You are learning Error Handling in MS Excel
How to implement error handling for user input in forms and dialog boxes (VBA)?
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ce4386_94a468693f7f46e9b49d1eec8244674a~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_551,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Kepler%20Works_%20Googlexcel_com_%20Kepler's%20Library%20-%20Knowledge%20Based%20for%20Excel%2C%20Data%2C%20and%20AI_%20.png)
There are two main approaches to implementing error handling for user input in VBA forms and dialog boxes:
1. Using `On Error` Statements:
This method involves utilizing the `On Error` statement to redirect program flow when an error occurs during user input. Here's a breakdown:
- `On Error GoTo ErrorHandler`: This line placed at the beginning of your code tells VBA to jump to the `ErrorHandler` label if any error is encountered.
- User Input and Validation: Here, your code retrieves user input from forms or dialog boxes (e.g., `TextBox1.Value`).
- Validation Check: Add an `If` statement to check if the input meets your criteria (e.g., `IsNumeric(TextBox1.Value)`)
- Valid Input: If the input is valid, your code continues as planned.
- Invalid Input: If the input is invalid, jump to the `ErrorHandler` label using `Exit Sub` to prevent further processing.
- `ErrorHandler` Label: This label marks the section where error handling takes place.
- Display Message: Use `MsgBox` to display a user-friendly message explaining the error (e.g., "Please enter a number").
- Clear Input: Optionally, clear the input field using `TextBox1.Value = ""` to encourage the user to re-enter a valid value.
- Resume or Exit: You can choose to `Resume Next` to continue after displaying the message, or `Exit Sub` to terminate the subroutine entirely.
2. Using Try...Catch Blocks:
This is a more modern approach that provides cleaner error handling. Here's how it works:
- `Try` Block: Encapsulate your code that retrieves user input and performs validation within the `Try` block.
- Validation: Similar to the `On Error` method, check if the input is valid using conditional statements.
- Valid Input: If valid, your code continues as planned.
- Invalid Input: If invalid, a runtime error will be thrown.
- `Catch` Block: The `Catch` block catches the thrown error and allows you to handle it gracefully.
- Display Message: Display a user-friendly message using `MsgBox` to explain the error.
- Clear Input: Optionally, clear the input field to prompt for a new entry.
- Resume or Exit: Decide whether to `Resume Next` to continue after the message, or use an `Exit Sub` statement to terminate the subroutine.
Additional Tips:
* Be specific in your error messages, guiding the user towards the correct input format.
* Consider using data types like `Integer` or `Variant` for form controls to enforce specific input types.
* Use descriptive variable names to improve code readability.
By implementing error handling, you can create more robust and user-friendly VBA applications that prevent unexpected crashes due to invalid user input.