Question

I am presently working with data from a mainframe, not unlike the data presented here. In this case, all I have are strings akin to 100-AAA for my criteria and for my target data set. I have searched for a similar solution, but I have not found a direct filter by range question for VBA on SO.

I am attempting to filter a large dataset based on a range of criteria. Originally, I started playing with collections in separate classes/subroutines, but then I compressed to the use of ranges within a single subroutine, as follows:

Sub FilterTest1()

Dim RngOne As Range
Dim LastCell As Long

Sheets("Criteria").Activate
Sheets("Criteria").Select
Range("A1").Select

LastCell = Application.WorksheetFunction.CountA(ActiveSheet.Range("A:A"))

Set RngOne = ActiveSheet.Range("A2:A" & LastCell)

Sheets("Sheet 1").Activate
Sheets("Sheet 1").Select

With ActiveSheet
    If .FilterMode Then
    .ShowAllData
    End If
End With

Columns("A:A").Select
Selection.AutoFilter
ActiveSheet.Range("A:A").AutoFilter Field:=1, Criteria1:=RngOne, Operator:=xlOr

End Sub

Unfortunately, my range of cells does not filter the data, even when using criteria such as Operator:=xlOr – it just displays the very last cell value used for the criteria. The VBA code does not fail – it just does not filter properly based on the range.

I feel certain that there exists a simple solution, but I cannot quite see it.

Answer 1

Your current line:

ActiveSheet.Range("A:A").AutoFilter Field:=1, Criteria1:=RngOne, Operator:=xlOr

is trying to filter your first field by a Range object, not by each value in the range.

I’ve provided one way to do this below, by loading your values into an array and then passing the array to the filter criteria.

A few points worth noting to help you (and anyone else in the future):

• I learned of the correct syntax to filter on a selection of objects by using the macro recorder.
• This site helped me learn about the array trick: Pass Array to Filter Criteria
• I also cleaned up your code to make it more efficient and faster, by getting rid of useless select statements and such. (Not a big deal for this little bit of code, but getting out of that practice will help you for bigger projects!)

Code Below:

Sub FilterTest1()

Dim RngOne As Range, cell As Range
Dim LastCell As Long
Dim arrList() As String, lngCnt As Long

With Sheets("Criteria")
    LastCell = .Range("A" & Sheets("Criteria").Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row
    Set RngOne = .Range("A2:A" & LastCell)
End With

'load values into an array
lngCnt = 0
For Each cell In RngOne
    ReDim Preserve arrList(lngCnt)
    arrList(lngCnt) = cell.Text
    lngCnt = lngCnt + 1
Next


With Sheets("Sheet 1")

    If .FilterMode Then .ShowAllData

    .Range("A:A").AutoFilter Field:=1, Criteria1:=arrList, Operator:=xlFilterValues

End With

End Sub