How to Return Data from a Dialog Box to a Worksheet

In Microsoft Excel, each type of control on a custom dialog box (a drop- down list, an edit box, and others) has a distinct return value that can be returned to a worksheet. This article describes how to create a custom dialog box and contains a sample Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro that retrieves data from a dialog box control and places that data on a worksheet.

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Creating the Dialog Box and Worksheet

Before you create the Visual Basic macro, create the sample workbook and dialog box. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Create a new workbook. (The workbook must contain a sheet named "Sheet1.")
2. In Microsoft Excel 5.0 or 7.0, point to Insert on the Macro menu, and then click Dialog.
   
   In Excel 97 for Windows, right-click any sheet tab, click Insert, and then click MS Excel 5.0 Dialog.
   
   In Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, press and hold the CONTROL key and then click any sheet tab. Click Insert, and then click MS Excel 5.0 Dialog.
   
   Note The name of the inserted sheet must be "Dialog1."
3. On the dialog sheet, create one of each type of control. To create a control, click the appropriate button on the Forms toolbar. To name a control, select it, and then type the name in the Name box (left of the formula bar). Use the following table as a guide for creating and naming each dialog box element.

      Control type                 Control name
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   
      Label                        Label 4
      Edit box                     Edit Box 5
      Button                       Button 6
      Check box                    Check Box 7
      Option button                Option Button 8
      List box                     List Box 9
      Drop-down (or Combo Box)     Drop Down 10
      Scroll bar                   Scroll Bar 11
      Spinner                      Spinner 12

Creating the Sample Macro

To create the sample macro, use the following steps:

1. In Microsoft Excel 5.0 or 7.0, insert a Visual Basic module by clicking Module on the Insert menu.
   
   In Excel 97 for Windows and Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, press ALT+F11 to start the Visual Basic Editor. On the Insert menu, click Module.
2. On the module sheet, type the following code:

         Sub test()
   
            ' Dimension variables.
            Dim diag As Object
            Dim wkst As Object
            Dim x As Integer
            Dim counter As Integer
   
               ' Set objects.
               Set diag = DialogSheets("Dialog1")
               Set wkst = Worksheets("Sheet1")
   
               ' Clear edit box, drop-down list, and list box.
               diag.EditBoxes("Edit Box 5").Text = ""
               diag.ListBoxes("List Box 9").RemoveAllItems
               diag.DropDowns("Drop Down 10").RemoveAllItems
   
               ' Set spinner and scrollbar back to 0.
               diag.ScrollBars("Scroll Bar 11").Value = 0
               diag.Spinners("Spinner 12").Value = 0
   
               ' Insert data into list box and drop-down list.
               myarray = Array("Tom", "Fred", "Sam", "Wilma", "Sandy")
               For x = 0 To 4
                  diag.ListBoxes("List Box 9").AddItem myarray(x)
                  diag.DropDowns("Drop Down 10").AddItem myarray(x)
               Next x
   
               ' Clear the edit box.
               diag.EditBoxes("Edit Box 5").Text = ""
   
               ' Set spinner and scrollbar back to 0
               diag.ScrollBars("Scroll Bar 11").Value = 0
               diag.Spinners("Spinner 12").Value = 0
   
               ' Show Custom Dialog Box.
               diag.Show
               counter = 1
   
               ' Loop through controls on dialog and return name
               ' and value or caption to Sheet1.
               ' OK button is 1 and Cancel button is 2.
               For x = 3 To 11
                  ' Place name of control in column A.
                  wkst.Cells(counter, 1) = diag.DrawingObjects(x).Name
                  Select Case diag.DrawingObjects(x).Name
                  Case "Label 4"
                     wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = diag.Labels("Label 4").Caption
                  Case "Edit Box 5"
                     ' Check control to see if it is blank. If it
                     ' is blank, change the font to red.
                     If diag.EditBoxes("Edit Box 5").Text = "" Then
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = "You Left This Control Empty"
                        wkst.Range("B" & counter).Font.ColorIndex = 3
                     Else
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = _
                           diag.EditBoxes("Edit Box 5").Text
                     End If
                  Case "Button 6"
                     wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = diag.Buttons("Button 6").Caption
                  Case "Check Box 7"
                     ' If the value is 1, option was selected.
                     ' If the value is not 1, it is blank.
                     If diag.CheckBoxes("Check Box 7").Value = 1 Then
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = "On"
                     Else
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = "Off"
                     End If
                  Case "Option Button 8"
                     ' If the value is 1, option was selected.
                     ' If the value is not 1, it is blank.
                     If diag.OptionButtons("Option Button 8").Value = 1 Then
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = "On"
                     Else
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = "Off"
                     End If
                  Case "List Box 9"
                     ' Check control to see if it is blank. If so, change font
   
                     ' to red.
                     If diag.ListBoxes("List Box 9").ListIndex = 0 Then
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = "You Left This Control " _
                           & "Empty."
                        wkst.Range("B" & counter).Font.ColorIndex = 3
                     Else
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = _
                           diag.ListBoxes("List Box 9").List _
                           (diag.ListBoxes("List Box 9").ListIndex)
                     End If
                  Case "Drop Down 10"
                     ' Check control to see if it is blank. If so, change the
                     ' font to red.
                     If diag.ListBoxes("List Box 9").ListIndex = 0 Then
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = "You Left This Control " _
                           & "Empty."
                        wkst.Range("B" & counter).Font.ColorIndex = 3
                     Else
                        wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = diag. _
                           DropDowns("Drop Down 10").List _
                           (diag.DropDowns("Drop Down 10").ListIndex)
                      End If
                  Case "Scroll Bar 11"
                     wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = _
                        diag.ScrollBars("Scroll Bar 11").Value
                  Case "Spinner 12"
                     wkst.Cells(counter, 2) = _
                        diag.Spinners("Spinner 12").Value
                  End Select
                  ' Increment counter.
                  counter = counter + 1
               Next x
   
               ' Select Sheet1.
               wkst.Activate
   
               ' Autofit columns.
               Columns("A:B").Select
               Selection.Columns.AutoFit
               Range("a1").Select
   
         End Sub
   						

3. To run the macro, place the insertion point in the "Sub test()" line, and then press F5.
   
   The dialog box appears.

Returning the Data to the Worksheet

1. Display the dialog box that you created (run the macro to do this), and select each of the dialog box controls.
2. In the dialog box, press ENTER or click OK.
3. In Microsoft Excel 5.0 or 7.0, switch to Sheet1 by clicking the sheet tab.
   
   In Microsoft Excel 97, click Microsoft Excel on the taskbar or press ALT+Q to switch to Microsoft Excel 97 and switch to Sheet1.
4. On Sheet1, the name of each control is displayed in column A, and the value that is returned by the control appears in column B. For example, Sheet1 contains the following data:

         A1:   Label 4           B1:   Label 4
         A2:   Edit Box 5        B2:   You Left This Control Empty.
         A3:   Button 6          B3:   Button 6
         A4:   Check Box 7       B4:   On
         A5:   Option Button 8   B5:   On
         A6:   List Box 9        B6:   Wilma
         A7:   Drop Down 10      B7:   Fred
         A8:   Scroll Bar 11     B8:   1
         A9:   Spinner 12        B9:   1

"Visual Basic User's Guide," version 5.0, page 237

Microsoft Excel 97

For more information about returning data from a control, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text and then double-click the selected text to go to the "About control properties for check boxes and option buttons" topic.

Microsoft Excel 5.0 or 7.0

For more information about returning data from a control, choose Index from the Help menu, and type: