InputBox Method [Excel 2003 VBA Language Reference]

Displays a dialog box for user input. Returns the information entered in the dialog box.

expression**.InputBox(Prompt**, Title, Default, Left, Top, HelpFile, HelpContextId, Type)

expression Required. An expression that returns an Application object.

Prompt   Required String. The message to be displayed in the dialog box. This can be a string, a number, a date, or a Boolean value (Microsoft Excel automatically coerces the value to a String before it's displayed).

Title   Optional Variant. The title for the input box. If this argument is omitted, the default title is "Input."

Default   Optional Variant. Specifies a value that will appear in the text box when the dialog box is initially displayed. If this argument is omitted, the text box is left empty. This value can be a Range object.

Left   Optional Variant. Specifies an x position for the dialog box in relation to the upper-left corner of the screen, in points.

Top   Optional Variant. Specifies a y position for the dialog box in relation to the upper-left corner of the screen, in points.

HelpFile   Optional Variant. The name of the Help file for this input box. If the HelpFile and HelpContextID arguments are present, a Help button will appear in the dialog box.

HelpContextId   Optional Variant. The context ID number of the Help topic in HelpFile.

Type   Optional Variant. Specifies the return data type. If this argument is omitted, the dialog box returns text. Can be one or a sum of the following values.

You can use the sum of the allowable values for Type. For example, for an input box that can accept both text and numbers, set Type to 1 + 2.

Remarks

Use InputBox to display a simple dialog box so that you can enter information to be used in a macro. The dialog box has an OK button and a Cancel button. If you choose the OK button, InputBox returns the value entered in the dialog box. If you click the Cancel button, InputBox returns False.

If Type is 0, InputBox returns the formula in the form of text — for example, "=2*PI()/360". If there are any references in the formula, they are returned as A1-style references. (Use ConvertFormula to convert between reference styles.)

If Type is 8, InputBox returns a Range object. You must use the Set statement to assign the result to a Range object, as shown in the following example.

Set myRange = Application.InputBox(prompt := "Sample", type := 8)

If you don't use the Set statement, the variable is set to the value in the range, rather than the Range object itself.

If you use the InputBox method to ask the user for a formula, you must use the FormulaLocal property to assign the formula to a Range object. The input formula will be in the user's language.

The InputBox method differs from the InputBox function in that it allows selective validation of the user's input, and it can be used with Microsoft Excel objects, error values, and formulas. Note that Application.InputBox calls the InputBox method; InputBox with no object qualifier calls the InputBox function.

Example

This example prompts the user for a number.

myNum = Application.InputBox("Enter a number")

This example prompts the user to select a cell on Sheet1. The example uses the Type argument to ensure that the return value is a valid cell reference (a Range object).

Worksheets("Sheet1").Activate
Set myCell = Application.InputBox( _
    prompt:="Select a cell", Type:=8)

Applies to | Application Object