VBA – Dialog Box

This article will demonstrate how to use Dialog Boxes in VBA.

Dialog Boxes are used to return information to the user.  The most common dialog box that is used is the Message Box, but we can also use the Input Box.

Message Box

Syntax

The syntax of the Message Box is as follows:

Argument	Explanation
Prompt	Message returned to the user – required
Buttons	Visual Basic buttons – defaults to OK if omitted
Title	Title of Message box – optional
HelpFile	Helpfile – optional
Context	Context – optional

Simple Message Box

A simple message box just requires the prompt – the message you are returning to your user.  The OK button will automatically be displayed.

Sub SimpleBox ()
 MsgBox "Hello everybody!"
End Sub

YesNo Message Box

Adding in buttons can make you message box more flexible.

We can select the type of box from a drop down list of VB constants.

Sub MessageBox ()
 Dim Result As Integer
 Result = MsgBox("Are you sure you want to do that?", vbYesNo)
 If Result = vbYes Then
   MsgBox ("You do want to do that")
 Else
   MsgBox ("You do not want to do that")
 End If
End Sub

As well as the Yes/No button, we can icons to display in our message box to indicate to the user what type of message is being displayed.

Sub MessageBox ()
  Dim Result As Integer
  Result = MsgBox("Are you sure you want to do that?", vbYesNo + vbQuestion)
  If Result = vbYes Then
    MsgBox "You do want to do that", vbInformation
  Else
    MsgBox "You do not want to do that", vbCritical
  End If
End Sub

NOTE: if you do not select a button constant, but do select an information constant, you need to omit the brackets from around the message box arguments.

Adding a Title

We can also fill in the title argument.

Sub MessageBox ()
  Dim Result As Integer
  Result = MsgBox("Are you sure you want to do that?", vbYesNo + vbQuestion, "LET'S DO SOMETHING!")
  If Result = vbYes Then
    MsgBox "You do want to do that", vbInformation, "YES PLEASE"
  Else
    MsgBox "You do not want to do that", vbCritical, "NO THANKS"
  End If
End Sub

For a more detailed article about Message Boxes, click here.

Input Box

An input box is a Dialog Box that asks the user a question, and returns a result.

Sub TestInputBox ()
  Dim Result As String
  Result = InputBox("What do you want to do?", "LET'S DO SOMETHING", "Enter your input text HERE")
  MsgBox Result
End Sub

For a more detailed article about Input Boxes, click here.