Setting SeriesCollection.Values using variant array - arrays

I am creating a dashboard of charts in Excel. There is no need for the data to be visible to end users, so I am attempting to use arrays to set SeriesCollection.Values. Here is the offending code block:
'test sub to declare and pass header_arr and series_arr
Sub test()
Dim arr1(), arr2() As Variant
With ThisWorkbook.ActiveSheet
arr1 = .Range(.Range("I2"), .Range("AI2")).Value
arr2 = .Range(.Range("I25"), .Range("AI28")).Value
End With
Call CreateWaterfall(arr1, arr2, , , , Range("I30"))
Erase arr1, arr2
End Sub
'sub to create chart
Sub CreateWaterfall(header_arr As Variant, series_arr As Variant, Optional colors As Boolean = True, Optional target_wb = Nothing, Optional target_ws = Nothing, Optional target As Range = Nothing)
'whole bunch of parameter checks that work fine
'trim header_arr
Dim temp() As Variant
ReDim temp(LBound(header_arr, 1) To LBound(header_arr, 1), LBound(header_arr, 2) To UBound(header_arr, 2))
For i = LBound(header_arr, 2) To UBound(header_arr, 2)
temp(LBound(header_arr, 1), i) = header_arr(1, i)
Next i
ReDim header_arr(LBound(temp, 1) To LBound(temp, 1), LBound(temp, 2) To UBound(temp, 2))
For i = LBound(temp, 2) To UBound(temp, 2)
header_arr(LBound(temp, 1), i) = temp(LBound(temp, 1), i)
Next i
'declare chart object, start with block...
'...stuff that works...
For i = 1 To 4
With .SeriesCollection(i)
If LBound(series_arr, 1) = 0 Then i = i - 1 'handle base 0 case-operation is reversed at end of loop to avoid incorrect steps
ReDim temp(LBound(series_arr, 1) To LBound(series_arr, 1), LBound(series_arr, 2) To UBound(series_arr, 2))
For j = LBound(series_arr, 2) To UBound(series_arr, 2)
temp(LBound(series_arr, 1), j) = series_arr(i, j)
Next j
.Values = temp '<--problem with this line
.XValues = header_arr
End With
If LBound(series_arr, 1) = 0 Then i = i + 1
Next i
'...other stuff that works...
'end with block
End Sub
This is within a With block that creates the chart and sets its properties. All of the rest of the sub is working properly, even the line here that sets .XValues, but none of the .Values are correct. When I check them on the spreadsheet itself, they are a series of 0s and #N/As. Checking revealed that this is not because of empty cells in the ranges the arrays are populated form. For the debugging phase I'm in, series_arr and header_arr are populated using a spreadsheet range; that will not be the case in the final draft. Here is a small example of the kind of data I want the sub to handle (I'm sorry; I don't know how to make it prettier than this...):
215.56 empty empty empty 432.73
empty 43.184 empty 56.442 empty
empty 136.65 186.8 345.67 empty
empty empty 87.653 empty empty
All the arrays contain the correct data as ascertained by stepping through the code.
I've looked here already and am stuck; as far as I can tell, the .Values line is exactly analogous. I've also used exactly analogous code for other charts with the exception that .Values is set using a spreadsheet range, so I know the problem isn't there.
Any ideas?

