Controls

When a dialog box or userform is displayed to the user, the user interacts by using various controls.
The most common controls are button, option button, listbox and edit box.
It is possible to create your own custom dialog boxes by adding controls to a userform.
This section covers all the different controls which are available.
There is a different section dedicated to Userforms

Control	Prefix	Default	Comments
CheckBox	chb	value	This control allows the user to either select or deselect an option. Creates a box that the user can easily choose to indicate if something is true or false, or to display multiple choices when the user can choose more than one.
ComboBox	cbo	value	This control allows the user to either select an item from the drop-down list or to enter a different value into the textbox. Allows you to draw a combination list box and text box. The user can either choose an item from the list or enter a value in the text box.
CommandButton	btn	caption	This control allows the user to perform a specific action and will run a separate subroutine. Creates a button the user can choose to carry out a command.
DatePicker			There was a built-in DateTimePicker control but unfortunately this only works with Office 32-Bit, not Office 365. It is possible to recreate similar functionality using a combination of other controls. This solution uses built-in controls to select and validate dates and is backwards compatible with Office 32-Bit.
Frame	fra	caption	This control allows you to group other controls together, such as option buttons. Allows you to create a graphical or functional grouping for controls. To group controls, draw the frame first, and then draw controls inside the frame.
Image	img		This control allows you to add a graphic or picture to a userform. Displays a graphical image from a bitmap, icon, or metafile on your form. Images displayed in an Image control can only be decorative and use fewer resources than a PictureBox.
Label	lbl	caption	This control allows you to display text to the user. This is normally only to display descriptive text. Allows you to have text that you do not want the user to change, such as a caption under a graphic.
ListBox	lsb	value	This control allows the user to select from a list of possible choices. Use to display a list of items from which the user can choose. The list can be scrolled if it has more items than can be displayed at one time.
ListView	lsv		This control allows the user to select from a list of possible choices.
MonthView	mnv		This control allows the user to select a date (or time) using a large date control.
MultiPage	mlp		This control can be used to create a dialog box containing several tabs, allowing the user to switch between them. Presents multiple screens of information as a single set.
OptionButton	opt		This control allows the user to select from a list of possible choices. Allows you to display multiple choices from which the user can choose only one.
ProgressBar	prg		This control indicates the progress of an action by displaying a horizontal bar.
RefEdit	ref		This control allows the user to select a range of cells in Excel.
ScrollBar	scr		This control allows the user to drag a button in order to select a value. Provides a graphical tool for quickly navigating through a long list of items or a large amount of information, for indicating the current position on a scale, or as an input device or indicator of speed or quantity.
SpinButton	spn		This control allows the user to select a value by clicking on two buttons either to increase or decrease the value. A spinner control you can use with another control to increment and decrement numbers. You can also use it to scroll back and forth through a range of values or a list of items.
TabStrip	tab		This control allows you to create several tabs of the same controls. Allows you to define multiple pages for the same area of a window or dialog box in your application.
TextBox	txt	text	This control allows you to display text and to allow the user to enter information. Holds text that the user can either enter or change.
ToggleButton	tog		This control allows the user to toggle between two states. Creates a button that toggles on and off.
TreeView	trv		This control displays a hierarchical list of items by using collapsible nodes.

Control Names

These names are used in the event procedures and can also be used in other parts of the program it is a good idea to give your controls meaningful names before adding the event handlers.
To change the name of the control, open the Property window and edit the field "Name"
A popular naming technique is to use a three letter prefix to identify the type of the control. The remaining letters should describe the purpose of the control or should relate to the data that the control will hold.

Common Events

Depending on the type of control will depend on the methods and properties that are available.
There are however some properties that are common to all types of control

Enter	Sent when a control receives the input focus
Error	Sent when an error has occurred
Exit	Sent when the control loses the input focus

Several Controls One Event

This is a simple example that illustrates how you can use a class module to use the same event to response to several events.
This class module contains an event that clears a textbox when it is double clicked.

Note: Not all userform control events are available from inside a class module.

UserForm Class Module

Private colTextBoxes As New Collection 

Private Sub UserForm_Initialize() 
   Dim objcontrol As MSForms.Control 
   Dim objControlEvent As CControlEvents 

   For Each objcontrol In Me.Controls 
      If TypeOf objcontrol Is MSForms.TextBox Then 
         Set objControlEvent = New CControlEvents 
         
         Set objControlEvent.TextBox = objcontrol 
         Set objControlEvent.UserForm = Me 
         
         colTextBoxes.Add objControlEvent 
      End If 
   Next objcontrol 
End Sub

CControlEvents Class

Public WithEvents TextBox As MSForms.TextBox 
Public UserForm As MSForms.UserForm 

Private Sub TextBox_DblClick(ByVal Cancel As MSForms.ReturnBoolean) 
   Me.TextBox.Text = "" 
End Sub