Used to find the difference between two numbers or to indicate the negative value of a numeric expression.
Syntax
Syntax 1
result = number1 - number2
Syntax 2
- number
The - operator syntax has these parts:
| Part | Description |
|---|---|
| result | Required; any numeric variable. |
| number | Required; any numeric expression. |
| number1 | Required; any numeric expression. |
| number2 | Required; any numeric expression. |
Remarks
In Syntax 1, the - operator is the arithmetic subtraction operator used to find the difference between two numbers. In Syntax 2, the - operator is used as the unary negation operator to indicate the negative value of an expression.
The data type of result is usually the same as that of the most precise expression. The order of precision, from least to most precise, is Byte, Integer, Long, Single, Double, Currency, and Decimal. The following are exceptions to this order:
| If | Then result is |
|---|---|
| Subtraction involves a Single and a Long | Converted to a Double. |
| The data type of result is a Long, Single, or Date variant that overflows its legal range | Converted to a Variant containing a Double. |
| The data type of result is a Byte variant that overflows its legal range | Converted to an Integer variant. |
| The data type of result is an Integer variant that overflows its legal range | Converted to a Long variant. |
| Subtraction involves a Date and any other data type | A Date. |
| Subtraction involves two Date expressions | A Double. |
If one or both expressions are Null expressions, result is Null. If an expression is Empty, it is treated as 0.
The order of precision used by addition and subtraction is not the same as the order of precision used by multiplication.
Example
This example uses the - operator to calculate the difference between two numbers.
Dim MyResult
MyResult = 4 - 2 ' Returns 2.
MyResult = 459.35 - 334.90 ' Returns 124.45.