VBA: Single line if statement with multiple actions

You absolutely can!

If Dir("C:\file.txt", vbDirectory) = "" Then  MsgBox "File doesn't exist" : Exit Sub

• The If statement does already support single-line syntax.
  In simple terms this means, we can either have:

  1. If {boolean-expression} Then   {execution}End If

  2. If {boolean-expression} Then {execution}

     • Note the lack of End If at the second option, as it's fully omitted in single-line syntax
     • Also keep in mind, the execution block can only contain a single statement

• Then, further way of concatenating the code together is with the : which acts as a new line ↵ in the compiler.

  This is fairly common practice in variable declaration:

  Dim x As Integer: x = 42

Now, let's apply those steps together:

1. The original code

   If Dir("C:\file.txt", vbDirectory) = "" Then    MsgBox "File doesn't exist"   Exit SubEnd If

2. Applying the single-line If syntax

   If Dir("C:\file.txt", vbDirectory) = "" Then MsgBox "File Doesn't Exist"Exit Sub

3. Use the : symbol to put Exit Sub into our single-line If

   If Dir("C:\file.txt", vbDirectory) = "" Then MsgBox "File Doesn't Exist" : Exit Sub

In VBA you can execute even more than two lines of code in one, just add : between one instruction and the other! This is perfectly legal:

If True Then MsgBox "True - Line 1": MsgBox "True - Line 2": Exit Sub