Syntax

Erase array1 [,array2]...

Description

Erases the elements of the specified arrays.

Comments

For dynamic arrays, the elements are erased, and the array is redimensioned to have no dimensions (and therefore no elements). For fixed arrays, only the elements are erased; the array dimensions are not changed.

After a dynamic array is erased, the array will contain no elements and no dimensions. Thus, before the array can be used by your program, the dimensions must be reestablished using the Redim statement.

Up to 32 parameters can be specified with the Erase statement.

The meaning of erasing an array element depends on the type of the element being erased:

Element Type

What Erase Does to That Element

Integer

Sets the element to 0.

Boolean

Sets the element to FALSE.

Long

Sets the element to 0.

Double

Sets the element to 0.0.

Date

Sets the element to December 30, 1899.

Single

Sets the element to 0.0.

String (variable-length)

Frees the string, then sets the element to a zero-length string.

String (fixed-length)

Sets every character of each element to zero (Chr$(0)).

Object

Decrements the reference count and sets the element to Nothing.

Variant

Sets the element to Empty.

User-defined type

Sets each structure element as a separate variable.

Example

This example fills an array with a list of available disk drives, displays the list, erases the array and then redisplays the list.

Sub Main()
  Dim a$(10)  'Declare an array.
  DiskDrives a  'Fill element 1 with a list of available disk drives.
  r = SelectBox("Array Before Erase",,a)
  Erase a$    'Erase all elements in the array.
  r = SelectBox("Array After Erase",,a)
End Sub

See Also

Redim (statement); Arrays (topic).

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