[V8i VBA] Passing more than one KeyinArgument?

Hi Mary,

MaryB said:

but I'm not sure I'm getting the syntax right

Whatever syntax you will use in your macro is up to you. But it's always wise to follow common patterns and practices, so to use a space as arguments delimiter is the best option.

MaryB said:

That will be fine if the cell names are a single word. But some of our cell names are phrases

Yes, the space(s) in arguments (e.g. cell names) always brings extra complexity ;-)

To use quotations to "merge" more words to one argument is generally used approach.

MaryB said:

How does KeyinArguments handle phrases? Can I just use quote marks to delineate the different phrases:

When you check KeyinArguments property description in VBA help, you will see that it's String, so whatever you will enter as the macro arguments, will be passed as one string. MicroStation do not care about the string syntax and content.

MaryB said:

and will KeyinArguments respect that those are two phrases (not six words)?

No, it will be one string. What is inside the string is the macro responsibility, not MicroStation or VBA engine.

MaryB said:

or can point me to the keyin sequence to allow me to run replace cell through the batch process

You have to implement own parser, which in VBA is not great thing, but it can be done. Especially when you can fix the syntax by yourself, so it's not about to implement general parser, which can be pretty huge task.

You can simplify the implementation when you will define that both arguments have to be enclosed in quotations always, despite of they contain spaces or not. In such case the algorithm can be something:

1. Iterate the string char by char
2. When there will be first quotation, start to record 1st argument
3. Next quotation mark ends the recording
4. 3rd quotation mark starts recording of 2nd argument
5. 4th quotation mark ends the recording

Another benefit of such strict simple syntax is you don't have to take care about spaces (sometimes a delimiter can be one space, sometimes more etc.).

With regards,

  Jan

Nice - that answers my question very concisely.
Now to refresh my memory on string functions.

Thank you!

MaryB said:

Now to refresh my memory on string functions

The string functions in VBA are pretty basic.

This suggestion might be a step too far, but have you considered Regular Expressions (RegEx)?  You can use a RegEx in VBA by  referencing Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5.  This article tells you more.

This example from StackOverflow provides a RegEx for parsing quoted strings.  And here's an online regex tester and debugger, which I've found very handy.

For the split function I have used a "," delimeter in MVBAs in the past which would allow you to have strings with spaces in your keyin argument.
The syntax for the split function is Split( Expression, [Delimiter], [Limit], [Compare] )

docs.microsoft.com/.../split-function

For example MACRO VBA RUN [VBA_Project_Name]<MacroName>.<Procedure> Keyin
Where Keyin might be something like "Test Arg1,Test Arg2"
Sample code which may help you is below;

Sub TestKeyinCommand()

    Dim sKeyinString() As String
    Dim sArgument1 As String
    Dim sArgument2 As String

    'For testing purposes the following line is uncommented
    'Comment it out if running the MACRO VBA RUN [VBA_Project_Name]<MacroName>.<Procedure> Keyin
    KeyinArguments = "Old Cell Name,New Cell Name"

    sKeyinString = Split(KeyinArguments, ",", -1, vbTextCompare)
    sArgument1 = sKeyinString(0)
    Debug.Print "1st Keyin Argument is '" & sArgument1 & "'"
    sArgument2 = sKeyinString(1)
    Debug.Print "2nd Keyin Argument is '" & sArgument2 & "'"

End Sub

Yep, that's it! The delimiter makes all the difference

Steve Pratt said:

KeyinArguments = "Old Cell Name,New Cell Name"

    sKeyinString = Split(KeyinArguments, ",", -1, vbTextCompare)
    sArgument1 = sKeyinString(0)
    Debug.Print "1st Keyin Argument is '" & sArgument1 & "'"
    sArgument2 = sKeyinString(1)
    Debug.Print "2nd Keyin Argument is '" & sArgument2 & "'"

Similar to what I do, but I add  a Trim$() function to get rid of any leading or trailing spaces between arguments in case someone puts in a space after the comma delimiter.

KeyinArguments = "Old Cell Name, New Cell Name"

The Trim$() function will take care of that.

sArgument1 = Trim$(sKeyinString(0))
sArgument2 = Trim$(sKeyinString(1))