Sub Statement (Visual Basic)

Declares the name, parameters, and code that define a Sub procedure.

[ <attributelist> ] [ Partial ] [ accessmodifier ] [ proceduremodifiers ] [ Shared ] [ Shadows ] 
Sub name [ (Of typeparamlist) ] [ (parameterlist) ] [ Implements implementslist | Handles eventlist ]
    [ statements ]
    [ Exit Sub ]
    [ statements ]
End Sub

Parts

Remarks

All executable code must be inside a procedure. Use a Sub procedure when you don't want to return a value to the calling code. Use a Function procedure when you want to return a value.

Defining a Sub Procedure

You can define a Sub procedure only at the module level. The declaration context for a sub procedure must, therefore, be a class, a structure, a module, or an interface and can't be a source file, a namespace, a procedure, or a block. For more information, see Declaration Contexts and Default Access Levels (Visual Basic).

Sub procedures default to public access. You can adjust their access levels by using the access modifiers.

If the procedure uses the Implements keyword, the containing class or structure must have an Implements statement that immediately follows its Class or Structure statement. The Implements statement must include each interface that's specified in implementslist. However, the name by which an interface defines the Sub (in definedname) doesn't have to match the name of this procedure (in name).

Returning from a Sub Procedure

When a Sub procedure returns to the calling code, execution continues with the statement after the statement that called it.

The following example shows a return from a Sub procedure.

Sub mySub(ByVal q As String)
    Return
End Sub 

The Exit Sub and Return statements cause an immediate exit from a Sub procedure. Any number of Exit Sub and Return statements can appear anywhere in the procedure, and you can mix Exit Sub and Return statements.

Calling a Sub Procedure

You call a Sub procedure by using the procedure name in a statement and then following that name with its argument list in parentheses. You can omit the parentheses only if you don't supply any arguments. However, your code is more readable if you always include the parentheses.

A Sub procedure and a Function procedure can have parameters and perform a series of statements. However, a Function procedure returns a value, and a Sub procedure doesn't. Therefore, you can't use a Sub procedure in an expression.

You can use the Call keyword when you call a Sub procedure, but that keyword isn't recommended for most uses. For more information, see Call Statement (Visual Basic).

Visual Basic sometimes rearranges arithmetic expressions to increase internal efficiency. For that reason, if your argument list includes expressions that call other procedures, you shouldn't assume that those expressions will be called in a particular order.

Example

The following example uses the Sub statement to define the name, parameters, and code that form the body of a Sub procedure.

Sub computeArea(ByVal length As Double, ByVal width As Double)
    ' Declare local variable.
    Dim area As Double
    If length = 0 Or width = 0 Then
        ' If either argument = 0 then exit Sub immediately.
        Exit Sub
    End If
    ' Calculate area of rectangle.
    area = length * width
    ' Print area to Immediate window.
    Debug.WriteLine(area)
End Sub

See Also

Tasks

How to: Use a Generic Class (Visual Basic)

Troubleshooting Procedures (Visual Basic)

How to: Create a Partial Method (Visual Basic)

Reference

Implements Statement

Function Statement (Visual Basic)

Parameter List (Visual Basic)

Dim Statement (Visual Basic)

Call Statement (Visual Basic)

Of Clause (Visual Basic)

Concepts

Sub Procedures (Visual Basic)

Parameter Arrays (Visual Basic)

Partial Methods (Visual Basic)

Change History