Excel VBA ComboBox1_DropButtonClick Event

Question

I got macro below which fires twice (showing same MessageBox twice). First when ComboBox1 opens and second when ComboBox1 closes.

Private Sub ComboBox1_DropButtonClick()
If Me.ComboBox2.Text = "" Then
   MsgBox "Fill text box"
Else
'Do stuff
End If
End Sub

Is there any way to make it show MessageBox once. I want user to select the value in ComboBox1 first before clicking on ComboBox2 DropButton.

Answer 1

I would do it using the combobox_enter event, but this only checks when the focus is switched

Private Sub ComboBox1_Change()
    If ComboBox1.Text = "" Then
        ComboBox2.ShowDropButtonWhen = fmShowDropButtonWhenNever
    Else
        ComboBox2.ShowDropButtonWhen = fmShowDropButtonWhenAlways
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub ComboBox2_Enter()
    If ComboBox1.Text = "" Then
        MsgBox "Must first set value to combobox1"
        ComboBox1.SetFocus
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub UserForm_Initialize()
    ComboBox1.AddItem "None", 0
    ComboBox1.AddItem "Select Me", 1
    ComboBox2.AddItem "None", 0
    ComboBox2.AddItem "Select Me", 1

    ComboBox2.ShowDropButtonWhen = fmShowDropButtonWhenNever
End Sub

My code does some extra things that I just think look pretty, you really only need the _Enter function

Answer 2

Here is a very unelegant work-around using a "count" variable that prompts the MsgBox only the first and not the second time.

Dim count As Integer
Private Sub ComboBox1_DropButtonClick()
count = count + 1
If Me.ComboBox2.Text = "" Then
   If count = 1 Then
       MsgBox "Fill text box"
   Else
        count = 0
   End If
Else
'Do stuff
End If
End Sub

However, I highly suggest to use the ComboBox1_Change() event if it's not necessary to use the drop button one.

PS: the declaration of the "count" variable needs to stay out of the method. This is due to the fact that:

• if it stays inside, it's a local variable of the method and so loses its modifications every time the method is ended;
• if it stays outside, it will keep the modifications even once the method has ended its run.