A while ago I implemented .net's string.Format() method in VB6; it works amazingly well, but I'm sure there has to be a way to make it more efficient.
I'll start by listing a simple class called EscapeSequence:
Private Type tEscapeSequence
EscapeString As String
ReplacementString As String
End Type
Private this As tEscapeSequence
Option Explicit
Public Property Get EscapeString() As String
EscapeString = this.EscapeString
End Property
Friend Property Let EscapeString(value As String)
this.EscapeString = value
End Property
Public Property Get ReplacementString() As String
ReplacementString = this.ReplacementString
End Property
Friend Property Let ReplacementString(value As String)
this.ReplacementString = value
End Property
'Lord I wish VB6 had constructors!
Public Function Create(escape As String, replacement As String) As EscapeSequence
Dim result As New EscapeSequence
result.EscapeString = escape
result.ReplacementString = replacement
Set Create = result
End Function
...and the actual StringFormat function - there's a global variable PADDING_CHAR involved, which I'd love to find a way to specify and de-globalize:
Public Function StringFormat(format_string As String, ParamArray values()) As String
'VB6 implementation of .net String.Format(), slightly customized.
Dim return_value As String
Dim values_count As Integer
'some error-handling constants:
Const ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION As Long = vbObjectError Or 9001
Const ERR_ARGUMENT_NULL_EXCEPTION As Long = vbObjectError Or 9002
Const ERR_ARGUMENT_EXCEPTION As Long = vbObjectError Or 9003
Const ERR_SOURCE As String = "StringFormat"
Const ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING As String = "Invalid format string."
Const ERR_MSG_FORMAT_EXCEPTION As String = "The number indicating an argument to format is less than zero, or greater than or equal to the length of the args array."
Const ERR_MSG_NUMBER_ARGUMENT_EXCEPTION As String = "Invalid number argument."
'use SPACE as default padding character
If PADDING_CHAR = vbNullString Then PADDING_CHAR = Chr$(32)
'figure out number of passed values:
values_count = UBound(values) + 1
Dim regex As RegExp
Dim matches As MatchCollection
Dim thisMatch As Match
Dim thisString As String
Dim thisFormat As String
Dim useLiteral As Boolean 'when format_string starts with "@", escapes are not replaced (string is treated as a literal string with placeholders)
Dim escapeHex As Boolean 'indicates whether HEX specifier "0x" is to be escaped or not
'validate string_format:
Set regex = New RegExp
regex.pattern = "{({{)*(\w+)(,-?\d+)?(:[^}]+)?}(}})*"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
regex.Global = True
Set matches = regex.Execute(format_string)
'determine if values_count matches number of unique regex matches:
Dim uniqueCount As Integer
Dim tmpCSV As String
For Each thisMatch In matches
If Not StringContains(tmpCSV, thisMatch.SubMatches(1)) Then
uniqueCount = uniqueCount + 1
tmpCSV = tmpCSV & thisMatch.SubMatches(1) & ","
End If
Next
'unique indices count must match values_count:
If matches.Count > 0 And uniqueCount <> values_count Then
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_FORMAT_EXCEPTION
End If
useLiteral = StringStartsWith("@", format_string)
If useLiteral Then format_string = Right(format_string, Len(format_string) - 1) 'remove the "@" literal specifier
If Not useLiteral And StringContains(format_string, "\\") Then _
format_string = Replace(format_string, "\\", Chr$(27))
If matches.Count = 0 And format_string <> vbNullString And UBound(values) = -1 Then
'only format_string was specified: skip to checking escape sequences:
return_value = format_string
GoTo checkEscapes
ElseIf UBound(values) = -1 And matches.Count > 0 Then
Err.Raise ERR_ARGUMENT_NULL_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_FORMAT_EXCEPTION
End If
return_value = format_string
'dissect format_string:
