Knowledge Base

WD97: Troubleshooting Variables and Data Types

Article ID: 161923

Article Last Modified on 1/19/2007

Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

This article was previously published under Q161923

SUMMARY

This article offers suggestions for using variables and data types in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications in the applications listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

When declaring variables, the default data type is Variant. Programmers should ideally specify specific data types and not use the Variant data types. Variant data types consume more memory, do not offer the same performance as specific data types, and can promote errors in programming logic.

Make sure variables are properly declared. Consider the following example:

   Dim oVar1, oVar2 As Object

This syntax may appear to be declaring two Object variables, but in this case oVar1 is being implicitly declared as a Variant (the default data type) and oVar2 is being explicitly declared as an Object. The following code will produce two Object variables:

   Dim oVar1 As Object
   Dim oVar2 As Object

   Dim oVar1 As Object, oVar2 As Object

For more information about dimensioning variables, from the Visual Basic Editor, click the Office Assistant, type Declaring Variables, click Search, and then click to view "Declaring Variables."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If the Assistant is not able to answer your query, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

176476 OFF: Office Assistant Not Answering Visual Basic Questions

REFERENCES

For more information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

163435 VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

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