I was able to figure it out myself: it was a variant array vs. array of variants problem. I added some code to force the data within temp when it is used to set SeriesCollection.Values into type double. The final block in the snippet I originally posted is now:
Dim dbl As Double '<--var to hold contents of series_arr in loop
Dim j As Integer
For i = 1 To 4
With .SeriesCollection(i)
If LBound(series_arr, 1) = 0 Then i = i - 1 'handle base 0 case-operation is reversed at end of loop to avoid incorrect steps
ReDim temp(LBound(series_arr, 2) To UBound(series_arr, 2))
For j = LBound(series_arr, 2) To UBound(series_arr, 2)
If series_arr(i, j) = "" Then '<--convert series_arr recs
temp(j) = 0
Else
dbl = series_arr(i, j)
temp(j) = dbl
End If
Next j
.Values = temp
.XValues = header_arr
End With
If LBound(series_arr, 1) = 0 Then i = i + 1
Next i
And it works! Here is my (relatively) educated guess as to why; I would appreciate someone who knows better giving a better answer, though.
Variables of type Variant are in principle implicitly convertible to type Double, but they are also implicitly convertible to type String (among others). This means that Empty records are ambiguous; when Excel has to decide to convert it to "" or 0, it needs some other criteria to fall back on.
I thought that the fact that temp, when being used to set .Values, contained some numbers would cause Excel to convert the Empty records to 0, but I guess this isn't the case. My conclusion is that Excel will only convert array elements of type Variant to the correct type if all of them are convertible to only one other type. Thus header_arr was correctly converted to type String, even when I tested this hypothesis by removing one of the elements of header_arr. series_arr, on the other hand, since it contained elements that were convertible to type Double only but also elements that were convertible to several number types, did not convert properly.
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Related

Function gives Value error when returning array of arrays

I am trying to create a TextSplit function in Excel that can accept either a single reference or a range.
If it is a single string it returns an array of sub strings.
If it is a range it should return an array of sub string arrays.
A single string works but when I pass it a single column range it give me a #VALUE! error.
The commented lines work.
If I store the result of Array to arr Excel displays a grid of "test" strings.
If instead I set TextSplit to just arr(1) I get a single array of substrings similar to the single string version.
Function TextSplit(text, delimiter)
If IsArray(text) Then
Dim arr() As Variant: ReDim arr(0 To text.Count - 1)
For i = 1 To text.Count
arr(i-1) = Split(text(i), delimiter)
'arr(i-1) = Array("test", "test")
Next
TextSplit = arr
'TextSplit = arr(1)
Else
TextSplit = Split(text, delimiter)
End If
With the help of a different question Array and Split commands to create a 2 dimensional array
I was able to work your question out a bit, however I'm still unable to fill out the array from the cell where you'd call the function like with your single string which fills out in the columns next to it.
If it's for a column, you could just autofill text.split(cell,delimiter) if you're working from Excel.
If you're working from out vba and want to return the split array (2D like #Tim said) back to a sub:
Sub testingTextSplitter()
Dim arr As Variant, tArr As Variant
Dim testStr As String
testStr = Range("A1").Value 'Testing single cell
Range("G2").Value = TextSplit(testStr, "-")
arr = Range("A1:A8").Value
tArr = TextSplit(arr, "-")
For i = 0 To UBound(tArr, 1)
For j = 0 To UBound(tArr, 2)
Cells(i + 3, j + 3).Value = "'" & tArr(i, j) 'fills out from Range("C3"), adjust as needed
' This writing out is basically the same as fillingdown the formule of text.split() btw
Next j
Next i
End Sub
With the Function
Function TextSplit(tArray As Variant, delimiter As String) As String()
If IsArray(tArray) Then
Dim uBoundInput As Long, uBoundCells As Long 'I couldn't get your arr.Count to work on my end so gotta use the UBound
Dim arr() As String, testArr() As String
Dim i As Long, j As Long, maxColumns As Long
uBoundInput = UBound(tArray)
maxColumns = 0
For i = 0 To uBoundInput - 1
Debug.Print (tArray(i + 1, 1))
testArr = Split(tArray(i + 1, 1), "-")
uBoundCells = UBound(testArr)
If maxColumns < uBoundCells Then
maxColumns = uBoundCells
End If
Next i
ReDim arr(0 To uBoundInput - 1, 0 To maxColumns)
For i = 0 To uBoundInput - 1
testArr = Split(tArray(i + 1, 1), "-")
For j = 0 To UBound(testArr)
arr(i, j) = testArr(j)
Next j
Next i
TextSplit = arr()
Else
TextSplit = Split(tArray, delimiter)
End If
End Function
I'm quite new to VBA as well so apologies in advance for redundancies like not filling testArray when figuring out the maxColumns, I couldn't figure that one out. First time working with 2D arrays.
Other question that might help:
VBA UDF Return Array
(I tried using the array formulay with {} but got same Value error as before)
Hope this helps.
I don't know what happened, but the array branch of my code is now working. I have been messing with a few things, but I am not sure why it is working. The "As Variant()" declaration is new from the above code, but that may have been omitted before. (This code is on my work machine but I wrote the original post from my personal computer so I couldn't copy and paste. I am on my work computer now.)
The only other change that I made was to the index values of the arr array.
Thanks for your help, not sure what was wrong or how it got fixed though.
Function TextSplit(text, delimiter) As Variant()
If IsArray(text) Then
Dim arr() As Variant: ReDim arr(1 To text.Count)
For i = 1 To text.Count
arr(i) = Split(text(i), delimiter, -1, 1)
Next
TextSplit = arr
Else
TextSplit = Split(text, delimiter, -1, 1)
End If
End Function

