User Defined Type (UDT) as parameter in public Sub in class module (VB6)

Question

I\'ve tried to solve this problem, but can\'t find any solution. I have a UDT defined in a normal module, and wanted to use it as parameter in a Public Sub in a

Answer 1

Ok, here's how to do it, if I can get my cat to leave me alone, that is.

In Form1 (with one command button on it):

Option Explicit
'
Private Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "kernel32" Alias "RtlMoveMemory" (ByVal dst As Long, ByVal src As Long, ByVal nBytes As Long)
'

Private Sub Command1_Click()
' Okay, this is what won't work in VB6:
'     Dim MyUdt1 As MyUdtType   ' Declare a variable with a publicly defined UDT (no problem).
'     Form2.Show                ' We could have created some object with a class.  This was just easier for the demo.
'           INSIDE OF FORM2:
'               Public Sub MySub(MyUdt2 As MyUdtType)   ' It won't even let you compile this.
'                   Msgbox MyUdt2.l
'                   MyUdt2.l = 5
'               End Sub
'     Form2.MySub MyUdt1                                ' You'll never get this far.
'     Unload Form2
'     Msgbox MyUdt1.l
'
' The following is a way to get it done:
'
Dim MyUdt1 As MyUdtType         ' Declare a variable with a publicly defined UDT (no problem).
Dim ReturnUdtPtr As Long        ' Declare a variable for a return pointer.
MyUdt1.l = 3                    ' Give the variable of our UDT some value.
Form2.Show                      ' Create our other object.
'
' Now we're ready to call our procedure in the object.
' This is all we really wanted to do all along.
' Notice that the VarPtr of the UDT is passed and not the actual UDT.
' This allows us to circumvent the no passing of UDTs to objects.
ReturnUdtPtr = Form2.MyFunction(VarPtr(MyUdt1))
'
' If we don't want anything back, we could have just used a SUB procedure.
' However, I wanted to give an example of how to go both directions.
' All of this would be exactly the same even if we had started out in a module (BAS).
CopyMemory VarPtr(MyUdt1), ReturnUdtPtr, Len(MyUdt1)
'
' We can now kill our other object (Unload Form2).
' We probably shouldn't kill it until we've copied our UDT data
' because the lifetime of our UDT will be technically ended when we do.
Unload Form2                    ' Kill the other object.  We're done with it.
MsgBox MyUdt1.l                 ' Make sure we got the UDT data back.
End Sub

In form2 (no controls needed). (This could have just as easily been an object created with a class.):

    Option Explicit
'
Private Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "kernel32" Alias "RtlMoveMemory" (ByVal dst As Long, ByVal src As Long, ByVal nBytes As Long)
'

Public Function MyFunction(ArgUdtPtr As Long) As Long
' Ok, this is how we get it done.
' There are a couple of things to notice right off the bat.
' First, the POINTER to the UDT is passed (using VarPtr) rather than the actual UDT.
' This way, we can circumvent the restriction of UDT not passed into objects.
' Second, the following MyUdt2 is declared as STATIC.
' This second point is important because the lifetime of MyUdt2 technically ends
' when we return from this function if it is just DIMmed.
' If we want to pass changes back to our caller, we will want to have a slightly longer lifetime.
Static MyUdt2 As MyUdtType
' Ok, we're here, so now we move the argument's UDT's data into our local UDT.
CopyMemory VarPtr(MyUdt2), ArgUdtPtr, Len(MyUdt2)
' Let's see if we got it.
MsgBox MyUdt2.l
' Now we might want to change it, and then pass back our changes.
MyUdt2.l = 5
' Once again, we pass back the pointer, because we can't get the actual UDT back.
' This is where the MyUdt2 being declared as Static becomes important.
MyFunction = VarPtr(MyUdt2)
End Function

And Finally, this goes in a module (BAS) file.

    Option Explicit
'
' This is just the UDT that is used for the example.
Public Type MyUdtType
    l As Long
End Type
'