The Problem (Q-score 32, ranked #7th of 95 in the VBA Core archive)
The scenario as originally posted in 2013
Can String.Format() be implemented in VB6, at least a close-enough version of it that could be useful when programming in good ol’ VB6?
Good resource on the matter of VB6 string manipulation performance: http://www.aivosto.com/vbtips/stringopt2.html
On a related not, I also came up with a couple string comparison functions, find them here on CodeReview.SE
These functions are tremendously useful for improving VB6 readability, especially if you’ve been spoiled with .net code lately and suddenly are required to dive into a VB6 code base… Enjoy!
Why community consensus is tight on this one
Across 95 VBA Core entries in the archive, the accepted answer here holds elite answer (top 10 %%) status — meaning voters are unusually aligned on the right fix.
The Verified Solution — elite answer (top 10 %%) (+37)
451-line VBA Core pattern (copy-ready)
I couldn’t find one anywhere, so I made my own:
Public PADDING_CHAR As String
Public Function StringFormat(format_string As String, ParamArray values()) As String
'VB6 implementation of .net String.Format(), slightly customized.
'Tested with Office 2010 VBA (x64)
Dim return_value As String
Dim values_count As Integer
'some error-handling constants:
Const ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION As Long = vbObjectError Or 9001
Const ERR_ARGUMENT_NULL_EXCEPTION As Long = vbObjectError Or 9002
Const ERR_SOURCE As String = "StringFormat"
Const ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING As String = "Invalid format string."
Const ERR_MSG_FORMAT_EXCEPTION As String = "The number indicating an argument to format is less than zero, or greater than or equal to the length of the args array."
'use SPACE as default padding character
If PADDING_CHAR = vbNullString Then PADDING_CHAR = Chr$(32)
'figure out number of passed values:
values_count = UBound(values) + 1
Dim regex As RegExp
Dim matches As MatchCollection
Dim thisMatch As Match
Dim thisString As String
Dim thisFormat As String
'when format_string starts with "@", escapes are not replaced
'(string is treated as a literal string with placeholders)
Dim useLiteral As Boolean
Dim escapeHex As Boolean 'indicates whether HEX specifier "0x" is to be escaped or not
'validate string_format:
Set regex = New RegExp
regex.Pattern = "{({{)*(w+)(,-?d+)?(:[^}]+)?}(}})*"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
regex.Global = True
Set matches = regex.Execute(format_string)
'determine if values_count matches number of unique regex matches:
Dim uniqueCount As Integer
Dim tmpCSV As String
For Each thisMatch In matches
If Not StringContains(tmpCSV, thisMatch.SubMatches(1)) Then
uniqueCount = uniqueCount + 1
tmpCSV = tmpCSV & thisMatch.SubMatches(1) & ","
End If
Next
'unique indices count must match values_count:
If matches.Count > 0 And uniqueCount <> values_count Then _
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_FORMAT_EXCEPTION
useLiteral = StringStartsWith("@", format_string)
'remove the "@" literal specifier
If useLiteral Then format_string = Right(format_string, Len(format_string) - 1)
If Not useLiteral And StringContains(format_string, "\") Then _
format_string = Replace(format_string, "\", Chr$(27))
If StringContains(format_string, "\") Then _
format_string = Replace(format_string, "\", Chr$(27))
If matches.Count = 0 And format_string <> vbNullString And UBound(values) = -1 Then
'only format_string was specified: skip to checking escape sequences:
return_value = format_string
GoTo checkEscapes
ElseIf UBound(values) = -1 And matches.Count > 0 Then
Err.Raise ERR_ARGUMENT_NULL_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_FORMAT_EXCEPTION
End If
return_value = format_string
'dissect format_string:
Dim i As Integer, v As String, p As String 'i: iterator; v: value; p: placeholder
Dim alignmentGroup As String, alignmentSpecifier As String
Dim formattedValue As String, alignmentPadding As Integer
'iterate regex matches (each match is a placeholder):
For i = 0 To matches.Count - 1
'get the placeholder specified index:
Set thisMatch = matches(i)
p = thisMatch.SubMatches(1)
'if specified index (0-based) > uniqueCount (1-based), something's wrong:
If p > uniqueCount - 1 Then _
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_FORMAT_EXCEPTION
v = values(p)
'get the alignment specifier if it is specified:
alignmentGroup = thisMatch.SubMatches(2)
If alignmentGroup <> vbNullString Then _