Stopping an 1 by n array from being converted to a 1-dimensional one

Below is some code I wrote to handle arrays and ranges uniformly (Accepting a range as an array parameter). It contains a function called sanitise which is meant to be a function you can call on some 2D collection of numbers A, and get the same numbers back as a 2D array of Doubles.
Public Function item(ByRef A As Variant, i As Integer, j As Integer) As Double
If TypeName(A) = "Range" Then
item = A.Cells(i, j)
Else
item = A(i, j)
End If
End Function
Public Function rows(ByRef A As Variant) As Integer
If TypeName(A) = "Range" Then
rows = A.rows.Count
Else
rows = UBound(A, 1) - LBound(A, 1) + 1
End If
End Function
Public Function cols(ByRef A As Variant) As Integer
If TypeName(A) = "Range" Then
cols = A.columns.Count
Else
cols = UBound(A, 2) - LBound(A, 2) + 1
End If
End Function
Public Function sanitise(ByRef A As Variant) As Double()
Debug.Print TypeName(A)
If TypeName(A) = "Double()" Then
sanitise = A
Else
Debug.Print rows(A)
Dim B() As Double
ReDim B(1 To rows(A), 1 To cols(A))
Dim i As Integer, j As Integer
For i = 1 To rows(A)
For j = 1 To cols(A)
B(i, j) = item(A, i, j)
Next j
Next i
sanitise = B
End If
End Function
The implementation works exactly as you'd expect it: select a range in the worksheet, say A1:B2, call sanitize on it and you'll have two copies of the same thing:
What goes wrong however, is sanitise^2.
Calling sanitise twice breaks down, but only if you call it on single row. Multiple rows: fine, single column: fine.
I know why it happens: after the first sanitise, Excel forgets what shape array was returned. (It also forgets the type: instead of Double() the input to the second sanitise is Variant())
Does anybody know how to work around this issue?
While it's unlikely that I'd ever want to use sanitise twice in a row, the above example illustrates why it's difficult to compose two functions along a 2 dimensional array.
Note: this is issue only happens when sanitise is called from a worksheet.
Update, I've figured it out: for the worksheets 1D storage in synonymous with row, so that needs to be taken into consideration
My final version:
Public Function get_2D(ByRef A As Variant) As Double()
'turns various forms of input into a 2D array of Doubles
Dim result() As Double
Dim i As Integer
If TypeOf A Is Range Or dims(A) = 2 Then
ReDim result(1 To rows(A), 1 To cols(A))
Dim j As Integer
For i = 1 To rows(A)
For j = 1 To cols(A)
result(i, j) = item(A, i, j)
Next j
Next i
Else
'1D storage is treated as a row
ReDim result(1 To 1, 1 To rows(A)) 'rows(A) gets length of the first axis
For i = 1 To rows(A)
result(1, i) = A(i)
Next i
End If
sanitise = result
End Function
dims is a function that returns the number of dimensions of an array: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/152288
I think this is somewhat aligned with your specification and it has the benefit of solving the single row problem you demonstrate. Would it work for your purposes?
Function sanitise_sugg(inp As Variant) As Variant
Dim result As Variant
If TypeOf inp Is Object Then
result = inp.Value
Else
result = inp
End If
sanitise_sugg = result
End Function
Edit: Taking one step back I think you should divide the task at hand into two: First use "sanitise_sugg" to use excel ranges and excel-vba arrays interchangeabely. Then if you for a special need demand the input to specifcally be some sort of Array of doubles, write a separate function that tests and if possible casts a variant input to this type.
Edit 2: Taking one step forward instead, let me claim that in the case the elements fed to Function sanitise_sugg(inp As Variant) As Variant contain doubles from within vba, or cells with numeric values from an excel sheet, it meets the specifciation demanded for Public Function sanitise(ByRef A As Variant) As Double()
Edit 3: To see how the function keeps track of its input Array layout independently of beeing Row vector, Column vector or full Matrix, independently of beeing passed the Array from an excel range or from within VBA, please refer to the below worksheet;
I can't think of any practical use for this unless you do a lot of calculations on the 2D array of Doubles, so if you give more information on what exactly you are trying to do, we can probably recommend something easier/better/more efficient etc.
.Value and .Value2 return 2D Variant array when more than one cell in the range:
v = [a1:b1].Value2 ' Variant/Variant(1 to 1, 1 to 2)
v = [a1:a2].Value2 ' Variant/Variant(1 to 2, 1 to 1)
v = [a1].Value2 ' Variant/Double
so a naive approach can be something like:
Function to2D(v) As Double()
'Debug.Print TypeName(v), VarType(v)
Dim d2() As Double, r As Long, c As Long
If IsArray(v) Then
If TypeOf v Is Range Then v = v.Value2
ReDim d2(1 To UBound(v, 1), 1 To UBound(v, 2))
For r = 1 To UBound(v, 1)
For c = 1 To UBound(v, 2)
If IsNumeric(v(r, c)) Then d2(r, c) = v(r, c)
Next c
Next r
Else
ReDim d2(1 To 1, 1 To 1)
If IsNumeric(v) Then d2(1, 1) = v
End If
to2D = d2
End Function
and tested with:
d2 = to2D([a1:b2])
d2 = to2D([a1:b1])
d2 = to2D([a1:a2])
d2 = to2D([a1])
d2 = to2D(1)
d2 = to2D([{" 1 ";" 2.0 "}]) ' works with strings too
d2 = to2D([{1,2;3,4}])
'd2 = to2D([{1,2}]) ' doesn't work with 1D arrays

