci = 1123
N = 5, Fibonacci = 11235
N = 6, Fibonacci = 112358
N = 7, Fibonacci = 11235813
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 3
Write a program that asks a text to the user and
inverts the case of all the text characters
Text= “This Is ouR TexT”
newText = “tHIS iS Our tEXt”
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 4
Write a program that given a word provides all the
possible rotation of the word
Word = “Hello”
Rotations = “Hello”, “elloH”, “lloHe”, “loHel”,...
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 5-6-7
Write a program that, given a text, counts all the
uppercase and lowercase characters
Write a program that asks the user a word and
reverses it. The program shall continue to work
unless the user enters the word “stop”
Write a program to check if a word is palindrome,
i.e. if it is equal when read from left to right and
from right to left
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Do While - Loop
Does some action while a condition holds
Structure:
Do While condition
action
Loop
When we need to use it?
Whenever the number of cycles to be executed is not a
priori known
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Do-While Loop
WARNING!
If condition is not true the loop is never executed!!
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Do-Loop While
Similar to the Do-While but executes action at least
1 time
Structure
Do
action
Loop While condition
When we need to use it?
Whenever the number of cycles to be executed is not a
priori known
AND action must be executed at least once
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Do-Loop While
WARNING!
The action is executed at least one time!
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 1
Write a program which lets you enter the price of
several articles. The user will enter a price of zero
to indicate that there are no more articles to be
added. Once all the articles have been entered, the
program must display the total price of all the
articles.
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 2
Write a program that asks the user a word and
reverses it. The program shall continue to work
unless the user enters the word “stop”
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 3
write a program which allows the user to enter a
number of pollution readings (integers). As each
pollution reading is entered the program should test
the reading and print one of the following
messages:
comfortable (for readings less than 30)
moderate (for reading less from 30 to 60 inclusive)
dangerous (for readings over 60).
the program should stop when the user enters any
negative pollution reading.
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 4
Write a program that given a decimal number N
prints out the binary representation of the number
10 2
0 5 2
1 2 2
0 1 2
1 0
1010 01012
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Exercise 5
Write a number guessing game where the computer
picks a number N between 1 and 1000 and the user is
required to guess which number the computer has
selected.
The game ends if the user guesses the correct number
The game ends if the user makes more than N guesses
At each new guess the program displays
the string “higher” if the guess is higher than the selected
number
the string “lower” if the guess is lower than the selected
number
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Do Until - Loop
Does some action until a condition becomes true
Structure:
Do Until condition
action
Loop
When we need to use it?
Whenever the number of cycles to be executed is not a priori known
Need to loop untilcondition becomes true
Equivalent to
While Not(condition)
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
Do-Loop Until
Similar to the Do-Until but executes action at least 1 time
Structure
Do
action
Loop Until condition
When we need to use it?
Whenever the number of cycles to be executed is not a priori known
AND action must be executed at least once
AND the cycle shall be executed until condition becomes true
Equivalent to
Loop While Not (condition)
Introduction to VBA programming - (c) 2009 Dario Bonino