alignmentSpecifier = Right$(alignmentGroup, LenB(alignmentGroup) / 2 - 1)
'get the format specifier if it is specified:
thisString = thisMatch.Value
If StringContains(thisString, ":") Then
Dim formatGroup As String, precisionSpecifier As Integer
Dim formatSpecifier As String, precisionString As String
'get the string between ":" and "}":
formatGroup = Mid$(thisString, InStr(1, thisString, ":") + 1, (LenB(thisString) / 2) - 2)
formatGroup = Left$(formatGroup, LenB(formatGroup) / 2 - 1)
precisionString = Right$(formatGroup, LenB(formatGroup) / 2 - 1)
formatSpecifier = Mid$(thisString, InStr(1, thisString, ":") + 1, 1)
'applicable formatting depends on the type of the value (yes, GOTO!!):
If TypeName(values(p)) = "Date" Then GoTo DateTimeFormatSpecifiers
If v = vbNullString Then GoTo ApplyStringFormat
NumberFormatSpecifiers:
If precisionString <> vbNullString And Not IsNumeric(precisionString) Then _
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING
If precisionString = vbNullString Then precisionString = 0
Select Case formatSpecifier
Case "C", "c" 'CURRENCY format, formats string as currency.
'Precision specifier determines number of decimal digits.
'This implementation ignores regional settings
'(hard-coded group separator, decimal separator and currency sign).
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
thisFormat = "#,##0.$"
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = _
Replace$(thisFormat, ".", "." & String$(precisionString, Chr$(48)))
End If
Case "D", "d" 'DECIMAL format, formats string as integer number.
'Precision specifier determines number of digits in returned string.
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
thisFormat = "0"
thisFormat = Right$(String$(precisionSpecifier, "0") & thisFormat, _
IIf(precisionSpecifier = 0, Len(thisFormat), precisionSpecifier))
Case "E", "e" 'EXPONENTIAL NOTATION format (aka "Scientific Notation")
'Precision specifier determines number of decimals in returned string.
'This implementation ignores regional settings'
'(hard-coded decimal separator).
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
thisFormat = "0.00000#" & formatSpecifier & "-#" 'defaults to 6 decimals
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = "0." & String$(precisionSpecifier - 1, Chr$(48)) & "#" & formatSpecifier & "-#"
ElseIf LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier = 0 Then
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING
End If
Case "F", "f" 'FIXED-POINT format
'Precision specifier determines number of decimals in returned string.
'This implementation ignores regional settings'
'(hard-coded decimal separator).
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
thisFormat = "0"
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = (thisFormat & ".") & String$(precisionSpecifier, Chr$(48))
Else
'no precision specified - default to 2 decimals:
thisFormat = "0.00"
End If
Case "G", "g" 'GENERAL format (recursive)
'returns the shortest of either FIXED-POINT or SCIENTIFIC formats in case of a Double.
'returns DECIMAL format in case of a Integer or Long.
Dim eNotation As String, ePower As Integer, specifier As String
precisionSpecifier = IIf(CInt(precisionString) > 0, CInt(precisionString), _
IIf(StringContains(v, "."), Len(v) - InStr(1, v, "."), 0))
'track character case of formatSpecifier:
specifier = IIf(formatSpecifier = "G", "D", "d")
If TypeName(values(p)) = "Integer" Or TypeName(values(p)) = "Long" Then
'Integer types: use {0:D} (recursive call):
formattedValue = StringFormat("{0:" & specifier & "}", values(p))
ElseIf TypeName(values(p)) = "Double" Then
'Non-integer types: use {0:E}
specifier = IIf(formatSpecifier = "G", "E", "e")
'evaluate the exponential notation value (recursive call):
eNotation = StringFormat("{0:" & specifier & "}", v)
'get the power of eNotation:
ePower = Mid$(eNotation, InStr(1, UCase$(eNotation), "E-") + 1, Len(eNotation) - InStr(1, UCase$(eNotation), "E-"))
If ePower > -5 And Abs(ePower) < precisionSpecifier Then
'use {0:F} when ePower > -5 and abs(ePower) < precisionSpecifier:
'evaluate the floating-point value (recursive call):
specifier = IIf(formatSpecifier = "G", "F", "f")
formattedValue = StringFormat("{0:" & formatSpecifier & _
IIf(precisionSpecifier <> 0, precisionString, vbNullString) & "}", values(p))
Else
'fallback to {0:E} if previous rule didn't apply:
formattedValue = eNotation
End If
End If
GoTo AlignFormattedValue 'Skip the "ApplyStringFormat" step, it's applied already.