WorksheetFunction.Small: How to define Array

I want to apply the WorksheetFunction.Small on another array as such:
ReDim ArrSmall(Iterations, 20)
For l = 1 To Iterations
For k = 1 To 20
ArrSmall(l, k) = WorksheetFunction.Small(ArrResult(l, k), l)
Next k
Next l
I know this part: ArrResult(l,k), is wrong because it asks for a range instead of a single number which I'm inputting. However, I am unsure how to define the range in the code.
Is this possible or do I have to output the values on a TempSheet, then back into an array? I think a solution is to call the whole column of the array but I do not know how.
EDIT:
I managed to write a dummy code which does exactly what I want but the weird part is when I apply the same to my original code, all the values get mixed up (it literally makes up values AFAIK). See below for code:
Sub test()
ReDim ArrTest(10, 1)
ReDim ArrSmall(10, 1)
ArrTest = Range("A1:A10")
For i = 1 To 10
ArrSmall(i, 1) = WorksheetFunction.Small(ArrTest, i)
Cells(i, 2) = ArrTest(i, 1)
Cells(i, 3) = ArrSmall(i, 1)
Next i
Trying to clear the whole array before a new loop. Maybe that fixes it...
If you were looking to take the smallest value of each column (which is the same as Min) from say A1:T20 then you could use TRANPOSE (to work with columns rather than rows) and then INDEX to separate each column, i.e.
The IF test is to avoid applying SMALL to an empty array (else an error results).
Sub B()
Dim ArrSmall(1 To 1, 1 To 20)
Dim lngCnt As Long
Dim ArrResult
ArrResult = Application.Transpose([a1:t20].Value2)
For lngCnt = 1 To UBound(ArrResult, 2)
If Application.Count(Application.Index(ArrResult, lngCnt)) > 0 Then _
ArrSmall(1, lngCnt) = WorksheetFunction.Small(Application.Index(ArrResult, lngCnt), 1)
Next
End Sub

