What optional arguments do you always explicitly declare?

[MrKowz]

In the neverending process of finding "good" programming habits, I am wanting to know what optional arguments anyone always explicitly declares, and why.

I find myself always declaring the last argument of a VLOOKUP, even when I am using the TRUE argument. I like to explicitly state this argument so that it is easier when I go back to look at my formulas, I can quickly and easily see whether I am wanting an exact or closest match.

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

I always explicitly pass all arguments.

 

[xenou]

I generally pass all arguments, for the same reason (so I know what I intended when I wrote the formula).

Aside from that, sometimes I think I interpret formulas better when I see the arguments I expect to find - i.e., consistency/habit/old dog stuff. I've had to do double takes on IF() formulas posted here, when there's no "False" arguments - just looks so strange to me that at first I think its plain wrong. Another one I can never get used to is Left(A1) instead of Left(A1,1) And since that doesn't work in VBA I just stick to the two argument version and don't think about it much.

I've seen some threads to the effect that Excel will perform better if some arguments are not left implicit - for example, the Column Argument for an Offset() formula, such as you might put in a dynamic named range. But as with formulas, once I find a way that works, I usually stick to it.

 

[diddi]

i use vba almost exclusively and whilst i tend to complete all arguments, there are times when it is just plainly rediculous (eg the full msgbox() function).

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

i use vba almost exclusively and whilst i tend to complete all arguments, there are times when it is just plainly rediculous (eg the full msgbox() function).

I also try and be explicit when using VBA functions. With VBA functions I try to always refer to the argument by name, e.g:

Msgbox Prompt:="Hello World", Buttons:= vbOkOnly+vbInformation

There are instances where you cannot do this, such as:

Unload Object:=Me 'fails
Unload Me 'works