Question

What function can I use in Excel VBA to slice an array?

Answer 1

Application.WorksheetFunction.Index(array, row, column)

If you specify a zero value for row or column, then you’ll get the entire column or row that is specified.

Example:

Application.WorksheetFunction.Index(array, 0, 3)

This will give you the entire 3rd column.

If you specify both row and column as non-zero, then you’ll get only the specific element. There is no easy way to get a smaller slice than a complete row or column.

Limitation: There is a limit to the array size that WorksheetFunction.Index can handle if you’re using a newer version of Excel. If array has more than 65,536 rows or 65,536 columns, then it throws a ‘Type mismatch’ error. If this is an issue for you, then see this more complicated answer which is not subject to the same limitation.

Here’s the function I wrote to do all my 1D and 2D slicing:

Public Function GetArraySlice2D(Sarray As Variant, Stype As String, Sindex As Integer, Sstart As Integer, Sfinish As Integer) As Variant  ' this function returns a slice of an array, Stype is either row or column ' Sstart is beginning of slice, Sfinish is end of slice (Sfinish = 0 means entire ' row or column is taken), Sindex is the row or column to be sliced ' (NOTE: 1 is always the first row or first column) ' an Sindex value of 0 means that the array is one dimensional 3/20/09 ljr  Dim vtemp() As Variant Dim i As Integer  On Err GoTo ErrHandler  Select Case Sindex     Case 0         If Sfinish - Sstart = UBound(Sarray) - LBound(Sarray) Then             vtemp = Sarray         Else             ReDim vtemp(1 To Sfinish - Sstart + 1)             For i = 1 To Sfinish - Sstart + 1                 vtemp(i) = Sarray(i + Sstart - 1)             Next i         End If     Case Else         Select Case Stype             Case 'row'                 If Sfinish = 0 Or (Sstart = LBound(Sarray, 2) And Sfinish = UBound(Sarray, 2)) Then                     vtemp = Application.WorksheetFunction.Index(Sarray, Sindex, 0)                 Else                     ReDim vtemp(1 To Sfinish - Sstart + 1)                     For i = 1 To Sfinish - Sstart + 1                         vtemp(i) = Sarray(Sindex, i + Sstart - 1)                     Next i                 End If             Case 'column'                 If Sfinish = 0 Or (Sstart = LBound(Sarray, 1) And Sfinish = UBound(Sarray, 1)) Then                     vtemp = Application.WorksheetFunction.Index(Sarray, 0, Sindex)                 Else                     ReDim vtemp(1 To Sfinish - Sstart + 1)                     For i = 1 To Sfinish - Sstart + 1                         vtemp(i) = Sarray(i + Sstart - 1, Sindex)                     Next i                 End If         End Select End Select GetArraySlice2D = vtemp Exit Function  ErrHandler:     Dim M As Integer     M = MsgBox('Bad Array Input', vbOKOnly, 'GetArraySlice2D')  End Function