Shift array down by one in vba

I am having some trouble getting a function I have been writing to work properly. I need it to take an array that is sized 1 to x, and transfer it to a new array which is sized 0 to x-1. I would think it would work just like this:
Private Function ShiftDownArray(theArray() As String) As String()
Dim a As Integer
ReDim ShiftDownArray(LBound(theArray) - 1 To UBound(theArray) - 1)
For a = LBound(theArray) To UBound(theArray)
ShiftDownArray(a - 1) = theArray(a)
Next a
End Function
But I get a compile error: Function call on left-hand side of assignment must return Variant or Object. The documentation on this error essentially says delete that line to make it work, which doesn't point me in the right direction. I have tried changing the type to variant, but it starts a chain reaction of needing to change array type from string to variant, and it leads to issues in other parts of my program.
Is there any way to approach this that will allow me to retain the string array type? Thanks
You can pass arrays of most types as a Variant between methods and procedures in VBA
Private Function ShiftDownArray(ByRef theArray As Variant) As Variant
Dim i As Integer
ReDim x(0 To UBound(theArray) - 1) As Variant
For i = 0 To UBound(x)
x(i) = theArray(i + 1)
Next i
ShiftDownArray = x
End Function
But more importantly - why would you want to do this anyway? You can just -/+ 1 to the index in the original array?
Is this what you are looking for:
Public Sub ShiftArrayTest()
'Make an 1-bound array
Dim arr1() As String, N As Long, i As Long
N = 10
ReDim arr1(1 To N)
For i = 1 To N
arr1(i) = CStr(i)
Next i
'Now for the shift
Dim arr2() As String
arr2 = ShiftArray(arr1)
End Sub
Public Function ShiftArray(ByRef theArray() As String) As String()
'Now for the shift
Dim i1 As Long, N As Long, i As Long, res() As String
i1 = LBound(theArray): N = UBound(theArray) - i1 + 1
ReDim res(0 To N - 1)
For i = 0 To N - 1
res(i) = theArray(i1 + i)
Next i
ShiftArray = res
End Function
What I am doing here is taking any array and converting it into a 0-bound array.
The Error is most probably in this line: 'ReDim ShiftDownArray(LBound(theArray) - 1 To UBound(theArray) - 1)'
It looks like you're recursively calling itself, which seems odd given there isn't a base case.
See the following example as provided by this website. The gist of it is that it will skip the first element and copy everything over 'to the left'.
Function Array_Shift(arr As Variant) As Variant
' http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.array-shift.php
Dim tempArray As Variant
Dim i As Long
tempArray = arr
' shift elements one position up
' by skipping the first element of the source array
For i = LBound(tempArray) To UBound(tempArray) - 1
tempArray(i) = tempArray(i + 1)
Next i
' remove last element
' which is now empty
ReDim Preserve tempArray(LBound(tempArray) To UBound(tempArray) - 1)
Array_Shift = tempArray
End Function
The trouble is not with passing an array of strings as a parameter - you can pass arrays of any type, as far as I'm aware. However, assigning a value to ShiftDownArray(a - 1) is ambiguous as you could be accessing the a-1th element of the array or passing a - 1 as a parameter to the ShiftDownArray() function.
The Function call on left-hand side of assignment must return Variant or Object. error message hints to this. You are calling the ShiftDownArray() function rather than accessing the array. The compiler knows you are going to assign something to the value returned by the function (because it is followed by an =) but doesn't know the type as it hasn't yet evaluated theArray(a). To ensure that the assignment can complete regardless of the type of theArray(a), the compiler tries to make sure that ShiftDownArray() returns a Variant or Object to which anything can be assigned.
To avoid this error you can create a temporary array which can be accessed in the conventional manner and assign that array to ShiftDownArray to return from the function.
The following code shows this:
Private Function ShiftDownArray(theArray() As String) As String()
ReDim tempArray(LBound(theArray) - 1 To UBound(theArray) - 1) As String
Dim i As Integer
For i = LBound(tempArray) To UBound(tempArray)
tempArray(i) = theArray(i + 1)
Next i
ShiftDownArray = tempArray
End Function

