Turn Excel range into VBA string - arrays

Question

I would like to turn values in given range into VBA string where original cell values are separated by any chosen column delimiter and row delimiter. Delimiters could be one character or longer strings. The row delimiter is the string at the end of the line. The string should be done just as we read text from left top corner, from left to right, to bottom right corner.
Here is an example of the VALUES in range A1:C5:
+----+----+----+
| A1 | B1 | C1 |
+----+----+----+
| A2 | B2 | C2 |
+----+----+----+
| A3 | B3 | C3 |
+----+----+----+
| A4 | B4 | C4 |
+----+----+----+
| A5 | B5 | C5 |
+----+----+----+
Desired results is a VBA string:
A1,B1,C1#$A$2,$B$2,$C$2#A3,B3,C3#A4,B4,C4#A5,B5,C5#
For the sake of readability I will show it like this:
A1,B1,C1#
A2,B2,C2#
A3,B3,C3#
A4,B4,C4#
A5,B5,C5#
As a column delimiter I have chosen , (comma), and as a row delimiter # sign. Of course these could be any characters like \r\n.
The reason why I want fast cooking of the string from range is because I want to to send it to SQL Server through ADO connection. As I have tested so far it is the fastest way to transfer lots of data on the fly. The twin question how to split this string on SQL Server is here: Split string into table given row delimiter and column delimiter in SQL server
Solution 1. Loop through all rows and columns. Question is if there be any more elegant way then just looping through all rows and columns? I would prefer VBA solution, not formula one.
Solution 2. Suggested by Mat's Mug in comment. CSV file is desired results. I would like to do it on the fly without saving. But good point - imitate CSV is what I want but I want it without saving.
Edit after bounty
Answer of Thomas Inzina works crazy fast and his solution is portable. Ordinary VBA loop turned out to be way faster then worksheet functions like JOIN on large data sets. I do not recommend using worksheet functions in VBA for that purpose. I have voted up everybody. Thank you all.

Answer 1

To optimize performance my function emulates a String Builder.
Variables
Text: A very large string to hold the data
CELLLENGTH: A contant that determines the size of the BufferSize
BufferSize: The initial size of Text string
Data(): An Array derived from the source range
As the rows and columns of the Data() array are iterated over the current element (Data(x, y)) value replaces a portion of the Text string. The text string is resized as needed. This reduces the number of concatenations immensely. The initial BufferSize is set pretty high. I got my best results, 0.8632813 Second(s), by reducing CELLLENGTH to 25.
Download Sample Data from Sample-Videos.com
Results
Code
Function getRangeText(Source As Range, Optional rowDelimiter As String = "#", Optional ColumnDelimiter As String = ",")
Const CELLLENGTH = 255
Dim Data()
Dim text As String
Dim BufferSize As Double, length As Double, x As Long, y As Long
BufferSize = CELLLENGTH * Source.Cells.Count
text = Space(BufferSize)
Data = Source.Value
For x = 1 To UBound(Data, 1)
If x > 1 Then
Mid(text, length + 1, Len(rowDelimiter)) = rowDelimiter
length = length + Len(rowDelimiter)
End If
For y = 1 To UBound(Data, 2)
If length + Len(Data(x, y)) + 2 > Len(text) Then text = text & Space(CDbl(BufferSize / 4))
If y > 1 Then
Mid(text, length + 1, Len(ColumnDelimiter)) = ColumnDelimiter
length = length + Len(ColumnDelimiter))
End If
Mid(text, length + 1, Len(Data(x, y))) = Data(x, y)
length = length + Len(Data(x, y))
Next
Next
getRangeText = Left(text, length) & rowDelimiter
End Function
Test
Sub TestGetRangeText()
Dim s As String
Dim Start: Start = Timer
s = getRangeText(ActiveSheet.UsedRange)
Debug.Print "Execution Time: "; Timer - Start; "Second(s)"
Debug.Print "Rows: "; ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Rows.Count; "Columns: "; ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count
Debug.Print "Result Length: "; Format(Len(s), "#,###")
End Sub

Answer 2

Here's a quick way to test (Note: this will only work with Excel 2016 (or if you have the TextJoin() function).
First, in the empty column D, do =C1&"#", so you get your last column filled with the cell+#
Then, say in cell E1, =TEXTJOIN(",",TRUE,A1:C5)
(Note: TRUE there means to skip blanks. If you have blanks, and want to keep them, change that to FALSE).
THen, on that cell, run
=Substitute(E1,"#,","#")
Or combine the formulas into one: =SUBSTITUTE(TEXTJOIN(",",TRUE,A1:C4),"#,","#").
If you need vba, just throw the formula into a VBA macro and run like that.

