I often find it necessary to check that a string is valid by ensuring it exists in a list of strings. For instance, you might need to check that a user-entered province/state code exists within a list of valid province/state codes. You can do this quickly without looping through the list each time you need to compare. Suppose you have an array containing all valid province/state codes:

 Private ValidCodes() As String

First, translate this array into a string of separated valid codes:

 Private ValidList As StringPrivate Sub CreateValidList()Dim i As Long, sT As StringFor i = LBound(ValidCodes) To _UBound(ValidCodes)sT = "|" & ValidCodes(i)Next isT = sT & "|"ValidList = sTEnd Sub

I separate the items in the string with vertical bars (“|”) because in this situation, bars don