Adding to an array in VBA with strings as the index - arrays

Question

Not sure I've labelled this correctly.
I have a bunch of cells containing strings of data. Each cell consists of something like this:
q1 = 1 | q2 = 3.2 | q3 = 5.6
q1 = 1.8 | q3 = 2.1 | q5 = 1.4
*Note: The delimiter is litteral, all that text is in a single cell, with a pipe char.
I want to loop through each cell, explode (to use the PHP term) by the pipe (|) delimiter, and then do so again by the = sign.
I want to create an array for each possible value to the left of the equal sign, and add the value found to the right to the array (not add as in sum, add as in append to the array).
Visually, I think the array should look something like this:
Vars[
q1 [ 1,1.8 ],
q2 [ 3.2 ],
q3 [ 5.6,2.1]....]
End goal being I'd like to get the average, mean and median for each of q1, q2 and q3.
Is this doable in VB? I'm more familiar with PHP, but would like to keep this in Excel.
Thanks.

Answer 1

This will handle an arbitrary number of "keys" (q1,q2, etc)
Sub Tester()
'needs a reference to microsoft scripting runtime
Dim d As New Scripting.dictionary
Dim c As Range
Dim arrP, arrE
Dim q, v, tmpV, tmpP, tmpArr, uB
Dim i As Long, n As Long
Dim k
For Each c In Selection.Cells
tmpV = Trim(c.Value)
If InStr(tmpV, "=") > 0 Then
arrP = Split(tmpV, "|") 'split on pipe
For i = LBound(arrP) To UBound(arrP)
tmpP = arrP(i)
If InStr(tmpP, "=") > 0 Then
q = Trim(Split(tmpP, "=")(0))
v = Trim(Split(tmpP, "=")(1))
If IsNumeric(v) Then
If Not d.exists(q) Then
d.Add q, Array(v)
Else
tmpArr = d(q) 'get dict value into temp array
uB = UBound(tmpArr) + 1
ReDim Preserve tmpArr(0 To uB) 'extend array
tmpArr(uB) = v
d(q) = tmpArr 'put back into dict
End If
End If
End If
Next
End If 'cell has at least one "="
Next c
'dump the dictionary to the immediate pane
For Each k In d.keys
Debug.Print k, Join(d(k), ",")
Next k
End Sub

Answer 2

It's complicated, but it can be done. I tested this in excel based on your cell input, putting them in A1 and A2:
q1 = 1 | q2 = 3.2 | q3 = 5.6
q1 = 1.8 | q3 = 2.1 | q5 = 1.4
I put together a macro in Excel called "Looper" that uses two loops to cycle through the cells in column A, split them at the '|' and search for each number value, convert it to a double and place it in the corresponding array.
Private Sub Looper()
''Loop Variables
Dim i, k As Integer
Dim MoveDown As String
''Variables to manipulate the string
Dim Selecter As String
Dim TotalCell As String
Dim Splitter As Variant
Dim strIncrement As String
''Array variables and counters
Dim q1(50) As Double
Dim q2(50) As Double
Dim q3(50) As Double
Dim qv1, qv2, qv3 As Integer
''Variables for finding the number in each increment
Dim Equals As Integer
Dim strNumber As String
Dim dblNumber As Double
''Set the array counters to 0
qv1 = 0
qv2 = 0
qv3 = 0
i = 0
Do Until MoveDown = "DONE"
Selector = "A" + Replace(Str(i), " ", "")
If Range(Selector).Value = "" Then
MoveDown = "DONE"
Else
TotalCell = Range(Selector).Value
Splitter = Split(TotalCell, "|")
For k = LBound(Splitter) To UBound(Splitter)
''strIncrement holds the data in between each |
strIncrement = Splitter(k)
''Remove any spaces
strIncrement = Replace(strIncrement, " ", "")
''Equals shows the location of the number (length of string - loc of =)
Equals = Len(strIncrement) - InStr(1, strIncrement, "=")
strNumber = Right(strIncrement, Equals)
dblNumber = CDbl(strNumber)
''Check for the array name and then add the data to the corresponding array
If InStr(1, strIncrement, "q1") > 0 Then
q1(qv1) = dblNumber
qv1 = qv1 + 1
Else
If InStr(1, strIncrement, "q2") > 0 Then
q2(qv2) = dblNumber
qv2 = qv2 + 1
Else
If InStr(1, strIncrement, "q3") > 0 Then
q3(qv3) = dblNumber
qv3 = qv3 + 1
End If
End If
End If
Next
End If
i = i + 1
Loop
End Sub
I was able to successfully add the data to the arrays, so it should be simple to go from there to calculate the means, etc.