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Chapter 5
VBA Sub and Function Procedures
In This Chapter
▶ Understanding the difference between Sub procedures and Function procedures
▶ Executing Sub procedures (many ways)
▶ Executing Function procedures (two ways)
Several times in preceding chapters, I mention Sub procedures and allude
to the fact that Function procedures also play a role in VBA. In this chapter,
I clear up confusion about these concepts.
Subs versus Functions
The VBA code that you write in the Visual Basic Editor is known as a procedure.
The two most common types of procedures are Sub and Function.
✓ A Sub procedure is a group of VBA statements that performs an action
(or actions) with Excel.
✓ A Function procedure is a group of VBA statements that performs a calculation
and returns a single value.
Most of the macros you write in VBA are Sub procedures. You can think of
a Sub procedure as being like a command: Execute the Sub procedure and
something happens. (Of course, exactly what happens depends on the Sub
procedure’s VBA code.)
A Function is also a procedure, but it’s quite different from a Sub. You’re
already familiar with the concept of a function. Excel includes many worksheet
functions that you use every day (well, at least every weekday).
Examples include SUM, PMT, and VLOOKUP. You use these worksheet functions
in formulas. Each function takes one or more arguments (although a
few functions don’t use any arguments). The function does some behind-thescenes
calculations using those arguments, and then it returns a single value.
The same goes for Function procedures that you develop with VBA.