vb6 split space delimited string at every nth space - vb6

Question

I have a space delimited string variable. I would like to store the contents of the variable into an array. Using split, I can store every space delimited value in an array. I would prefer if I could separate the string variable at every 7th space. For example, the text could read:
"hello hello hello hello hello hello hello hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hey hey hey hey hey hey hey"
This isn't the actual content of the string, but a simpler version that is easier to read. I want to separate at the places where the words change, or every 7th space. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My current code looks like this, which splits at every space.
ReDim StatsArray(ArrInc)
StatsArray = Split(Stats)
For i = 0 To UBound(StatsArray())
If i > UBound(StatsArray()) Then
ReDim Preserve StatsArray(i + ArrInc)
End If
' MsgBox StatsArray(i) ' When not commented out, this help me check the array
Next

Answer 1

There isn't any built-in function that will do this for you. A couple of solutions come to mind: (1) Do your split, then iterate your array. Concatenate seven array elements in a string variable. Write the result to a new array. Rinse and repeat. (2) Create an Array. Iterate through the string character by character, pushing each character into a variable and keeping track of the spaces you encounter; when you reach the seventh space add an element to your array, copy the variable to it, and clear the variable. Rinse and repeat.
The first one strikes me as a bit faster, but I could be quite wrong about that.

Answer 2

If I understand what you're trying to do, a string of "1234 12345678 123" would get split into 1234, 1234567, 8, 123. Is this correct?
If so, then you can use Regular Expressions to do the split for you.
Function Split7(S As String)
Dim regex As New RegExp
regex.Pattern = "[^ ]{7}"
regex.Global = True
Split7 = Split(regex.Replace(S, "$& "), " ")
End Function
This will insert a space after every 7th character that is not a space. Then use the split function to get the whole thing into an array.

Answer 3

Another stab at it, though I'd probably optimize the ReDim Preserves, doing them in chunks:
Option Explicit
Private Function SplitN( _
ByRef Source As String, _
ByVal Delim As String, _
ByVal N As Long) As String()
'Delim can be multi-character.
'Always returns at least 1-element result,
'even if Source = "".
Dim SearchPos As Long
Dim PartPos As Long
Dim DelimPos As Long
Dim Parts() As String
Dim DelimCount As Long
Dim PartsCount As Long
SearchPos = 1
PartPos = SearchPos
Do
DelimPos = InStr(SearchPos, Source, Delim)
If DelimPos > 0 Then
DelimCount = DelimCount + 1
If DelimCount = N Then
DelimCount = 0
ReDim Preserve Parts(PartsCount)
Parts(PartsCount) = _
Mid$(Source, PartPos, DelimPos - PartPos)
PartsCount = PartsCount + 1
PartPos = DelimPos + Len(Delim)
End If
SearchPos = DelimPos + Len(Delim)
End If
Loop While DelimPos > 0
ReDim Preserve Parts(PartsCount)
Parts(PartsCount) = Mid$(Source, PartPos)
SplitN = Parts
End Function
Private Sub Form_Load()
Dim S As String
Dim Parts() As String
Dim P As Long
S = "hello hello hello hello hello hello hello " _
& "hi hi hi hi hi hi hi " _
& "hey hey hey hey hey hey hey"
Text1.SelStart = 0
Text1.SelText = S & vbNewLine & vbNewLine
Parts = SplitN(S, " ", 7)
Text1.SelText = "Ubound() = " & UBound(Parts) & vbNewLine
For P = 0 To UBound(Parts)
Text1.SelText = Parts(P) & vbNewLine
Next
End Sub