Answer 3

Here is a UDF that returns the desired output:
EDIT Changed to add EOL at the end.
Option Explicit
Function MultiJoin(Rng As Range, Delimiter As String, EOL As String) As String
Dim V As Variant, W As Variant
Dim COL As Collection
Dim I As Long, J As Long
V = Rng
Set COL = New Collection
ReDim W(1 To UBound(V, 2))
For I = 1 To UBound(V, 1)
For J = 1 To UBound(V, 2)
W(J) = V(I, J)
Next J
COL.Add W
Next I
ReDim V(1 To COL.Count)
For I = 1 To COL.Count
V(I) = Join(COL(I), Delimiter)
Next I
W = Join(V, EOL)
MultiJoin = W & EOL
End Function
One could shorten the code by using WorksheetFunctions, but I would guess execution time would be slower.
Shortened Code
Option Explicit
Function MultiJoin(Rng As Range, Delimiter As String, EOL As String) As String
Dim V As Variant, W As Variant
Dim I As Long, J As Long
V = Rng
With WorksheetFunction
For I = 1 To UBound(V, 1)
V(I, 1) = Join(.Index(V, I, 0), Delimiter)
Next I
MultiJoin = Join(.Transpose(.Index(V, 0, 1)), EOL) & EOL
End With
End Function

Answer 4

This solution will require either a reference to the Microsoft Forms 2.0 Object Library in your project or some other way of fetching the contents of the clipboard (like through an API call).
Function TurnExcelRangeIntoVBAString(Optional cellDelimiter As String = ",", _
Optional rowDelimiter As String = "#") _
As String
Dim rng As Range
Set rng = ActiveSheet.UsedRange
rng.Copy
Dim clip As New MSForms.DataObject
Dim txt As String
clip.GetFromClipboard
txt = clip.GetText()
txt = Replace(Replace(txt, vbTab, cellDelimiter), vbCrLf, rowDelimiter)
TurnExcelRangeIntoVBAString = txt
End Function

Answer 5

you could try this
Option Explicit
Sub main()
Dim strng As String
Dim cell As Range
With Worksheets("TurnRangeIntoString") '<--| change "TurnRangeIntoString" to your actual worksheet name
For Each cell In Intersect(.UsedRange, .Columns(1)) '<--| loop through its column 1 cells
strng = strng & Join(Application.Transpose(Application.Transpose(.Range(cell, cell.End(xlToRight)).value)), ",") & "#" '<--| build string
Next cell
End With
MsgBox strng
End Sub

Answer 6

Sub aquatique()
dim a(),s$,i&,j&:a=selection.value
for i=1 to ubound(a)
for j=1 to ubound(a,2)
if j=1 then
if i=1 then
s= a(i,j)
else
s=s &"#" & vbnewline & a(i,j)
end if
else
s=s &";" & a(i,j)
end if
next
next
end sub
simple but does the job. Slow on huge ranges, you'd need to use "join"

Answer 7

How about this?:
Sub Concatenate()
Dim Cel As Range, Rng As Range
Dim sString As String, r As Long, c As Long, r2 As Long
Set Rng = Selection
r = Selection.Row
c = Selection.Column
r2 = Selection.Row
For Each Cel In Rng
r = Cel.Row
If sString = "" Then
sString = Cel.Value
Else
If r <> r2 Then sString = sString & "#" & Cel.Value
If r = r2 Then sString = sString & "," & Cel.Value
End If
r2 = Cel.Row
Next
sString = sString & "#"
Debug.Print sString
End Sub