Copy MsgBox text to clipboard - excel

Question

How do I copy MsgBox text to the clipboard using VBA?
myValue = InputBox("Please enter user text")
MsgBox("This is my text " & myValue & ", my second text & Now & ".")
I don't want to use ctrl + c, I want to copy this automatically after the MsgBox appears.

Answer 1

Copy the message where?
If you want it to be pasted in a cell use something like this:
myValue = InputBox("Please enter user text")
MsgBox("This is my text " & myValue & "," & my second text & Now & ".")
myMsgBox = "This is my text " & myValue & "," & my second text & Now & "."
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet_to_be_pasted_in").Range("A2").Value = myMsgBox
If u want to use it in any other way, the value is stored in the variable myMsgBox.
Copy it to clipboard so it's available on next paste command:
Dim objMsgBox As New DataObject
myValue = InputBox("Please enter user text")
MsgBox("This is my text " & myValue & "," & my second text & Now & ".")
myMsgBox = "This is my text " & myValue & "," & my second text & Now & "."
objMsgBox.SetText myMsgBox
objMsgBox.PutInClipboard

Answer 2

There is a straightforward approach to how to copy all "MsgBox" text!
The easiest way to do so (even if you personally don't want to do it that way :-) definitely IS to use the Ctrl+C "Copy-Handler that's builtin in every MsgBox.
The only thing you have to do is to send the ctrl+c keystroke back to VBA itself before executing the MsgBox(...) command.
Don't get mislead by other folks who want to make you believe that using the Application.SendKeys() command is not reliable. That's not true! The only truth is, that the Application.SendKeys() command will stuff your keystrokes into the keyboard buffer of your application regardless of what's already in there. Exactly that is the reason many other VBA guys believe that the Application.SendKeys() command isn't reliable.
The only step you have to take before issuing your Ctrl+C SendKeys command is, you have to clear your host's keyboard buffer! That is a piece of cake: Just write "DoEvents" one line before you call the "Application.SendKeys()" method and you're done!
Now, to make the whole approach really bullet-proof, you only have to make sure that your MsgBox really is the current window receiving Windows' messages. Only the top-most (active) window receives messages that are sent without a special receiver address (including your own "Ctrl+c" message). To achieve that, simply flag your MsgBox "vbSystemModal + vbMsgBoxSetForeground", and you're good to go.
That said, it's a walk in the park to solve your "problem". Here is some code to play with.
Public Sub Test(Optional ByVal myValue As String = vbNullString, _
Optional ByVal ShowMsgBox As Boolean = False, _
Optional ByVal EchoOut As Boolean = True)
' Param: myValue => Text that gets decorated
' Param: ShowMsgBox => If true then messageBox gets displayed
' Param: EchoOut => If true echos Clipboard to immediate window
If Len(myValue) = 0 Then
' Get something from the user
myValue = InputBox("Please enter something")
End If
' Clear keyboard buffer
DoEvents
' Send "Ctrl+c" "Copy2Clip" to MSO Host
Application.SendKeys "^c"
' If you like, let's also press the OK button of the message box
If Not ShowMsgBox Then
Application.SendKeys "{ENTER}"
End If
' Display Msgbox
MsgBox "This is my text '" & myValue & _
"' my second text [" & Now & "].", _
vbSystemModal + vbMsgBoxSetForeground
If EchoOut Then
' This will clear VBA's Console.
DoEvents
Application.SendKeys "^g ^a {DEL}"
' Copy what's in the Clipboard into VBA's "Immediate" window
DoEvents
Application.SendKeys "^g ^v"
End If
' Do not call DoEvents here! This only works when debugging in
' single-step mode(!) At runtime, VBA's immediate window cannot
' get the focus (Ctrl+g) to receive the "Ctrl+v" windows message
' here(!) Thus, DoEvents would eat up your
' Application.SendKeys "^g ^v"
'
' DoEvents ' no, No, NO!
'
End Sub
Add the test routine to one of your public code modules. Then go to your immediate window and type Test "This is my text" then hit enter. Have fun!
PS: There is not only the Application.SendKeys() method (see here: https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/office/vba/api/Excel.Application.SendKeys), but also the VBA "SendKeys()" statement (see here: https://learn.microsoft.com/de-de/office/vba/Language/Reference/User-Interface-Help/sendkeys-statement). The latter even lets you send keystrokes to a different application (like some external text editor). The only thing you have to do from inside your VBA code is, you have to open the other application and bring its main window to the front, before sending "Ctrl+v" to that window. Well, starting other Windows executables, waiting for them being ready, sending keystrokes (using VBA's SendKeys statement) definitely can be a little bit tricky and also error-prone. Thus, that approach should be your last resort. You can find examples of how to do that here on StackOverflow. If you have Microsoft Word installed, I strongly recommend using Word-Automation instead of playing Tic-Tac-Toe with NotePad.exe :-)