Question

I am trying to encapsulate the access of an XML configuration file within a (excel) vba custom class. A portion of the XML document is split into 4 or 5 repeated sections that are differentiated by an AreaID. MY question is: How can I limit the input of one of my class interfaces to the various AreaID‘s that may be read in from the XML document?

revision: what is the best way to control input into a class’ interface from within the class (as it pertains to vba)? (i.e. public enum, secondary “helper” class, error handling from within the class, hard-coding…)

Answer 1

I wanted to follow up with @Tim’s comment regarding enums and provide some further information as to why enums in the class code may be a good way to limit the input. According to Chip Pearson’s site :

Enums cannot be declared within a procedure. They must be declared within the declarations part of a module, above and outside any procedure in the module. Class modules can declare Public Enum types but you cannot create a variable whose type is an Enum declared within a class module.

So as I understand this, if you declare the input on one of interfaces as a (public) enum that has been declared in the class itself, it will limit what values can go in based on that enum. Also the enum will still not be able to be used outside of the class structure.