Auto-Complete with only text and not numbers ComboBox Excel VBA

Question

Suppose I have a ComboBox in Excel VBA with the following sorts of info:

1234 apples
2345 pears
2367 oranges

I want the user to be able to

Answer 1

Since you are using a form and form controls I'd like to throw in another solution (which I'd personally prefer). In this case I am not using a ComboBox but rather a ListBox:

This is the code to populate the ListBox on the form and to show the form:

Sub Button3_Click()

Dim i As Long
Dim lngLastRow As Long

Load frmSearchForChoices
With ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1)
    lngLastRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row
    For i = 2 To lngLastRow
        frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.AddItem
        frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListCount - 1, 0) = .Cells(i, 1).Value2
        frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListCount - 1, 1) = .Cells(i, 2).Value2
        frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListCount - 1, 2) = .Cells(i, 3).Value2
    Next i
    frmSearchForChoices.Show
End With

End Sub

The following code resides on the form itself:

Option Explicit
Option Compare Text

Private Sub btnCancel_Click()

frmSearchForChoices.Hide
Unload frmSearchForChoices

End Sub

Private Sub btnOK_Click()

Dim lngMatch As Long

If frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListCount > 0 Then
    If frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListIndex >= 0 Then
        For lngMatch = 0 To frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListCount - 1
            If frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.Selected(lngMatch) = True Then
                MsgBox "You selected" & Chr(10) & _
                    frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 1) & " (" & _
                    frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 0) & ")" & _
                    IIf(Len(frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 2)) > 0, _
                        " from " & frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 2), "")
                frmSearchForChoices.Hide
                Unload frmSearchForChoices
            End If
        Next lngMatch
    End If
End If

End Sub

Private Sub txtSearchTerm_Change()

Dim i As Long
Dim lngMatch As Long
Dim varArray As Variant

If Len(Trim(frmSearchForChoices.txtSearchTerm.Value)) = 0 Then Exit Sub

For lngMatch = 0 To frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListCount - 1
    frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.Selected(lngMatch) = False
    frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 3) = 0
Next lngMatch


varArray = Split(Trim(frmSearchForChoices.txtSearchTerm.Value), " ")
For i = LBound(varArray) To UBound(varArray)
    For lngMatch = 0 To frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListCount - 1
        If InStr(1, frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 1), varArray(i)) Or _
            InStr(1, frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 2), varArray(i)) Then
                frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 3) = Val(frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 3)) + 1
        End If
    Next lngMatch
Next i

For lngMatch = 0 To frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.ListCount - 1
    If frmSearchForChoices.chkMatchBoth.Value Then
        If Val(frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 3)) >= UBound(varArray) - LBound(varArray) + 1 Then
            frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.Selected(lngMatch) = True
        End If
    Else
        If Val(frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.List(lngMatch, 3)) >= 1 Then
            frmSearchForChoices.lstAvailableOptions.Selected(lngMatch) = True
        End If
    End If
Next lngMatch

End Sub

I sure hope that most variables and controls can be identified within the code due to the followed naming convention (starting with frm for forms, lbl for labels on forms, ´lst` for ListBox on form, etc). Yet, do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions regarding this solution.