VBA Open Statement

Open Description

Enables input/output (I/O) to a file.

Open Syntax

Open pathname For mode [ Access access ] [ lock ] As [ # ] filenumber [ Len = reclength ]

The Open statement contains 6 arguments:

pathname: String expression that specifies a file name; may include directory or folder, and drive.

mode: Keyword specifying the file mode: Append, Binary, Input, Output, or Random. If unspecified, the file is opened for Random access.

access: [Optional] Keyword specifying the operations permitted on the open file: Read, Write, or Read Write.

lock: [Optional]. Keyword specifying the operations restricted on the open file by other processes: Shared, Lock Read, Lock Write, and Lock Read Write.

filenumber: A valid file number in the range 1 to 511, inclusive. Use the FreeFile function to obtain the next available file number.

reclength: [Optional] Number less than or equal to 32,767 (bytes). For files opened for random access, this value is the record length. For sequential files, this value is the number of characters buffered.

Examples of Excel VBA Open Statement

The following code opens the file in sequential-input mode.

Open "MyFile" For Input As #1 
    ' Close before reopening in another mode. 
Close #1

The following example opens the file in Binary mode for writing operations only.

Open "MyFile" For Binary Access Write As #1 
    ' Close before reopening in another mode. 
Close #1