Dim i As Integer, v As String, p As String 'i: iterator; v: value; p: placeholder
Dim alignmentGroup As String, alignmentSpecifier As String
Dim formattedValue As String, alignmentPadding As Integer
'iterate regex matches (each match is a placeholder):
For i = 0 To matches.Count - 1
'get the placeholder specified index:
Set thisMatch = matches(i)
p = thisMatch.SubMatches(1)
'if specified index (0-based) > uniqueCount (1-based), something's wrong:
If p > uniqueCount - 1 Then
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_FORMAT_EXCEPTION
End If
v = values(p)
'get the alignment specifier if it is specified:
alignmentGroup = thisMatch.SubMatches(2)
If alignmentGroup <> vbNullString Then _
alignmentSpecifier = Right$(alignmentGroup, LenB(alignmentGroup) / 2 - 1)
'get the format specifier if it is specified:
thisString = thisMatch.value
If StringContains(thisString, ":") Then
Dim formatGroup As String, precisionSpecifier As Integer
Dim formatSpecifier As String, precisionString As String
'get the string between ":" and "}":
formatGroup = mId$(thisString, InStr(1, thisString, ":") + 1, (LenB(thisString) / 2) - 2)
formatGroup = Left$(formatGroup, LenB(formatGroup) / 2 - 1)
precisionString = Right$(formatGroup, LenB(formatGroup) / 2 - 1)
formatSpecifier = mId$(thisString, InStr(1, thisString, ":") + 1, 1)
'applicable formatting depends on the type of the value (yes, GOTO!!):
If TypeName(values(p)) = "Date" Then GoTo DateTimeFormatSpecifiers
If v = vbNullString Then GoTo ApplyStringFormat
NumberFormatSpecifiers:
If precisionString <> vbNullString And Not IsNumeric(precisionString) Then
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING
End If
If Not IsNumeric(v) Then
Err.Raise ERR_ARGUMENT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_NUMBER_ARGUMENT_EXCEPTION
End If
If precisionString = vbNullString Then precisionString = 0
Select Case formatSpecifier
Case "C", "c" 'CURRENCY format, formats string as currency.
'Precision specifier determines number of decimal digits.
'This implementation ignores regional settings
'(hard-coded group separator, decimal separator and currency sign).
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
thisFormat = "#,##0.$"
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = _
Replace$(thisFormat, ".", "." & String$(precisionString, Chr$(48)))
Else
thisFormat = CURRENCY_FORMAT
End If
Case "D", "d" 'DECIMAL format, formats string as integer number.
'Precision specifier determines number of digits in returned string.
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
thisFormat = "0"
thisFormat = Right$(String$(precisionSpecifier, "0") & thisFormat, _
IIf(precisionSpecifier = 0, Len(thisFormat), precisionSpecifier))
Case "E", "e" 'EXPONENTIAL NOTATION format (aka "Scientific Notation")
'Precision specifier determines number of decimals in returned string.
'This implementation ignores regional settings'
'(hard-coded decimal separator).
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
thisFormat = "0.00000#" & formatSpecifier & "-#" 'defaults to 6 decimals
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = "0." & String$(precisionSpecifier - 1, Chr$(48)) & "#" & formatSpecifier & "-#"
ElseIf LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier = 0 Then
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING
End If
Case "F", "f" 'FIXED-POINT format
'Precision specifier determines number of decimals in returned string.
'This implementation ignores regional settings'
'(hard-coded decimal separator).
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
thisFormat = "0"
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = (thisFormat & ".") & String$(precisionSpecifier, Chr$(48))
Else
'no precision specified - default to 2 decimals:
thisFormat = "0.00"
End If
Case "G", "g" 'GENERAL format (recursive)
'returns the shortest of either FIXED-POINT or SCIENTIFIC formats in case of a Double.
'returns DECIMAL format in case of a Integer or Long.
