Sub Statement (Visual Basic) 

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

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

Parts

• attributelist
  Optional. See Attribute List.

• accessmodifier
  Optional. Can be one of the following:

  • Public

  • Protected

  • Friend

  • Private

  • Protected Friend

  See Access Levels in Visual Basic.

• proceduremodifiers
  Optional. Can be one of the following:

  • Overloads

  • Overrides

  • Overridable

  • NotOverridable

  • MustOverride

  • MustOverride Overrides

  • NotOverridable Overrides

• Shared
  Optional. See Shared.

• Shadows
  Optional. See Shadows.

• name
  Required. Name of the procedure. See Declared Element Names.

• typeparamlist
  Optional. List of type parameters for a generic procedure. See Type List.

• parameterlist
  Optional. List of local variable names representing the parameters of this procedure. See Parameter List.

• Implements
  Optional. Indicates that this procedure implements one or more Sub procedures, each one defined in an interface implemented by this procedure's containing class or structure. See Implements Statement.

• implementslist
  Required if Implements is supplied. List of Sub procedures being implemented.

  implementedprocedure [ , implementedprocedure ... ]

  Each implementedprocedure has the following syntax and parts:

  interface.definedname

  Part	Description
  interface	Required. Name of an interface implemented by this procedure's containing class or structure.
  definedname	Required. Name by which the procedure is defined in interface.

• Handles
  Optional. Indicates that this procedure can handle one or more specific events. See Handles.

• eventlist
  Required if Handles is supplied. List of events this procedure handles.

  eventspecifier [ , eventspecifier ... ]

  Each eventspecifier has the following syntax and parts:

  eventvariable.event

  Part	Description
  eventvariable	Required. Object variable declared with the data type of the class or structure that raises the event.
  event	Required. Name of the event this procedure handles.

• statements
  Optional. Block of statements to run within this procedure.

• End Sub
  Terminates the definition of this procedure.

Remarks

All executable code must be inside a procedure. Use a Sub procedure when you do not need to return a value to the calling code. Use a Function procedure when you need to return a value.

You can use Sub only at module level. This means the declaration context for a sub procedure must be a class, structure, module, or interface, and cannot be a source file, namespace, procedure, or block. For more information, see Declaration Contexts and Default Access Levels.

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

Rules

• Implementation. If this procedure uses the Implements keyword, the containing class or structure must have an Implements statement immediately following its Class or Structure statement. The Implements statement must include each interface specified in implementslist. However, the name by which an interface defines the Sub (in definedname) does not have to be the same as the name of this procedure (in name).

Behavior

• Returning from a Procedure. When the Sub procedure returns to the calling code, execution continues with the statement following the statement that called it.

  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.

  The following example shows a return from a Sub procedure.

  Sub mySub(ByVal q As String)
      Return
  End Sub 
  

• Calling a Procedure. A Sub procedure, like a Function procedure, is a separate procedure that can take parameters and perform a series of statements. However, unlike a Function procedure, which returns a value, a Sub procedure cannot be used in an expression.

  You call a Sub procedure by using the procedure name, followed by the argument list in parentheses, in a statement. You can omit the parentheses only if you are not supplying any arguments. However, your code is more readable if you always include the parentheses.

  You can optionally use the Call statement to call a Sub procedure. This can improve the readability of your code.

Troubleshooting

Order of Execution. Visual Basic sometimes rearranges arithmetic expressions to increase internal efficiency. For that reason, if your argument list includes expressions that call other procedures, you cannot rely on them being called in any 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
Troubleshooting Procedures

Reference

Implements Statement
Function Statement (Visual Basic)
Parameter List
Dim Statement (Visual Basic)
Call Statement (Visual Basic)
Of

Concepts

Parameter Arrays