Excel “Array Constants” not readable as VBA Arrays (without parsing)

Question

Excel allegedly allows the storage of arrays of constants in individual cells (eg A1 ={1,2,3,4,5} ). This is referred to as an "Array Constant." This should make for a very powerful feature allowing users to get more than 2 dimensions out of a spreadsheet. However, I can't seem to figure out how to extract the actual data without having to parse it as a string first. The latter method defeats the whole purpose of the array constant.

If one gets Range('A1').Value from the example above, it returns 1 .

Also, IsArray(Range("A1")) returns False while IsArray(Range("A1:A2")) returns True .

Am I missing something, or are these "Array Constants", not actually "Arrays" but just Strings or Doubles?

Answer 1

Am I missing something...

I'm afraid you may be... ;-(

Here's the relevant text from the article

To create a horizontal constant

1. Use the workbook from the previous column, or start a new workbook.

2. Select cells A1 through E1.

3. In the formula bar, enter the following formula and press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER:

So the article doesn't show an array being stored in a single cell, but a range of cells. Entering the formula as described in a single cell will return the first element in the array only. Checking the Value property for the range using VBA confirms this.