Question

I’m having some trouble with syntax options while writing a VBA Macro for Excel. In VBA you can call a method on an object in two different ways:

foo.bar(arg1, arg2)

or

foo.bar arg1, arg2

I absolutely detest the second sort of syntax because I find it lacks any sort of clarity, so I normally adhere to the first option. However, I’ve come across a situation where using the first option creates an error, while the second executes fine. (This may perhaps be an indicator of other problems in my code.) Here is the culprit code:

Function GetFundList() As Collection
    Dim newFund As FundValues
    Range("A5").Select
    Set GetFundList = New Collection

    While Len(Selection.Value)
        Set newFund = New FundValues

        ' I set the fields of newFund and move Selection

The problem is in this next line:

        GetFundList.Add newFund
    Wend
End Function

FundValues is a class I created that is essentially just a struct; it has three properties which get set during the loop.

Basically, when I call GetFundList.Add(newFund) I get the following error:

Run-time error ‘438’:
Object doesn’t support this property or method

But calling GetFundList.Add newFund is perfectly fine.

Does anyone understand the intricacies of VBA well enough to explain why this is happening?

EDIT: Thanks much for the explanations!

Answer 1

Adding items to a collection is not defined as a function returning a value, but as a sub routine:

Public Sub Add( _
   ByVal Item As Object, _
   Optional ByVal Key As String, _
   Optional ByVal { Before | After } As Object = Nothing _
)

When calling another sub routine by name and sending arguments (without adding the “Call” statement), you are not required to add parentheses.
You need to add parentheses when you call a function that returns a value to a variable.

Example:

Sub Test_1()
Dim iCnt As Integer
Dim iCnt_B As Integer
Dim iResult As Integer


iCnt = 2
iCnt_B = 3

fTest_1 iCnt, iResult, iCnt_B

End Sub

Public Function fTest_1(iCnt, iResult, iCnt_B)

iResult = iCnt * 2 + iCnt_B * 2

End Function

Sub Test_2()

Dim iCnt As Integer
Dim iCnt_B As Integer
Dim iResult As Integer


iCnt = 2
iCnt_B = 3

iResult = fTest_2(iCnt, iCnt_B)

End Sub

Public Function fTest_2(iCnt, iCnt_B)

fTest_2 = iCnt * 2 + iCnt_B * 2

End Function

Let me know if not clear.