Case "N", "n" 'NUMERIC format, formats string as an integer or decimal number.
'Precision specifier determines number of decimal digits.
'This implementation ignores regional settings'
'(hard-coded group and decimal separators).
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = "#,##0"
thisFormat = (thisFormat & ".") & String$(precisionSpecifier, Chr$(48))
Else 'only the "D" is specified
thisFormat = "#,##0"
End If
Case "P", "p" 'PERCENT format. Formats string as a percentage.
'Value is multiplied by 100 and displayed with a percent symbol.
'Precision specifier determines number of decimal digits.
thisFormat = "#,##0%"
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = "#,##0"
thisFormat = (thisFormat & ".") & String$(precisionSpecifier, Chr$(48))
Else 'only the "P" is specified
thisFormat = "#,##0"
End If
'Append the percentage sign to the format string:
thisFormat = thisFormat & "%"
Case "R", "r" 'ROUND-TRIP format (a string that can round-trip to an identical number)
'example: ?StringFormat("{0:R}", 0.0000000001141596325677345362656)
' ...returns "0.000000000114159632567735"
'convert value to a Double (chop off overflow digits):
v = CDbl(v)
Case "X", "x" 'HEX format. Formats a string as a Hexadecimal value.
'Precision specifier determines number of total digits.
'Returned string is prefixed with "&H" to specify Hex.
v = Hex(v)
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
If LenB(precisionString) > 0 Then 'precision here stands for left padding
v = Right$(String$(precisionSpecifier, "0") & v, IIf(precisionSpecifier = 0, Len(v), precisionSpecifier))
End If
'add C# hex specifier, apply specified casing:
'(VB6 hex specifier would cause Format() to reverse the formatting):
v = "0x" & IIf(formatSpecifier = "X", UCase$(v), LCase$(v))
Case Else
If IsNumeric(formatSpecifier) And val(formatGroup) = 0 Then
formatSpecifier = formatGroup
v = Format(v, formatGroup)
Else
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING
End If
End Select
GoTo ApplyStringFormat
DateTimeFormatSpecifiers:
Select Case formatSpecifier
Case "c", "C" 'CUSTOM date/time format
'let VB Format() parse precision specifier as is:
thisFormat = precisionString
Case "d" 'SHORT DATE format
thisFormat = "ddddd"
Case "D" 'LONG DATE format
thisFormat = "dddddd"
Case "f" 'FULL DATE format (short)
thisFormat = "dddddd h:mm AM/PM"
Case "F" 'FULL DATE format (long)
thisFormat = "dddddd ttttt"
Case "g"
thisFormat = "ddddd hh:mm AM/PM"
Case "G"
thisFormat = "ddddd ttttt"
Case "s" 'SORTABLE DATETIME format
thisFormat = "yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss"
Case "t" 'SHORT TIME format
thisFormat = "hh:mm AM/PM"
Case "T" 'LONG TIME format
thisFormat = "ttttt"
Case Else
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING
End Select
GoTo ApplyStringFormat
End If
ApplyStringFormat:
'apply computed format string:
formattedValue = Format(v, thisFormat)
AlignFormattedValue:
'apply specified alignment specifier:
If alignmentSpecifier <> vbNullString Then
alignmentPadding = Abs(CInt(alignmentSpecifier))
If CInt(alignmentSpecifier) < 0 Then
'negative: left-justified alignment
If alignmentPadding - Len(formattedValue) > 0 Then _
formattedValue = formattedValue & _
String$(alignmentPadding - Len(formattedValue), PADDING_CHAR)
Else
'positive: right-justified alignment
If alignmentPadding - Len(formattedValue) > 0 Then _
formattedValue = String$(alignmentPadding - Len(formattedValue), PADDING_CHAR) & formattedValue
End If
End If
'Replace C# hex specifier with VB6 hex specifier,
'only if hex specifier was introduced in this function:
If (Not useLiteral And escapeHex) And _
StringContains(formattedValue, "0x") Then _
formattedValue = Replace$(formattedValue, "0x", "&H")
'replace all occurrences of placeholder {i} with their formatted values:
return_value = Replace(return_value, thisString, formattedValue, Count:=1)
'reset before reiterating:
thisFormat = vbNullString
Next
checkEscapes:
'if there's no more backslashes, don't bother checking for the rest:
If useLiteral Or Not StringContains(return_value, "") Then GoTo normalExit
