Using Ini files to create text file (with various sections on it ) to store values

[RajOberoi]

Hi Guys,

I am trying to use ini files which will act as a mini database for outlook. So VBA code will create a text file (ini file) and data is stored in a text file so everytime you need to change the data then it doesn't require changing the code . The code works fine. The highlighted lines will store data in a listbox eventually and my question is if the listbox is 2 column listbox then how can we change those lines as below:

e.g
1,aaa
2,bbb
3,ccc
4,ddd
5,eee
6,fff
7,ggg

00,aaaa
11,bbbb
22,cccc

etc...

Const IniFileName As String = "u:\test.ini"
Const ThisVersion As String = "1.1"
' the path and filename to the file containing the information you want to read/write
Private Declare Function GetPrivateProfileStringA Lib "Kernel32" (ByVal strSection As String, _
   ByVal strKey As String, ByVal strDefault As String, ByVal strReturnedString As String, _
   ByVal lngSize As Long, ByVal strFileNameName As String) As Long
  
Private Declare Function WritePrivateProfileStringA Lib "Kernel32" (ByVal strSection As String, _
   ByVal strKey As String, ByVal strString As String, ByVal strFileNameName As String) As Long


Sub SaveIni()


' saves information in the file IniFileName
    If Not WritePrivateProfileString32(IniFileName, "VersionInfo", "Version", "1.0") Then
        MsgBox "Not able to save user info in " & IniFileName, vbExclamation, "Folder does not exist!"
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    WritePrivateProfileString32 IniFileName, "VersionInfo", "VersionErrorText", "You are not running the correct version of this Software. Please contact Joe Bloggs or Jane Doe"


    WritePrivateProfileString32 IniFileName, "Indexes", "PreCompletion", "aaa|bbb|ccc|ddd|eee|fff|ggg"
    WritePrivateProfileString32 IniFileName, "Indexes", "PostCompletion", "aaaa|bbbb|cccc|dddd|eeee|ffff|gggg"
    WritePrivateProfileString32 IniFileName, "Indexes", "MortgageServices", "111|222|333|444|555|666|777|888|999|000"


End Sub
Private Function WritePrivateProfileString32(ByVal strFileName As String, ByVal strSection As String, ByVal strKey As String, ByVal strValue As String) As Boolean
Dim lngValid As Long
    On Error Resume Next
    lngValid = WritePrivateProfileStringA(strSection, strKey, strValue, strFileName)
    If lngValid > 0 Then WritePrivateProfileString32 = True
    On Error GoTo 0
End Function


Private Function GetPrivateProfileString32(ByVal strFileName As String, ByVal strSection As String, ByVal strKey As String, Optional strDefault) As String
Dim strReturnString As String, lngSize As Long, lngValid As Long
    On Error Resume Next
    If IsMissing(strDefault) Then strDefault = ""
    strReturnString = Space(2048)
    lngSize = Len(strReturnString)
    lngValid = GetPrivateProfileStringA(strSection, strKey, strDefault, strReturnString, lngSize, strFileName)
    GetPrivateProfileString32 = Left(strReturnString, lngValid)
'   On Error GoTo 0
End Function

[gmayor]

It is not clear what you are trying to put in the listbox, however maybe the following will help. It puts the PreCompletion string in a two column ListBox1 in Userform1 with each item numbered.
Set the width of column 1 to 4 points less than that of the width of the list box and column 2 to zero width to hide the text and show only the numbers.

Sub LoadForm()
'Graham Mayor - https://www.gmayor.com - Last updated - 18 Dec 2018 
Dim oFrm As UserForm1
Dim vList1 As Variant
Dim i As Integer
    Set oFrm = New UserForm1
    vList1 = Split(GetPrivateProfileString32(IniFileName, "Indexes", "PreCompletion"), "|")
    With oFrm
        With .ListBox1
            .ColumnCount = 2
            For i = 0 To UBound(vList1)
                .AddItem
                .List(i, 0) = i + 1
                .List(i, 1) = vList1(i)
            Next i
        End With
        .Show
        'do stuff with ofrm
        Unload oFrm
    End With
    Set oFrm = Nothing
End Sub

[RajOberoi]

Thanks Grayam . It worked fine . I have another question about checking if the users are using right version of code or not. So ini file stores the new version number and within a module I am using below lines to store the current version:

Const IniFileName As String = "u:\test.ini"
Const ThisVersion As String = "1.1"

The below code in the userform will check if the it's the latest version but it gives me error 'ThisVersion' variable not defined although it is present in a module. How can I call the variable stored within a module to a userform??

Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
'Call SaveIni
Dim m As String
m = GetPrivateProfileString32("U:\test.ini", "VersionInfo", "Version")
If m <> ThisVersion Then
MsgBox GetPrivateProfileString32("U:\test.ini", "VersionInfo", "VersionErrorText")
Unload Me
Exit Sub
End If
End Sub

[gmayor]

If you want to call getprivateprofilestring from another module then it needs to be a public function, however run the check outside the form

Sub LoadForm()
'Graham Mayor - https://www.gmayor.com - Last updated - 18 Dec 2018
Dim oFrm As UserForm1
Dim vList1 As Variant
Dim i As Integer
Dim m As String
    
    m = GetPrivateProfileString32("U:\test.ini", "VersionInfo", "Version")
    If m <> ThisVersion Then
        MsgBox GetPrivateProfileString32("U:\test.ini", "VersionInfo", "VersionErrorText")
        Exit Sub
    End If

    Set oFrm = New UserForm1
    vList1 = Split(GetPrivateProfileString32(IniFileName, "Indexes", "PreCompletion"), "|")
    With oFrm
        With .ListBox1
            .ColumnCount = 2
            For i = 0 To UBound(vList1)
                .AddItem
                .List(i, 0) = i + 1
                .List(i, 1) = vList1(i)
            Next i
        End With
        .Show
        'do stuff with ofrm
    End With
    Unload oFrm
    Set oFrm = Nothing
End Sub