Performance difference between checking a cell's interior colour vs. its value

Question

I am running an asset management project in excel. Using a connection with an SQL database I am able to import large numbers of maintenance plans.

Based on what I im

Answer 1

Just extended the code from here: Performance difference between looping range vs looping array

Range tested: A1:A100000

Read/Write Cell        = 15,765625 seconds
Read/Write Array       = 0,203125 seconds

Read Cell              = 0,37109375 seconds
Read Array             = 0,0234375 seconds
Read Interior Color    = 1,421875 seconds

So you have the direct comparison between reading color vs reading array value too.

---

Option Explicit

Const strRANGE_ADDRESS As String = "A1:A100000"

Sub LoopRangeReadWrite()

    Dim r As Range
    Dim lStart As Double
    Dim lEnd As Double

    lStart = Timer

    For Each r In Range(strRANGE_ADDRESS)
        r.Value = r.Value + 1
    Next r

    lEnd = Timer

    Debug.Print "Read/Write Cell = " & (lEnd - lStart) & " seconds"

End Sub

Sub LoopArrayAddOne()

    Dim varArray As Variant
    Dim var As Variant
    Dim lStart As Double
    Dim lEnd As Double

    lStart = Timer

    varArray = Range(strRANGE_ADDRESS).Value
    For Each var In varArray
        var = var + 1
    Next var
    Range(strRANGE_ADDRESS).Value = varArray

    lEnd = Timer

    Debug.Print "Read/Write Array = " & (lEnd - lStart) & " seconds"

End Sub

Sub LoopRangeReadColor()

    Dim r As Range
    Dim lStart As Double
    Dim lEnd As Double
    Dim a As Long

    lStart = Timer

    For Each r In Range(strRANGE_ADDRESS)

        a = r.Interior.Color
    Next r

    lEnd = Timer

    Debug.Print "Read Interior Color = " & (lEnd - lStart) & " seconds"

End Sub

Sub LoopRangeReadValue()

    Dim r As Range
    Dim lStart As Double
    Dim lEnd As Double
    Dim a As Variant

    lStart = Timer

    For Each r In Range(strRANGE_ADDRESS)
        a = r.Value
    Next r

    lEnd = Timer

    Debug.Print "Read Cell = " & (lEnd - lStart) & " seconds"

End Sub

Sub LoopArrayValue()

    Dim varArray As Variant
    Dim var As Variant
    Dim lStart As Double
    Dim lEnd As Double

    lStart = Timer

    varArray = Range(strRANGE_ADDRESS).Value
    For Each var In varArray
        var = var + 1
    Next var

    lEnd = Timer

    Debug.Print "Read Array = " & (lEnd - lStart) & " seconds"

End Sub

Answer 2

There seems to be a performance difference indeed. I just checked a cell's value and a cell's interior colour for one hundred million times and there are clear differences:

Checking the value :  456 seconds
Checking the colour: 1281 seconds

In other words: checking the values goes ±2.8 times faster (following this single simple experiment).