`Right$` Function

The Right$ function in Visual Basic 6 returns a string containing a specified number of characters from the right side (end) of a string. The dollar sign ($) suffix indicates that this function always returns a String type, never a Variant.

Syntax

Right$(string, length)

Parameters

string - Required. String expression from which the rightmost characters are returned. If string contains Null, Null is returned.
length - Required. Numeric expression indicating how many characters to return. If 0, a zero-length string ("") is returned. If greater than or equal to the number of characters in string, the entire string is returned.

Return Value

Returns a String containing the rightmost length characters of string.

Behavior and Characteristics

Length Handling

If length = 0: Returns an empty string ("")
If length >= Len(string): Returns the entire string
If length < 0: Generates a runtime error (Invalid procedure call or argument)
If string is empty (""): Returns an empty string regardless of length

Null Handling

If string contains Null: Returns Null
If length is Null: Generates a runtime error (Invalid use of Null)

Type Differences: `Right$` vs `Right`

Right$: Always returns String type (never Variant)
Right: Returns Variant (can propagate Null values)
Use Right$ when you need guaranteed String return type
Use Right when working with potentially Null values

Common Usage Patterns

1. Extract File Extension

Function GetExtension(fileName As String) As String
Dim dotPos As Integer
dotPos = InStrRev(fileName, ".")
If dotPos > 0 Then
GetExtension = Right$(fileName, Len(fileName) - dotPos)
Else
GetExtension = ""
End If
End Function

Dim ext As String
ext = GetExtension("document.txt")  ' Returns "txt"

2. Get Last N Characters

Dim text As String
Dim suffix As String
text = "Hello World"
suffix = Right$(text, 5)  ' Returns "World"

3. Extract Account Number Suffix

Function GetAccountSuffix(accountNum As String) As String
' Get last 4 digits of account number
GetAccountSuffix = Right$(accountNum, 4)
End Function

Dim lastFour As String
lastFour = GetAccountSuffix("1234567890")  ' Returns "7890"

4. Pad String to Fixed Width

Function PadLeft(text As String, width As Integer) As String
Dim padded As String
padded = Space(width) & text
PadLeft = Right$(padded, width)
End Function

Dim result As String
result = PadLeft("42", 5)  ' Returns "   42"

5. Extract Trailing Digits

Function GetTrailingNumber(text As String) As String
Dim i As Integer
Dim numChars As Integer
For i = Len(text) To 1 Step -1
If Not IsNumeric(Mid$(text, i, 1)) Then Exit For
numChars = numChars + 1
Next i
If numChars > 0 Then
GetTrailingNumber = Right$(text, numChars)
Else
GetTrailingNumber = ""
End If
End Function

Dim num As String
num = GetTrailingNumber("Item123")  ' Returns "123"

6. Time Component Extraction

Function GetSeconds(timeStr As String) As String
' Extract seconds from "HH:MM:SS" format
GetSeconds = Right$(timeStr, 2)
End Function

Dim secs As String
secs = GetSeconds("14:30:45")  ' Returns "45"

7. Validate String Suffix

Function HasExtension(fileName As String, ext As String) As Boolean
Dim fileExt As String
fileExt = Right$(fileName, Len(ext))
HasExtension = (UCase$(fileExt) = UCase$(ext))
End Function

If HasExtension("report.pdf", ".pdf") Then
Debug.Print "PDF file detected"
End If

8. Extract Domain from Email

Function GetEmailDomain(email As String) As String
Dim atPos As Integer
atPos = InStr(email, "@")
If atPos > 0 Then
GetEmailDomain = Right$(email, Len(email) - atPos)
Else
GetEmailDomain = ""
End If
End Function

Dim domain As String
domain = GetEmailDomain("user@example.com")  ' Returns "example.com"

9. Format Currency Display

Function FormatAmount(amount As String) As String
' Align decimal values
Dim formatted As String
formatted = Space(15) & amount
FormatAmount = Right$(formatted, 15)
End Function