Dim eNotation As String, ePower As Integer, specifier As String
precisionSpecifier = IIf(CInt(precisionString) > 0, CInt(precisionString), _
IIf(StringContains(v, "."), Len(v) - InStr(1, v, "."), 0))
'track character case of formatSpecifier:
specifier = IIf(formatSpecifier = "G", "D", "d")
If TypeName(values(p)) = "Integer" Or TypeName(values(p)) = "Long" Then
'Integer types: use {0:D} (recursive call):
formattedValue = StringFormat("{0:" & specifier & "}", values(p))
ElseIf TypeName(values(p)) = "Double" Then
'Non-integer types: use {0:E}
specifier = IIf(formatSpecifier = "G", "E", "e")
'evaluate the exponential notation value (recursive call):
eNotation = StringFormat("{0:" & specifier & "}", v)
'get the power of eNotation:
ePower = mId$(eNotation, InStr(1, UCase$(eNotation), "E-") + 1, Len(eNotation) - InStr(1, UCase$(eNotation), "E-"))
If ePower > -5 And Abs(ePower) < precisionSpecifier Then
'use {0:F} when ePower > -5 and abs(ePower) < precisionSpecifier:
'evaluate the floating-point value (recursive call):
specifier = IIf(formatSpecifier = "G", "F", "f")
formattedValue = StringFormat("{0:" & formatSpecifier & _
IIf(precisionSpecifier <> 0, precisionString, vbNullString) & "}", values(p))
Else
'fallback to {0:E} if previous rule didn't apply:
formattedValue = eNotation
End If
End If
GoTo AlignFormattedValue 'Skip the "ApplyStringFormat" step, it's applied already.
Case "N", "n" 'NUMERIC format, formats string as an integer or decimal number.
'Precision specifier determines number of decimal digits.
'This implementation ignores regional settings'
'(hard-coded group and decimal separators).
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = "#,##0"
thisFormat = (thisFormat & ".") & String$(precisionSpecifier, Chr$(48))
Else 'only the "D" is specified
thisFormat = "#,##0"
End If
Case "P", "p" 'PERCENT format. Formats string as a percentage.
'Value is multiplied by 100 and displayed with a percent symbol.
'Precision specifier determines number of decimal digits.
thisFormat = "#,##0%"
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
If LenB(formatGroup) > 2 And precisionSpecifier > 0 Then
'if a non-zero precision is specified...
thisFormat = "#,##0"
thisFormat = (thisFormat & ".") & String$(precisionSpecifier, Chr$(48))
Else 'only the "P" is specified
thisFormat = "#,##0"
End If
'Append the percentage sign to the format string:
thisFormat = thisFormat & "%"
Case "R", "r" 'ROUND-TRIP format (a string that can round-trip to an identical number)
'example: ?StringFormat("{0:R}", 0.0000000001141596325677345362656)
' ...returns "0.000000000114159632567735"
'convert value to a Double (chop off overflow digits):
v = CDbl(v)
Case "X", "x" 'HEX format. Formats a string as a Hexadecimal value.
'Precision specifier determines number of total digits.
'Returned string is prefixed with "&H" to specify Hex.
v = Hex(v)
precisionSpecifier = CInt(precisionString)
If LenB(precisionString) > 0 Then 'precision here stands for left padding
v = Right$(String$(precisionSpecifier, "0") & v, IIf(precisionSpecifier = 0, Len(v), precisionSpecifier))
End If
'add C# hex specifier, apply specified casing:
'(VB6 hex specifier would cause Format() to reverse the formatting):
v = "0x" & IIf(formatSpecifier = "X", UCase$(v), LCase$(v))
escapeHex = True
Case Else
If IsNumeric(formatSpecifier) And val(formatGroup) = 0 Then
formatSpecifier = formatGroup
v = Format(v, formatGroup)
Else
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING
End If
End Select
GoTo ApplyStringFormat
DateTimeFormatSpecifiers:
Select Case formatSpecifier
Case "c", "C" 'CUSTOM date/time format
'let VB Format() parse precision specifier as is:
thisFormat = precisionString
Case "d" 'SHORT DATE format
thisFormat = "ddddd"
Case "D" 'LONG DATE format
thisFormat = "dddddd"
Case "f" 'FULL DATE format (short)
thisFormat = "dddddd h:mm AM/PM"
Case "F" 'FULL DATE format (long)
thisFormat = "dddddd ttttt"
Case "g"
thisFormat = "ddddd hh:mm AM/PM"
Case "G"
thisFormat = "ddddd ttttt"
Case "s" 'SORTABLE DATETIME format
thisFormat = "yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss"
Case "t" 'SHORT TIME format
