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Sandra SmithFlag for United States of America

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Loop through a column to find the longest string

I need to loop through a column, check each field and determine its length and when compeleted, return from the function the value for the longest string.  I think I can figure out how to loop, but how to I tell it to return only the longest count of characters?  That is, if cell A15 has data that is 15 characters and cell A16 has 22 characters, I want the function to only return 22.
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rspahitz
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You can do this through formulas..in a blank column next to the text, such as B1 put =Len(A1)

then you you put a formula at the bottom e.g.: =Max(B1:B50)
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ragnarok89

Before your loop begins, have this:

max = 0

inside your loop, have this:

temp = Len(ActiveCell)
if temp > max then max = temp


Len returns the length of the string
You could use an array formula - enter with ctrl+shift+enter:

=MAX(LEN(A1:A10))
On column B I putted a formula to get the lenght of column A value. Then on cell D1 I putted an array formula to get the value that corresponds to the value with the highest lenght on column A. To insert an array formula just type in the formula on the cell and instead of pressing just Enter key, Ctrl-Shift-Enter.

The formula will look like this:

{=INDEX(A1:A6,MATCH(MAX(LEN(A:A)),B1:B6,0))}

jppinto

Book2.xlsx
Avatar of Sandra Smith

ASKER

ISorry,  did not mention, this must be all done in VBA code.  Also, I discovered that one field has over 300 characters, which should not be considered as it is a footnote.  Ragnarok89, I think this is what I am looking for, will try and get back.
I have adapted the code incorporating some of the suggestions, but all the Debug.Print intMax returns is 0.  I think I am missing a point somewhere.
Public Sub LengthCountTest()
Dim rngCell             As Range
Dim intColTextLength    As Integer
Dim intRowCount         As Integer
Dim intColCount         As Integer
Dim aryColCount()       As Integer
Dim intColumns          As Integer
Dim intMax              As Integer
intMax = 0

'First set the print area to a named range
With ActiveSheet
    .Names.Add "ReportArea", _
        "=" & Range("Print_Area").Address
    intRowCount = .Range("ReportArea").Rows.Count
    Debug.Print intRowCount
    intColCount = .Range("ReportArea").Columns.Count
    Debug.Print intColCount
'End With

ReDim aryColCount(1 To intColCount)

intColumns = 1
    Do Until intColumns > intColCount
        With ActiveSheet
            For Each rngCell In Range("A1:A" & intRowCount)
                    intColTextLength = Len(ActiveCell)
                    If intColTextLength > intMax Then
                        intMax = intColTextLength
                    End If
                Debug.Print intMax
            Next
            intColumns = intColumns + 1
        End With
    Loop
End With

End Sub

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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Michael Fowler
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As a side note, evnetually the Rage("A1:A" & intRowCount) will be replaced by code that will move from one colum to another in the range, but right now I just want to get the first column to return data!
Note - You can use the function above by placing it into a module and then calling it from the sheet by using

=maxInCol("A")

which will give the required result for column A

Michael
This is did it.  Thank you all.  I will be posting another question relative to the fact that I need it to ignore the Max value of 300 +.  The footnote is on different rows depending on the report so I cannot simply tell it to ignore a particular row.  Eventually, all the max values for each of the columns will populate an array, but that is about three questions down the road.
When asking a question, if you wanted VBA only, you should have mentioned at the beginning! For future reference, please don't forget it...