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The two previous parts of this mini-blog have shown how to draw forms and how to write code to handle form events. This final part shows how to add some of the more exotic controls to user forms, like combo boxes, list boxes, multipage controls, spinners and option buttons.
- Advanced Controls - Our Example
- Multipage Controls
- Combo boxes (and list boxes)
- Multiple Column Combo Boxes and Listboxes
- Multi-select ListBoxes
- SpinButtons (Spinners)
- Check Boxes
- Option Buttons (Radio Buttons)
- The Calendar Control (this blog)
This blog is part of our Excel VBA tutorial. Wise Owl's main business is running Excel, VBA and other courses for businesses.
Posted by Andy Brown on 28 February 2012
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The Calendar Control
If your form needs to get a date from a user, use the built-in Calendar control:

The vanilla version of the Calendar control, with default formatting.
Creating a Calendar Control
You can add the Calendar control from the Toolbox:

Click on the Calendar tool, and click where you want this to go.
If you can't see the Calendar tool, you may need to install this additional ActiveX control. To do this, right-click on the Toolbox and choose Additional controls. It's amazing how many there are!
Coding Calendar Controls
You can pick up on the Value property of a Calendar control to get the date chosen by a user:
'date of order
ActiveCell.Offset(0, 6).Value = Me.calDate.Value
Additional Formatting for Calendars with Custom Properties
Because the Calendar control isn't a standard tool in the Toolbox, some properties are hidden away in the Custom category:

Click in the Custom property and then click on the build button.
You can then play about with all sorts of formatting options in the dialog box which appears:

It's worth looking at all 3 tabs of this dialog box.
And with that, I've reached the end of this blog on advanced controls.
If you're wondering why I haven't included anything on the ToggleButton, ScrollBar or RefEdit controls, it's because I don't see the point in them. I'm willing to be persuaded otherwise by comments added to this blog.