Dim escape As New EscapeSequence
Dim escapes As New Collection
escapes.Add escape.Create("n", vbNewLine), "0"
escapes.Add escape.Create("q", Chr$(34)), "1"
escapes.Add escape.Create("t", vbTab), "2"
escapes.Add escape.Create("a", Chr$(7)), "3"
escapes.Add escape.Create("b", Chr$(8)), "4"
escapes.Add escape.Create("v", Chr$(13)), "5"
escapes.Add escape.Create("f", Chr$(14)), "6"
escapes.Add escape.Create("r", Chr$(15)), "7"
For i = 0 To escapes.Count - 1
Set escape = escapes(CStr(i))
If StringContains(return_value, escape.EscapeString) Then _
return_value = Replace(return_value, escape.EscapeString, escape.ReplacementString)
If Not StringContains(return_value, "") Then _
GoTo normalExit
Next
'replace "ASCII (oct)" escape sequence
Set regex = New RegExp
regex.Pattern = "\(d{3})"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
regex.Global = True
Set matches = regex.Execute(format_string)
Dim char As Long
If matches.Count <> 0 Then
For Each thisMatch In matches
p = thisMatch.SubMatches(0)
'"p" contains the octal number representing the ASCII code we're after:
p = "&O" & p 'prepend octal prefix
char = CLng(p)
return_value = Replace(return_value, thisMatch.Value, Chr$(char))
Next
End If
'if there's no more backslashes, don't bother checking for the rest:
If Not StringContains("", return_value) Then GoTo normalExit
'replace "ASCII (hex)" escape sequence
Set regex = New RegExp
regex.Pattern = "\x(w{2})"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
regex.Global = True
Set matches = regex.Execute(format_string)
If matches.Count <> 0 Then
For Each thisMatch In matches
p = thisMatch.SubMatches(0)
'"p" contains the hex value representing the ASCII code we're after:
p = "&H" & p 'prepend hex prefix
char = CLng(p)
return_value = Replace(return_value, thisMatch.Value, Chr$(char))
Next
End If
normalExit:
Set escapes = Nothing
Set escape = Nothing
If Not useLiteral And StringContains(return_value, Chr$(27)) Then _
return_value = Replace(return_value, Chr$(27), "")
StringFormat = return_value
End Function
Notice the ParamArray in the method signature (thanks @wqw): doing so spares the usage of multiple optional parameters (and from usage bugs with being able to assign value2 without assigning value1 when naming the parameters in the calling statement). Because it’s a ParamArray, the individual values are Variant which means every parameter could be of a different type, VB is doing the string conversion behind the scenes.
The function can then be consumed like this:
?StringFormat("(C) Currency: . . . . . . . . {0:C}n" & _
"(D) Decimal:. . . . . . . . . {0:D}n" & _
"(E) Scientific: . . . . . . . {1:E}n" & _
"(F) Fixed point:. . . . . . . {1:F}n" & _
"(N) Number: . . . . . . . . . {0:N}n" & _
"(P) Percent:. . . . . . . . . {1:P}n" & _
"(R) Round-trip: . . . . . . . {1:R}n" & _
"(X) Hexadecimal:. . . . . . . {0:X}n",-123, -123.45)
Output:
(C) Currency: . . . . . . . . -123.00$
(D) Decimal:. . . . . . . . . -123
(E) Scientific: . . . . . . . -1.23450E2
(F) Fixed point:. . . . . . . -123
(N) Number: . . . . . . . . . -123
(P) Percent:. . . . . . . . . -12,345%
(R) Round-trip: . . . . . . . -123.45
(X) Hexadecimal:. . . . . . . &HFFFFFF85
And also like this:
?StringFormat("(c) Custom format: . . . . . .{0:cYYYY-MM-DD (MMMM)}n" & _
"(d) Short date: . . . . . . . {0:d}n" & _
"(D) Long date:. . . . . . . . {0:D}n" & _
"(T) Long time:. . . . . . . . {0:T}n" & _
"(f) Full date/short time: . . {0:f}n" & _
"(F) Full date/long time:. . . {0:F}n" & _
"(s) Sortable: . . . . . . . . {0:s}n", Now())
Output:
(c) Custom format: . . . . . .2013-01-26 (January)
(d) Short date: . . . . . . . 1/26/2013
(D) Long date:. . . . . . . . Saturday, January 26, 2013
(T) Long time:. . . . . . . . 8:28:11 PM
(f) Full date/short time: . . 1/26/2013 8:28:11 PM
(F) Full date/long time:. . . Saturday, January 26, 2013 8:28:11 PM
(s) Sortable: . . . . . . . . 2013-01-26T20:28:11
Also possible to specify alignment (/padding) and to use escape sequences:
?StringFormat ("q{0}, {1}!x20n'{2,10:C2}'n'{2,-10:C2}'", "hello", "world", 100)
"hello, world!"
' 100.00$'
'100.00$ '
Looking at samples from http://msdn.microsoft.com/fr-fr/library/b1csw23d(v=vs.80).aspx, only a few format specifiers are not implemented, mostly date/time specifiers… but I would think the “c” custom date/time format specifier makes it up.
The function uses a straightforward implementation of String.Contains():
Public Function StringContains(string_source As String, find_text As String, _
Optional ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean = True) As Boolean
StringContains = StringContainsAny(string_source, caseSensitive, find_text)
End Function
EDIT: This code now properly handles “\” escapes, as mentioned in the comments. Also, while StringContains is certainly practical and gives a more comfortable reading than an InStr() call, the below StringContainsAny function is even better:
Public Function StringContainsAny(string_source As String, ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean, _
ParamArray find_values()) As Boolean
Dim i As Integer, found As Boolean
If caseSensitive Then
For i = LBound(find_values) To UBound(find_values)
found = (InStr(1, string_source, _
find_values(i), vbBinaryCompare) <> 0)
If found Then Exit For
Next
Else
For i = LBound(find_values) To UBound(find_values)
StringContainsAny = (InStr(1, LCase$(string_source), _
LCase$(find_values(i)), vbBinaryCompare) <> 0)
If found Then Exit For
Next
End If
StringContainsAny = found
End Function
Consider the following:
foo = Instr(1, source, "value1") > 0 Or Instr(1, source, "value2") > 0 _
Or Instr(1, source, "value3") > 0 Or Instr(1, source, "value4") > 0 _
Or Instr(1, source, "value5") > 0 Or Instr(1, source, "value6") > 0 _
Before VB can determine if foo is TRUE or FALSE, every single InStr() call is made. However with StringContainsAny(), the condition is satisfied with the first value that gets found, which makes it a faster statement.
EDIT: Previous edit pretty much wiped out escape sequences; reinstated them, using a small class “EscapeSequence” exposing two properties and a factory method – doing this allows keeping the for-each loop and handling all simple escapes without duplicating much code.
This code also uses a StringStartsWith function, implemented like this:
Public Function StringStartsWith(ByVal find_text As String, ByVal string_source As String, Optional ByVal caseSensitive As Boolean = True) As Boolean
If caseSensitive Then
StringStartsWith = (Left$(string_source, LenB(find_text) / 2) = find_text)
Else
StringStartsWith = (Left$(LCase(string_source), LenB(find_text) / 2) = LCase$(find_text))
End If
End Function
Loop-performance notes specific to this pattern
The loop in the answer iterates in process. On a 2026 Office build, setting Application.ScreenUpdating = False and Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual around a loop of this size typically cuts runtime by 40–70%. Re-enable both in the Exit handler.
When to Use It — classic (2013–2016)
A top-10 VBA Core pattern — why it still holds up
Ranks #7th of 95 in the VBA Core archive. The only pattern ranked immediately above it is “Access VBA | How to replace parts of a string with another…” — compare both if you’re choosing between approaches.
What changed between 2013 and 2026
The answer is 13 years old. The VBA Core object model has been stable across Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 365, and 2024/2026 LTSC, so the pattern still compiles. Changes that might affect you: 64-bit API declarations (use PtrSafe), blocked macros in downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), and the shift toward Office Scripts for web-first workflows.