Creating a function in VBA that has a dynamic array for an argument and its output is also a dynamic array

Here's what I'm trying to do:
Suppose that you have a dynamic array whose dimensions can be from 0x6 up to 10x6 (meaning we can have rows anywhere from 0 to 10, but columns are always 6). I have been desperately trying to create a function (and then bind it to a macro) that will use as argument this first array, and will create a second array as output, whose elements will be the returns of the first array. For example, if we have the simple case of 1x6, then the output array's elements are five and in each case are given by the formula (x_i+1 - x_i)/x_i, i=1, 2, ..., 6. Additionally, the function must be able to bypass any missing values from the input array and ignore the corresponding non-existent return values. The entire thing must be done in VBA script.
It's been two days since I have been searching frantically for some help, but the problem is that I have no idea whatsoever about programming in VBA (I usually use other languages like MATLAB or Mathematica) so this is extremely hard for me. Any solutions that I have found I wasn't able to put together and achieve my goal. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Because you provided no code, I cannot determine exactly what you want to do, but here is an example of passing an array and returning an array that you should be able to extrapolate.
Edit: Just for fun, updated this to work for up to 3 dimensional arrays.
Public Sub Test()
'Defines testArray as Variant 0 to 10
Dim testArray(0 To 1, 0 To 6) As Long
Dim returnArray() As Long
Dim i As Long
Debug.Print UBound(testArray, 2)
'Populates testArray with Longs
For i = 0 To UBound(testArray, 1)
For j = 0 To UBound(testArray, 2)
testArray(i, j) = (i + j) * 2
Next
Next
'Passes testArray and returns ParseArray
returnArray = addOne(testArray)
End Sub
Public Function addOne(arrValues() As Long) As Variant
Dim arrCopy() As Long
Dim dimensionNum As Long, ErrorCheck As Long
On Error Resume Next
For dimensionNum = 1 To 60000
ErrorCheck = LBound(arrValues, dimensionNum)
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
dimensionNum = dimensionNum - 1
Exit For
End If
Next
Dim i As Long, j As Long, k As Long
'Copies passed array to avoid updating passed array directly
arrCopy = arrValues
'Adds 1 to each element of the array.
If dimensionNum = 1 Then
For i = LBound(arrCopy) To UBound(arrCopy)
arrCopy(i) = arrCopy(i) + 1
Next
ElseIf dimensionNum = 2 Then
For i = LBound(arrCopy) To UBound(arrCopy)
For j = LBound(arrCopy, 2) To UBound(arrCopy, 2)
arrCopy(i, j) = arrCopy(i, j) + 1
Next
Next
ElseIf dimensionNum = 3 Then
For i = LBound(arrCopy) To UBound(arrCopy)
For j = LBound(arrCopy, 2) To UBound(arrCopy, 2)
For k = LBound(arrCopy, 3) To UBound(arrCopy, 3)
arrCopy(i, j, k) = arrCopy(i, j, k) + 1
Next
Next
Next
Else
MsgBox "Add function only works for three dimensions or fewer arrays"
End If
addOne = arrCopy
End Function

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