Data Types

A Data Type refers to how the data is stored in memory and how many bytes that data needs.
The data type of a variable (or object) tells the compiler the size of the object.
You should always try and use the data type that uses the smallest number of bytes.
All variables must have an associated data type which determines what data can be stored in it.

Data TypeCTypeDefaultRangeSizeAbr.(Prefix) Comments
BooleanCBoolFalseTrue (-1) or False (0)2 bytes
(16 bits)
 (b) The zero value is treated as False
All other values are treated as True.
Use NOT to toggle
ByteCByte 0 to 2551 byte
(8 bits)
 (by) integers often used in conjunction with string operations
Use Long instead
CurrencyCCur0- 9.2 E+14 to + 9.2 E+148 bytes
(64 bits)
@(c) scaled integer
Use Double instead
DateCDate Jan 1 100 to Dec 31 99998 bytes
(64 bits)
 (dt) floating point numbers
Use Long instead
Decimal*CDec - 7.9 E+28 to + 7.9 E+2814 bytes (dec) Variant subtype
Must be declared as a Variant and then converted.
DoubleCDbl0- 1.8 E+308 to + 4.9 E+3248 bytes
(64 bits)
#(db) double precision floating point used for high accuracy
IntegerCInt0- 32,768 to + 32,7672 bytes
(16 bits)
%(i) integer
Use Long instead
LongCLng0- 2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,6474 bytes
(32 bits)
&(l) long integer
LongLongCLngLng0-9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,8078 bytes
(64 bits)
 (ll) Added in Office 2010, VBA 7.0
LongPtrCLngPtr    (lp) Added in Office 2010, VBA 7.0
Long on 32 bit
LongLong on 64 bit
Object Nothing 4 bytes
(32 bits)
 (o) stored as a reference to an object.
SingleCSng0- 1.3 E+38 to + 1.3 E+384 bytes
(32 bits)
!(sng) single precision floating point used when you have fractional numbers
Use Double instead
StringCStr"" 10 bytes + length$(s) fixed and variable length
User Defined     (ud) for the variables
(type_) for the actual user defined type
Variant Empty 16 - 22 bytes$(v) any data type, typically used for arrays or variants

Abbreviations

These are also known as Type Declaration Suffixes
It is possible declare variables by appending a special character to the end of the variable name.

Dim iNumber% 'integer  

This method of declaring variables should not be used and is only available for backwards compatibility purposes.


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