Getting text

To get all the text from a string you use the following syntax:

VariableOrProperty = String

For example, the following code sets Form1 caption property to the string contained in String1

' Declare the variable
Dim sString As String
' Fill the variable
sString = "Hello World"
' Assign String1 to Form1's Caption
Form1.Caption = sString

However, sometimes you will find you only want to get part of a string. The most basic functions are Left, Right and Mid. Left gets a specified number of letters from the left side of a string. Left uses the following syntax:

Left$(String, Length)

The following code will display a message box with 'Hel'. It has taken three letters from the left side of String1

' Declare the variable
Dim sString As String
' Fill the variable
sString = "Hello"
' Get the first three characters from String1
MsgBox Left$(sString, 3)

Right uses the same syntax except returns the specified number of letters from the right side of a string. The following code will display a message box with 'llo'. It has taken three letters from the right side of String1

' Declare the variable
Dim sString As String
' Fill the variable
sString = "Hello"
' Get the first three characters from String1
MsgBox Right$(sString, 3)

Mid gets a specified number of letters from a specified point in a string (counted from the left). Mid uses the following syntax:

Mid$(String, Start, Length)

The following code will display a message box with 'll'. It has taken two letters from the third character onwards from String1

' Declare the variable
Dim String1 As String
' Fill the variable
String1 = "Hello"
' Get two characters from pos 3 onwards in String1
MsgBox Mid$(String1, 3, 2)