10. Extract Path Component

Function GetFileName(fullPath As String) As String
Dim slashPos As Integer
slashPos = InStrRev(fullPath, "\")
If slashPos > 0 Then
GetFileName = Right$(fullPath, Len(fullPath) - slashPos)
Else
GetFileName = fullPath
End If
End Function

Dim fileName As String
fileName = GetFileName("C:\Documents\report.txt")  ' Returns "report.txt"

Right() - Returns a Variant containing the rightmost characters (can handle Null)
Left$() - Returns a specified number of characters from the left side of a string
Mid$() - Returns a specified number of characters from any position in a string
Len() - Returns the number of characters in a string
InStrRev() - Finds the position of a substring searching from the end
Trim$() - Removes leading and trailing spaces from a string
LTrim$() - Removes leading spaces from a string
RTrim$() - Removes trailing spaces from a string

Best Practices

When to Use `Right$` vs `Right`

' Use Right$ when you need a String
Dim fileName As String
fileName = Right$(fullPath, 10)  ' Type-safe, always returns String

' Use Right when working with Variants or Null values
Dim result As Variant
result = Right(variantValue, 5)  ' Can propagate Null

Validate Length Parameter

Function SafeRight(text As String, length As Integer) As String
If length < 0 Then
SafeRight = ""
ElseIf length >= Len(text) Then
SafeRight = text
Else
SafeRight = Right$(text, length)
End If
End Function

Check for Empty Strings

If Len(text) > 0 Then
suffix = Right$(text, 3)
Else
suffix = ""
End If

Use with `InStrRev` for Parsing

' Find last occurrence and extract everything after it
Dim pos As Integer
pos = InStrRev(fullPath, "\")
If pos > 0 Then
fileName = Right$(fullPath, Len(fullPath) - pos)
End If

Performance Considerations

Right$ is very efficient for small to moderate length strings
For very large strings, consider if you really need to extract characters
Using Right$ in tight loops with large strings may impact performance
Consider caching the length if calling Len() repeatedly

' Less efficient
For i = 1 To 1000
result = Right$(largeString, Len(largeString) - 10)
Next i

' More efficient
Dim strLen As Long
strLen = Len(largeString)
For i = 1 To 1000
result = Right$(largeString, strLen - 10)
Next i

Common Pitfalls

1. Negative Length Values

' Runtime error: Invalid procedure call or argument
text = Right$("Hello", -1)  ' ERROR!

' Validate first
If length >= 0 Then
text = Right$(source, length)
End If

2. Off-by-One Errors

' Common mistake: forgetting to account for delimiter position
Dim pos As Integer
pos = InStrRev(path, "\")
' Wrong: includes the backslash
fileName = Right$(path, pos)
' Correct: excludes the backslash
fileName = Right$(path, Len(path) - pos)

3. Not Checking String Length

' Potential issue: what if text is shorter than 10 characters?
suffix = Right$(text, 10)  ' Returns entire string if text.Length < 10

' Better: check first
If Len(text) >= 10 Then
suffix = Right$(text, 10)
Else
' Handle short string case
suffix = text
End If

4. Assuming Fixed Positions

' Fragile: assumes extension is always 3 characters
ext = Right$(fileName, 3)  ' Fails for ".html", ".jpeg"

' Better: find the dot
Dim dotPos As Integer
dotPos = InStrRev(fileName, ".")
If dotPos > 0 Then
ext = Right$(fileName, Len(fileName) - dotPos)
End If

5. Null Value Handling

' Right$ with Null causes runtime error
Dim result As String
result = Right$(nullValue, 5)  ' ERROR if nullValue is Null

' Protect against Null
If Not IsNull(value) Then
result = Right$(value, 5)
Else
result = ""
End If

Limitations

Cannot handle Null values (use Right variant function instead)
No built-in trimming of whitespace (combine with RTrim$ if needed)
Negative length values cause runtime errors
Works with characters, not bytes (use RightB$ for byte-level operations)
No Unicode-specific version (VB6 uses UCS-2 internally)
Cannot extract from right based on delimiter (must calculate length manually)

Right$ Function