How do i dim values in an array as arrays?

Question

just out of curiosity.

is it possible to dim values in an array as their own individual array?

Sub test()

Dim ar(5) As Variant

ar(1) = a
ar(2) = b
ar(3) = c
ar(4) = d
ar(5) = e

For i = 1 To UBound(ar)
    Dim ar(i) As Variant '<---doesn't work :(
Next i


End Sub

Possible duplicate of [How do I set up a "jagged array" in VBA?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9435608/how-do-i-set-up-a-jagged-array-in-vba) — A.S.H, Jun 30 '17 at 03:31
@A.S.H - You should have found that **before** I wrote an answer! :D — YowE3K, Jun 30 '17 at 03:34
@YowE3K and vice-versa! :P anyway why delete your answer, I liked the "mixture". — A.S.H, Jun 30 '17 at 03:35
@A.S.H I always worry about having an answer to a question that I then mark as "duplicate" - it seems like I'm just chasing rep points. (But I undeleted it anyway.) — YowE3K, Jun 30 '17 at 03:37
@YowE3K everyone is chasing rep points, it's almost the only stimulator to write good answers isn't it? It's only about not overdoing :) — A.S.H, Jun 30 '17 at 03:44
@A.S.H I'm not chasing rep points - the more points you have, the more SO housekeeping that you are expected to do - and I'm **lazy** so don't want to have to do it! ;-) — YowE3K, Jun 30 '17 at 03:56
haha, thanks @A.S.H. jagged array, got to learn a new term today :) — adam, Jul 03 '17 at 06:32

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 30 '17 at 03:31

You should be able to set one (or more) position of a Variant array to be an array:

Sub test()

    Dim ar(5) As Variant
    Dim ar1(1 To 4) As Variant

    ar1(1) = 5
    ar1(2) = "x"
    Set ar1(3) = ActiveSheet
    ar1(4) = 10

    ar(1) = "a"
    ar(2) = "b"
    ar(3) = ar1
    ar(4) = "d"
    ar(5) = "e"

    Debug.Print ar(1)
    Debug.Print ar(3)(1)
    Debug.Print ar(3)(3).Name

End Sub

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 30 '17 at 03:34

If you're after a matrix style array, then you could just define a multi-dimensional array:

Dim ar(5, x) As Variant

But it seems as though you want a jagged array, ie an array of arrays. In that case you just assign an Array() Variant to each element of your array:

Dim ar(5) As Variant
ar(0) = Array(1, 2, 3)

And the syntax to access the 'sub-elements' would be ar(x)(y):

Debug.Print ar(0)(1)

How do i dim values in an array as arrays?

2 Answers2