Fun with Split() (VB6)

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Toying around with the Split() function, I stumbled upon a way to extract words from sentences. This method does not require any explicit use (even mention) of an array at all. I imagine the method could be useful in many situations e.g. extracting an entry from a CSV or other delimited text file.

Sub SplitTest()
Dim Sentence As String

Sentence = "Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio"
Debug.Print Split(Sentence)(2) & " and " & Split(Sentence)(6)
Debug.Print Split("Extract the third word in this sentence")(2)

End Sub


Output:
Yorick! and Horatio
third

Alan

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Split returns a single dimension array, no matter how you use it. Here’s a variation that calls Split only once:

Sub SplitTest()
Dim Sentence As String
Dim Words As Variant
Sentence = “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio”
Words = Split(Sentence)
Debug.Print Words(2) & ” and ” & Words(6)

End Sub

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Yep , that’s the “standard” documented usage of Split(). What I like about the method I found is that there is no need to Dim or name a variant (array) at all. Handy I’d think, for “one off” extractions of specific record fields etc. I don’t think it’s documented, but it is consistent with what you say i.e. Split returns a zero-based single dimension array.

Alan

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Yes, but in

Debug.Print Split(Sentence)(2) & ” and ” & Split(Sentence)(6)
Debug.Print Split(“Extract the third word in this sentence”)(2)

the VBA interpreter must execute the Split function three times. Split is calculation intensive and uses a lot of memory. If you declare a variant, Split only needs to be executed once.

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Yes, I realize the CPU/ memory implications. I was just pointing out what seems to be an undocumented syntax, possibly suited to a for “one off” usage, not requiring the explicit declaration of a variant (array). As always, it is up to the programmer to utilise the function judiciously.

Alan

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For what it’s worth, I usually use split as an array as you have, but I’m usually only interested in one piece of a string.
Don Ceraso first brought it to my attention in this puzzle thread started by Kevin.

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Thanks Sammy. You illustrate my point admirably . Looks like my “discovery” was only about 3 years late though. I seem to be improving.

Alan

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