Comparing Strings

Summary: As your macro is processing information, there will doubtless be times that it will need to compare information in strings. Here's a couple of handy ideas on how that can be best done. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

It is not uncommon to compare strings in a macro. For instance, you may need to compare what a user typed with some pre-determined value. If you do this directly, you must take into consideration that the user may not have typed his (or her) string in the same way as you expected. Particularly vexing is the fact that the user may have mixed upper and lower case in their response.

The quickest and easiest way around this is to use either the UCase() or LCase() function on their input before you do the comparison. For instance, let's assume you prompt the user for the word "yes" to verify they want an action done. The following code will check the input, regardless of how the user typed it.

If LCase(sUserIn) = "yes" then bDoIt = True

The trick is make sure your test string is either all upper or all lower case, and then convert the user's input to that same case.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2279) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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Comparing Strings