XL2000: How to Use the RefEdit Control with a UserForm

This article describes the RefEdit control and provides information about how to use it in a UserForm.

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For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;cntactms) A RefEdit control is similar in behavior and appearance to an edit box control with an InputType property that you set to xlReference. (The edit box control is available in Microsoft Excel 5.0 or 7.0 on the Forms toolbar in dialog sheets.) The RefEdit control differs from an edit box control in that the RefEdit control contains a button that allows you to collapse the UserForm to easily select a cell range.

Using an Edit Box

The RefEdit control imitates the behavior of the reference edit boxes that are built into Excel. To illustrate how the built-in reference edit boxes work in Excel, follow these steps:

1. In a new worksheet, on the Insert menu, click Function to display the Function Wizard.
2. Click SUM in the Function Name box, and then click OK.
   
   Notice that the edit box for the first argument contains a button with a red arrow on the right side.
3. Click the button with the red arrow in the edit box.
   
   The Function Wizard collapses, which allows you to see more of your worksheet.
4. Drag the pointer over cells in the worksheet.
   
   The reference for the cells appears in the Formula Palette box.
5. Click the button in the Formula Palette box to expand the Function Wizard.
6. Click OK or Cancel.

The RefEdit control that you can use with your Excel Visual Basic project is an ActiveX control. The file name for the RefEdit control is Refedit.dll.

Using the RefEdit Control on a UserForm

The following example illustrates how to create a UserForm that contains a RefEdit control and a CommandButton control. When the UserForm appears, you type a reference in the RefEdit control and click OK. When you click OK, the range that you referenced is formatted with a red background, and the UserForm is unloaded.

To see how the RefEdit control works in Excel, follow these steps:

1. In a new workbook, press ALT+F11 to start the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor.
2. On the Insert menu, click UserForm.
   
   This step inserts UserForm1 into your project. If the Toolbox is not displayed, click Toolbox on the View menu.
3. In the Toolbox dialog box, click RefEdit, and then draw the control on UserForm1.
   
   To determine which button is the RefEdit button, move the pointer over each button and examine the name that appears in the ToolTip.
   
   NOTE: If there is no RefEdit button in the ToolBox, follow these steps:
   1. On the Tools menu, click Additional Controls.
   2. In the Additional Controls dialog box, click to select the RefEdit.ctrl check box, and then click OK.
4. In the Toolbox dialog box, click CommandButton, and then draw the command button on UserForm1.
5. With the command button selected, press F4 to display the Properties window. Change the Caption property of the control to OK.
6. Right-click CommandButton, and then click View Code.
7. Type the following code for the Click event of the CommandButton:

   Sub CommandButton1_Click()
   
        Dim SelRange as Range
        Dim Addr as String
   
        'Get the address, or reference, from the RefEdit control.
        Addr = RefEdit1.Value
   
        'Set the SelRange Range object to the range specified in the
        'RefEdit control.
        Set SelRange = Range(Addr)
   
        'Apply a red pattern to the SelRange.
        SelRange.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
   
        'Unload the userform.
        Unload Me
   
   End Sub
   					

8. Press F5 to run the UserForm.
   
   The UserForm is displayed.
9. Click the button in the RefEdit control.
   
   Notice that the UserForm collapses.
10. Select a range of cells on the worksheet, and then click the RefEdit button to expand the UserForm.
11. Click OK.

The UserForm disappears, and the cells that you selected are formatted with a red background.

For more information about the RefEdit control, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type refedit control in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic forApplications, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: