CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vbavb6
user6698332
user6698332

Reputation: 427

How to determine the type of control (or object)?

There are three only ways, which are discussed on the Internet and on this forum in particular
How to check type of object in VB 6 - Is there any method other than 'TypeName'
How to check type of Object in VB 6 ? - I do not want to use 'TypeOf' method
How to check type of object in VB 6 - Is there any method other than 'TypeName'

Namely:
- the string method TypeName
- the clumsy TypeOf
- by name of control, defined in a specific notation

Am I right, that there are no built-in tools to get a normal numeric constant, like the MsoControlType?
.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 6102

Answers (1)

Mathieu Guindon
Mathieu Guindon

Reputation: 71217

Direct answer

Am I right, that there are no built-in tools to get a normal numeric constant, like the MsoControlType?

Yes, that is correct. Unless you implement your own, using the techniques you've listed.

Well, excluding VarType, which will return vbObject given any object reference.

Pedantic answer

What you're referring to as a "normal numeric constant" has strictly nothing to do with a control's type - these MsoControlType constants are just Enum values that the CommandBar API uses to determine the type of the control to create when you ask to create one.

MsoControlType.msoControlButton is not a type of control, it's a constant with a value of 1. Nothing more, nothing less - the type of a control is a class, not a numeric constant:

?TypeName(Application.VBE.CommandBars(1).Controls(1))
CommandBarPopup

CommandBarPopup is the class (and thus the type of the control), not msoControlPopup, and not 10:

CommandBarPopup in the object browser

A type is what you give to TypeOf [variable] Is [*type*], or Dim [variable] As [*type*]: it's an identifier that refers to a class/interface (in the case of an object, of course - a type could also be one of the primitives, e.g. Integer or Boolean). And given the weakness of reflection capabilities in VB6/VBA for lack of a .net-like type system where a type itself is an abstraction that can be worked with, a custom Enum type and a function taking an object, featuring a Select Case block with TypeOf checks, is your best bet for that function to return a normal numeric constant that represents the type of the provided object.

Upvotes: 9

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