vb search

As long as the list is fairly short then you should be ok. But if you list is going to grow larger then you should probably consider switching to an array, or even using a dictionary.

how would I accomplish this using an array or dictionary?

Using an array would be a simple loop:

    Dim arrList(3)
    arrList(0) = "Item #1"
    arrList(1) = "Item #2"
    arrList(2) = "Item #3"
    arrList(3) = "Item #4"  

    Dim sSearchFor As String
    sSearchFor = "Item #2"

    Dim bFound As Boolean
    Dim i As Integer

    bFound = False    '// Default
    For i = 0 To UBound(arrList)
        If arrList(i) = sSearchFor Then
            '// Found the item, so exit loop
            bFound = True
            Exit For
        End If
    Next i


An example of using the Dictionary can be found here:

    http://www.kamath.com/tutorials/tut009_dictionary.asp

Here is another Dictionary example...

Option Explicit

' Click on Project --> References and Check the "Microsoft Scripting Runtime" Entry.

Private dct As New Dictionary

Private Sub Form_Load()
    dct.Add "Item #1", "a"
    dct.Add "Item #2", "b"
    dct.Add "Item #3", "c"
    dct.Add "Item #4", "d"
End Sub

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    Dim key As String
    Dim value As Variant
   
    key = "Item #3"
    If dct.Exists(key) Then
        value = dct(key)
        MsgBox value, vbInformation, key
    Else
        MsgBox key, vbExclamation, "Key Not Found"
    End If
   
    key = "Item #5"
    If dct.Exists(key) Then
        value = dct(key)
        MsgBox value, vbInformation, key
    Else
        MsgBox key, vbExclamation, "Key Not Found"
    End If
End Sub

Here is the code you'll need.

'//Code\\
'This code requires nothing
Private Function IsPresent(ByVal List As String, ByVal Item As String) As Boolean
Dim aHold() As String, iCount As Integer
aHold = Split(List, ";")
For iCount = LBound(aHold) To UBound(aHold)
    If (aHold(iCount) = Item) Then IsPresent = True: Exit Function
Next iCount
End Function
'\\Code//

Arguments:
List :: The list, each item should be seperated by a SemiColon (;)
Item :: The item that you are checking for

For LARGE lists, the Collection or Dictionary approach will be the fastest...especially if you have to add/remove items in the list.

Also forgot you can manually load recordset but if you need to do this use the dictionary object. Here is example:

https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20990817/using-Filters-with-ADO-recordsets.html?query=disconnected+recordset+ford&clearTAFilter=true