Dictionary.Item Property (VB6)

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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) Then
    sName = oDictionary.Item(sKey)
Else
    MsgBox "The Key " & sKey & " does not exist"
End If

This next example shows how to set or overwrite an item:

Dim sKey As String
Dim sName As String
sName = "Dick Shennary"
sKey = "Name"
If oDictionary.Exists(sKey) Then
    oDictionary.Item(sKey) = sName
Else
    MsgBox "The Key " & sKey & " does not exist"
End If