Calling Functions in VB & VBA: Syntax, Examples, & More

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Are you confused about calling function procedures in Visual Basic and VBA? This wikiHow tutorial will teach you easy ways to call functions in VB and VBA.

Section 1 of 2:

Calling a Function Syntax

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  1. The syntax for calling a function in VB and VBA is lvalue = functionName (argument1, argument2) . If there is more than one argument (like in this example), you'll separate the arguments with commas. [1]
    • You must provide values for all arguments that aren't optional. But if there are no arguments, you can omit the parentheses or just leave them blank () . [2]
    • When you call a function, its statements run beginning with the first executable statement after the Function statement until End Function , Return , or Exit Function is encountered. [3]
    • Unlike when calling a subroutine, you usually won't need to include the Call keyword when calling a function. [4] If you use the Call keyword, no value will be returned.
    • If you're using VBA in a cell within an Excel spreadsheet, the syntax is =functionName(argument1, argument2) . If you're writing code in the Excel VB editor, you'll use the standard syntax. But in a cell, you'll need to preface the call with an equals sign as you would when writing a formula.
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Section 2 of 2:

Function Calling Examples

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    Then, we'll call that function to find the hypotenuse for a triangle if one of the lines is 2.3 .
    • First, let's create the function. 
       Function 
 hypotenuse 
 ( 
 ByVal 
 side1 
 As 
 Single 
 , 
 ByVal 
 side2 
 As 
 Single 
 ) 
 As 
 Single 
 Return 
 Math 
 . 
 Sqrt 
 (( 
 side1 
 ^ 
 2 
 ) 
 + 
 ( 
 side2 
 ^ 
 2 
 )) 
 End 
 Function
    • And here's how we'd call the function if one side is 2.3 . 
       Dim 
 testLength 
 , 
 testHypotenuse 
 As 
 Single 
 testHypotenuse 
 = 
 hypotenuse 
 ( 
 testLength 
 , 
 2.3 
 )
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    In this example, we'll call the MsgBox function, which displays a message box to the user and accepts input. There are 5 possible named arguments for MsgBox in Visual Basic and VBA— prompt , buttons , title , helpfile , and context . We want to pass two arguments—one to display a message, and another to display yes and no buttons: 
     Dim 
 intResponse 
 As 
 Integer 
 intResponse 
 = 
 MsgBox 
 ( 
 "Are you sure you want to proceed?" 
 , 
 vbYesNo 
 ) 
 If 
 intResponse 
 = 
 vbYes 
 Then 
 End 
 End 
 If
  3. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/4\/49\/621304-3.jpg\/v4-460px-621304-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/4\/49\/621304-3.jpg\/v4-728px-621304-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":344,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":545,"licensing":"<div class=\"mw-parser-output\"><p>Image by: Uploader<br>\nLicense: <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\" class=\"external text\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/\">Creative Commons<\/a>\n<\/p><\/div>"}
    First we'll write a function called Add , and then we'll call the function to add the numbers 32 and 64 .
    • First, here's the function: 
       Function 
 Add 
 ( 
 ByVal 
 x 
 As 
 Integer 
 , 
 ByVal 
 y 
 As 
 Integer 
 ) 
 As 
 Integer 
 Dim 
 Res 
 as 
 integer 
 Res 
 = 
 x 
 + 
 y 
 Add 
 = 
 Res 
 End 
 Function
    • Now, let's call the function in a subroutine to add our numbers: 
       Sub 
 Form_Load 
 () 
 Dim 
 a 
 As 
 Integer 
 Dim 
 b 
 As 
 Integer 
 Dim 
 c 
 As 
 Integer 
 a 
 = 
 32 
 b 
 = 
 64 
 c 
 = 
 Add 
 ( 
 a 
 , 
 b 
 ) 
 MsgBox 
 ( 
 "Sum is : " 
 & 
 c 
 ) 
 End 
 Sub
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    How do I run a function in VB.net?
    Snod
    Community Answer
    Click Compile then Run using the menu. There may also be keyboard shortcut hotkeys.
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      Tips

      • Functions are public by default, so you can call them from anywhere in the program that has access to its containing class, module, or structure.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/language/reference/user-interface-help/call-statement
      2. ↑ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/visual-basic/programming-guide/language-features/procedures/function-procedures
      3. ↑ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/visual-basic/programming-guide/language-features/procedures/function-procedures
      4. ↑ https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/visual-basic/language-reference/statements/function-statement

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