What does the keyword Set actually do in VBA

Question

Hopefully an easy question  but I d quite like a technical answer to this   What s the difference between   i   4   and  Set i   4   in VBA  I know that the latter will throw an error  but I don t fully understand why

User · Accepted Answer

set is used to assign a reference to an object  The C equivalent would be    int i  int  ref i   i   4     Assigning a value  in VBA  i   4  ref i    amp i    assigning a reference  in VBA  set ref i   i

User · Answer

In your case  it will produce an error   -   Set assigns an object reference  For all other assignments the  implicit  optional  and little-used  Let statement is correct   Set object   New SomeObject Set object   FunctionReturningAnObjectRef SomeArgument   Let i   0 Let i   FunctionReturningAValue SomeArgument     or  more commonly    i   0 i   FunctionReturningAValue SomeArgument

User · Answer

Off the top of my head  Set is used to assign COM objects to variables  By doing a Set I suspect that under the hood it s doing an AddRef   call on the object to manage it s lifetime

User · Answer

Set is used for setting object references  as opposed to assigning a value

User · Answer

So when you want to set a value  you don t need  Set   otherwise  if you are referring to an object  e g  worksheet range etc   you need using  Set

User · Answer

From MSDN      Set Keyword    In VBA  the Set keyword   is necessary to distinguish between   assignment of an object and assignment   of the default property of the object    Since default properties are not   supported in Visual Basic  NET  the   Set keyword is not needed and is no   longer supported

User · Answer

Off the top of my head  Set is used to assign COM objects to variables  By doing a Set I suspect that under the hood it s doing an AddRef   call on the object to manage it s lifetime

User · Answer

From MSDN      Set Keyword    In VBA  the Set keyword   is necessary to distinguish between   assignment of an object and assignment   of the default property of the object    Since default properties are not   supported in Visual Basic  NET  the   Set keyword is not needed and is no   longer supported

User · Answer

Set is an Keyword and it is used to assign a reference to an Object in VBA   For E g    Below example shows how to use of Set in VBA   Dim WS As Worksheet  Set WS   ActiveWorkbook Worksheets  Sheet1    WS Name    Amit

User · Answer

In your case  it will produce an error   -   Set assigns an object reference  For all other assignments the  implicit  optional  and little-used  Let statement is correct   Set object   New SomeObject Set object   FunctionReturningAnObjectRef SomeArgument   Let i   0 Let i   FunctionReturningAValue SomeArgument     or  more commonly    i   0 i   FunctionReturningAValue SomeArgument

User · Answer

So when you want to set a value  you don t need  Set   otherwise  if you are referring to an object  e g  worksheet range etc   you need using  Set

User · Answer

In your case  it will produce an error   -   Set assigns an object reference  For all other assignments the  implicit  optional  and little-used  Let statement is correct   Set object   New SomeObject Set object   FunctionReturningAnObjectRef SomeArgument   Let i   0 Let i   FunctionReturningAValue SomeArgument     or  more commonly    i   0 i   FunctionReturningAValue SomeArgument

User · Answer

Set is an Keyword and it is used to assign a reference to an Object in VBA   For E g    Below example shows how to use of Set in VBA   Dim WS As Worksheet  Set WS   ActiveWorkbook Worksheets  Sheet1    WS Name    Amit

User · Answer

Set is used for setting object references  as opposed to assigning a value

User · Answer

In your case  it will produce an error   -   Set assigns an object reference  For all other assignments the  implicit  optional  and little-used  Let statement is correct   Set object   New SomeObject Set object   FunctionReturningAnObjectRef SomeArgument   Let i   0 Let i   FunctionReturningAValue SomeArgument     or  more commonly    i   0 i   FunctionReturningAValue SomeArgument

User · Answer

From MSDN      Set Keyword    In VBA  the Set keyword   is necessary to distinguish between   assignment of an object and assignment   of the default property of the object    Since default properties are not   supported in Visual Basic  NET  the   Set keyword is not needed and is no   longer supported

User · Answer

Set is used for setting object references  as opposed to assigning a value

User · Answer

Set is used for setting object references  as opposed to assigning a value

User · Answer

Off the top of my head  Set is used to assign COM objects to variables  By doing a Set I suspect that under the hood it s doing an AddRef   call on the object to manage it s lifetime

User · Answer

From MSDN      Set Keyword    In VBA  the Set keyword   is necessary to distinguish between   assignment of an object and assignment   of the default property of the object    Since default properties are not   supported in Visual Basic  NET  the   Set keyword is not needed and is no   longer supported

User · Answer

Off the top of my head  Set is used to assign COM objects to variables  By doing a Set I suspect that under the hood it s doing an AddRef   call on the object to manage it s lifetime

[vba] What does the keyword Set actually do in VBA?

Examples related to vba

Examples related to variable-assignment