VBA Get Combobox to 'suggest' an option

Question

I am relatively new to VBA and I am trying to solve a problem working with a userform in Excel 2010.

I am writing a pseudo spell checker that validates words against

Answer 1

This code assumes a TextBox and ComboBox as you described, still with their default names. In addition there's a button, which when pressed prompts you for a word. This word is then pasted into the textbox, which I think duplicates the behavior you're coding for:

Private Sub UserForm_Activate()
With Me.ComboBox1
    .AddItem "bat"
    .AddItem "battleship"
    .AddItem "battle"
    .AddItem "batty"
    .AddItem "bathhouse"
End With
End Sub

Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
Me.TextBox1 = Application.InputBox("Word", , , , , , , 2)

End Sub

Private Sub TextBox1_Change()
Dim WordToMatch As String
Dim AvailableWords() As String
Dim i As Long
Dim MatchedWordPosition As Long
Dim LongestWordLength As Long

With Me.ComboBox1
    .ListIndex = -1
    WordToMatch = Me.TextBox1.Text
    ReDim AvailableWords(0 To .ListCount - 1)
    For i = LBound(AvailableWords) To UBound(AvailableWords)
        AvailableWords(i) = .List(i)
        LongestWordLength = WorksheetFunction.Max(Len(.List(i)), LongestWordLength)
    Next i
    For i = 0 To Len(WordToMatch) - 1
        On Error Resume Next
        MatchedWordPosition = WorksheetFunction.Match(WordToMatch & WorksheetFunction.Rept("?", (LongestWordLength - Len(WordToMatch)) - i), AvailableWords(), 0)
        If MatchedWordPosition > 0 Then
            Exit For
        End If
    Next i
    If MatchedWordPosition > 0 Then
        .ListIndex = MatchedWordPosition - 1
    End If
End With
End Sub

I imagine there are a few ways to skin this cat, but this is my best effort.

Answer 2

You may want to change 2 properties for the ComboBox to force an entry from a list is selected:

1. MatchEntry --> 1 - fmMatchEntryComplete
2. MatchRequired --> True

So when a user try to select a word outside of the list, they get a "Invalid property value.":