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Repeats a group of
statements
a specified number of times.
Syntax
For
counter
=
start
To
end
[
Step
step
]
[
statements
]
[
Exit For
]
[
statements
]
Next
[
counter
]
The
For…Next
statement syntax has these parts:
Description
counter
Required. Numeric
variable
used as a loop counter. The variable can't be a
Boolean
or an
array
element.
start
Required. Initial value of
counter
.
Required. Final value of
counter
.
Optional. Amount
counter
is changed each time through the loop. If not specified,
step
defaults to one.
statements
Optional. One or more statements between
For
and
Next
that are executed the specified number of times.
The
step
argument
can be either positive or negative. The value of the
step
argument determines loop processing as follows.
Value
Loop executes if
After all statements in the loop have executed,
step
is added to
counter
. At this point, either the statements in the loop execute again (based on the same test that caused the loop to execute initially), or the loop is exited and execution continues with the statement following the
Next
statement.
Changing the value of
counter
while inside a loop can make it more difficult to read and debug your code.
Any number of
Exit For
statements may be placed anywhere in the loop as an alternate way to exit.
Exit For
is often used after evaluating some condition, for example
If...Then
, and transfers control to the statement immediately following
Next
.
You can nest
For...Next
loops by placing one
For...Next
loop within another. Give each loop a unique variable name as its
counter
. The following construction is correct:
For I = 1 To 10
For J = 1 To 10
For K = 1 To 10
Next K
Next J
Next I
If you omit counter in a Next statement, execution continues as if counter is included. If a Next statement is encountered before its corresponding For statement, an error occurs.
Example
This example uses the For...Next statement to create a string that contains 10 instances of the numbers 0 through 9, each string separated from the other by a single space. The outer loop uses a loop counter variable that is decremented each time through the loop.
Dim Words, Chars, MyString
For Words = 10 To 1 Step -1 ' Set up 10 repetitions.
For Chars = 0 To 9 ' Set up 10 repetitions.
MyString = MyString & Chars ' Append number to string.
Next Chars ' Increment counter
MyString = MyString & " " ' Append a space.
Next Words
See also
Making faster For...Next loops
Using For...Next statements
For Each...Next statement
Data types
Statements
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