Dictionary.Item Property (VB6) |
Named Arguments
Yes
Syntax
The syntax for setting an item is:
dictionaryobject.Item(key) = item
The syntax for returning an item is:
value = dictionaryobject.Item(key)
dictionaryobject
Use: Required
Data Type: Dictionary object
A reference to a Dictionary object.
key
Use: Required
Data Type: String
A unique string key for this Dictionary object.
item
Use: Optional
Data Type: Any
The data associated with key.
Property Data Type
Any.
Description
Sets or returns the data item to be linked to a specified key in a Dictionary object.
Rules at a Glance
The data type is that of the item being returned.
If you try to set item to a nonexistent key, the key is added to the dictionary, and the item is linked to it, a sort of "implicit add."
Programming Tips and Gotchas
Unlike the Collection object, the Dictionary object doesn't allow you to retrieve an item by its ordinal position.
If you provide a nonexistent key when trying to retrieve an item, the dictionary exhibits rather strange behavior: it adds key to the Dictionary object along with a blank item. You should therefore use the Exists method prior to setting or returning an item, as the example shows.
A major gripe of all programmers who use the Collection object is the difficulty involved in overwriting an existing Collection member—not so with the Dictionary object. Simply assign the value as you would with other properties.
Example
Dim sKey As String Dim sName As String sKey = "Name" If oDictionary.Exists(sKey) ...
Get VB & VBA in a Nutshell: The Language now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.