Binaryworld - PrintF - Transforming template strings ... [ VB -> String ]

' This VB6 function returns a string with a set of parameters replaced with
' variables, similar to the C function printf().

Public Function PrintF(strMask As String, ParamArray Values()) As String
  On Error Resume Next
  ' pass in a mask with variables in the order of \0, \1, \2, etc
  ' if they are found, replace with the corresponding values()
  Dim lngNbrValues As Long, lngCount As Long
  Dim strX As String, strFind As String

  lngNbrValues = UBound(Values)

  ' first, find any \\, \t or \n and replace those
  strX = Replace(strMask, "\\", "¥¥¥")
  strX = Replace(strX, "\t", vbTab)
  strX = Replace(strX, "\n", vbNewLine)

  ' next, loop backward through the values, looking
  ' for each item in turn. If it's found, replace it
  For lngCount = lngNbrValues To 0 Step -1
    strFind = "\{" + CStr(lngCount) + "}"
    strX = Replace(strX, strFind, Values(lngCount))

    strFind = "\" + CStr(lngCount)
    strX = Replace(strX, strFind, Values(lngCount))
  Next lngCount

  strX = Replace(strX, "¥¥¥", "\")
  PrintF = strX
  On Error GoTo 0
End Function

' And here's some code to test the function :

Public Function GenerateNewFilename(strFilename As String) As String
  Dim strNew As String
  Dim dteNow As Date

  dteNow = Now()

  strNew = PrintF("_\0\1\2_\3\4\5_" + strFilename, Format(CStr(Year(dteNow)), _
    "0000"), Format(CStr(Month(dteNow)), "00"), Format(CStr(Day(dteNow)), _
    "00"), Format(CStr(Hour(dteNow)), "00"), Format(CStr(Minute(dteNow)), _
    "00"), Format(CStr(Second(dteNow)), "00"))

  GenerateNewFilename = strNew
End Function

' Note: in VB.NET, the String.Format provides much more than this,
' as it allows to specify how to format the values that replace the
' placeholders.