Microsoft KB Archive/148815

= How to Copy Text to TextBoxes Using the Characters Method =

Article ID: 148815

Article Last Modified on 9/12/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q148815



SUMMARY
In a Microsoft Excel worksheet, you can use TextBox objects to add text that is not limited by the boundary of a cell. You can also use text boxes on dialog sheets and chart sheets when specially formatted text is required.

The text string that is copied to or from a TextBox object has a 255- character restriction when you use the Characters method in Visual Basic for Applications. In other words, although a text box is capable of holding approximately 2,000 characters, the text must be added in strings that are no more that 255 characters in length. You can use the Sub procedures in the "More Information" section of this article to work around this restriction.



MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. The first Sub procedure (that is, TextBox_To_TextBox) demonstrates how to copy text from one TextBox DrawingObject into another text box. The second Sub procedure Cell_Text_To_TextBox, demonstrates a method that you can use to copy the value of a range of cells into a text box.

The following Sub procedure copies the text from one text box on the active sheet to another text box on the active sheet.

Sample Visual Basic Procedures
Sub TextBox_To_TextBox

' Dimension the variables. Dim x As Integer Dim txtBox1 As TextBox, txtBox2 As TextBox Dim theText As String

' Set txtBox1 and txtBox2 equal to the active sheet's TextBox ' objects. Replace the ordinal number with your TextBox names ' in quotes. For example: ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects("Text 1") Set txtBox1 = ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects(1) Set txtBox2 = ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects(2)

' Create a For-Next construct that loops until there is no more ' text in txtBox1. For x = 1 To txtBox1.Characters.Count Step 250

' Place the first text box text into a variable called theText. theText = txtBox1.Characters(start:=x, Length:=250).Text

' Place the value of theText variable into second text box. txtBox2.Characters(start:=x, Length:=250).Text = theText

Next End Sub The following Sub procedure copies the values from a range of cells that you specify into a text box on the active sheet. Sub Cell_Text_To_TextBox

' Dimension the variables. Dim txtBox1 As TextBox Dim theRange As Range, cell As Range Dim startPos As Integer

' Set txtBox1 equal to the active sheet's TextBox object. You can ' replace the ordinal number with your text box name in quotes. ' For example: ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects("Text 1") Set txtBox1 = ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects(1)

' Set a range on the active sheet equal to the range object text ' that you are interested in copying to the text box. Set theRange = ActiveSheet.Range("A1:A10")

'Set the starting position for the text. startPos = 1

' Create a For-Each construct to loop through the cells in the range. For Each cell In theRange

' Populate the textbox with the cell values using the Characters ' method. ' Note: Chr(10) can be used to add a new line in the textbox for ' each cell. txtBox1.Characters(start:=startPos, _           length:=Len(cell.Value)).Text = cell.Value & Chr(10)

' Update the startPos variable to keep track of where the next ' string of text will begin in the textbox. startPos = startPos + Len(cell.Value) + 1

Next cell End Sub

