qck.hlp (Table of Contents; Topic list)
Important Notice
The pages on this site contain documentation for very old MS-DOS software, purely for historical purposes. If you're looking for up-to-date documentation, particularly for programming, you should not rely on the information found here, as it will be woefully out of date.
Scope Rules
  Summary  Details                           Contents  Index  Back
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 Scope Rules
 
 ■ Visual Basic follows a set of scope rules that defines the range over
   which a variable value is accessed. In general, a variable can have one of
   two scopes, global and local:
   • Global values can be accessed from anywhere in the project
   • Local values can only be accessed from the location where it is declared
 
 ■ Visual Basic also supports an area of variable scoping that falls between
   local and global:
   ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
   │ Local ←░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░→ Global │
   └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
 
 ■ This area includes variable scope where:
   *A* The value may be accessed at the module level or in any SUB procedure
       within the module
   *B* The value may be accessed at the module level only in a multiple-
       module project
 
             ░┌─────*A*──────┐░┌─────────────*B*──────────────┐░
             ░│ MODULE.BAS   │░│┌─────────────┐┌─────────────┐│░
             ░│- - - - - - - │░││             ││             ││░
 (to local)─░│ SUB Jones () │░││ MODULE1.BAS ││ MODULE2.BAS ││░─(to global)
             ░│- - - - - - - │░││             ││             ││░
             ░│ SUB James () │░│└─────────────┘└─────────────┘│░
             ░└──────────────┘░└──────────────────────────────┘░
 
 ■ In Visual Basic, the placement and use of six different statements
   determine the scope of a variable:
 
   Statement       Variable Access
   ════════════    ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
   DIM             Local to module or procedure where declared (local)
   DIM SHARED      Shared between the module where declared and any SUB
                   procedures contained within the module (*A*). Duplicate
                   DIM SHARED statements must appear in the Declarations
                   section of the module.
                   See: DIM Statement
   SHARED          Shared between the procedures where declared and the
                   module level where they are contained (*A*). Similar
                   to DIM SHARED, except duplicate SHARED statements must
                   appear in the Declarations section of each procedure
                   within the module. See: SHARED Statement
  COMMON           Shared between multiple modules at the module level only
                   (*B*). Duplicate COMMON statements must appear in the
                   Declarations section of each module.
  COMMON SHARED    Shared between multiple modules and all their procedures
                   (global). Duplicate COMMON SHARED statements must appear
                   in the Declarations section of each module.
                   See: COMMON Statement
  $FORM            Shared between multiple modules (form properties only).
                   $FORM statements must appear in the Declarations section
                   of each module from which you want to access another
                   form's properties. See: $FORM Metacommand
 
 See Also
    Array Storage Summary            Variables Summary