thisFormat = "hh:mm AM/PM"
Case "T" 'LONG TIME format
thisFormat = "ttttt"
Case Else
Err.Raise ERR_FORMAT_EXCEPTION, _
ERR_SOURCE, ERR_MSG_INVALID_FORMAT_STRING
End Select
GoTo ApplyStringFormat
End If
ApplyStringFormat:
'apply computed format string:
If thisFormat <> vbNullString Then
formattedValue = Format(v, thisFormat)
Else
formattedValue = v
End If
AlignFormattedValue:
'apply specified alignment specifier:
If alignmentSpecifier <> vbNullString Then
alignmentPadding = Abs(CInt(alignmentSpecifier))
If CInt(alignmentSpecifier) < 0 Then
'negative: left-justified alignment
If alignmentPadding - Len(formattedValue) > 0 Then _
formattedValue = formattedValue & _
String$(alignmentPadding - Len(formattedValue), PADDING_CHAR)
Else
'positive: right-justified alignment
If alignmentPadding - Len(formattedValue) > 0 Then _
formattedValue = String$(alignmentPadding - Len(formattedValue), PADDING_CHAR) & formattedValue
End If
End If
'Replace C# hex specifier with VB6 hex specifier, only if hex specifier was introduced in this function:
If (Not useLiteral And escapeHex) And StringContains(formattedValue, "0x") Then formattedValue = Replace$(formattedValue, "0x", "&H")
'replace all occurrences of placeholder {i} with their formatted values:
return_value = Replace(return_value, thisString, formattedValue, Count:=1)
'reset before reiterating:
thisFormat = vbNullString
Next
checkEscapes:
'if there's no more backslashes, don't bother checking for the rest:
If useLiteral Or Not StringContains(return_value, "\") Then GoTo normalExit
Dim escape As New EscapeSequence
Dim escapes As New Collection
escapes.Add escape.Create("\n", vbNewLine), "0"
escapes.Add escape.Create("\q", Chr$(34)), "1"
escapes.Add escape.Create("\t", vbTab), "2"
escapes.Add escape.Create("\a", Chr$(7)), "3"
escapes.Add escape.Create("\b", Chr$(8)), "4"
escapes.Add escape.Create("\v", Chr$(13)), "5"
escapes.Add escape.Create("\f", Chr$(14)), "6"
escapes.Add escape.Create("\r", Chr$(15)), "7"
For i = 0 To escapes.Count - 1
Set escape = escapes(CStr(i))
If StringContains(return_value, escape.EscapeString) Then _
return_value = Replace(return_value, escape.EscapeString, escape.ReplacementString)
If Not StringContains(return_value, "\") Then _
GoTo normalExit
Next
'replace "ASCII (oct)" escape sequence
Set regex = New RegExp
regex.pattern = "\\(\d{3})"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
regex.Global = True
Set matches = regex.Execute(format_string)
Dim char As Long
If matches.Count <> 0 Then
For Each thisMatch In matches
p = thisMatch.SubMatches(0)
'"p" contains the octal number representing the ASCII code we're after:
p = "&O" & p 'prepend octal prefix
char = CLng(p)
return_value = Replace(return_value, thisMatch.value, Chr$(char))
Next
End If
'if there's no more backslashes, don't bother checking for the rest:
If Not StringContains("\", return_value) Then GoTo normalExit
'replace "ASCII (hex)" escape sequence
Set regex = New RegExp
regex.pattern = "\\x(\w{2})"
regex.IgnoreCase = True
regex.Global = True
Set matches = regex.Execute(format_string)
If matches.Count <> 0 Then
For Each thisMatch In matches
p = thisMatch.SubMatches(0)
'"p" contains the hex value representing the ASCII code we're after:
p = "&H" & p 'prepend hex prefix
char = CLng(p)
return_value = Replace(return_value, thisMatch.value, Chr$(char))
Next
End If
normalExit:
Set escapes = Nothing
Set escape = Nothing
If Not useLiteral And StringContains(return_value, Chr$(27)) Then _
return_value = Replace(return_value, Chr$(27), "\")
StringFormat = return_value
End Function
I'm looking for a way to factor out the two (quite huge) Select...Case blocks, and to improve readability in general.
Note that this uses StringContains functions, and I should add a disclaimer about the fact that most of this code is already posted as an answer of mine at StackOverflow, although I do not consider it multi-posting, since I'm actually asking for a code review here.
Public Functionin a simple code module, to avoid breaking existing code (and still be able to call it as any other native vb function, without instanciating anything). \$\endgroup\$