Get the selected ArcMap layer programmatically with VBA

Summary

Steps to get the selected object in ArcMap's Table of Contents (TOC) using VBA.

Procedure

1. Get a reference to the current Contents View.
   
   

   Code:
   Dim pDoc As IMxDocument
   Dim pCV As IContentsView
   Set pDoc = ThisDocument
   Set pCV = pDoc.CurrentContentsView

   
   
   

   Note:
   Contents View is a tab in ArcMap's TOC. ArcMap has two contents views, Display and Source.

   
   
2. Determine the type of the selected object(s).
   
   

   Code:
   Dim pFLayer As IFeatureLayer
   Dim mySet As esriCore.ISet
   Set mySet = New esriCore.Set
   If (TypeOf pCV.SelectedItem Is IFeatureLayer) Then
        Set pFLayer = pCV.SelectedItem
        Debug.Print pFLayer.Name
   ElseIf (TypeOf pCV.SelectedItem is ISet) Then
        Set mySet = pCV.SelectedItem
        Set pFLayer = mySet.Next
   Do Until pFLayer Is Nothing
         Debug.Print pFLayer.Name
         Set pFLayer = mySet.Next
   Loop
   End If

   
   
   

   Note:
   The return value for IContentsView.SelectedItem is of type variant because there are many possible objects that can be returned. In the Display tab, the selected item could be a map, layer, or a legend group  object. In the Source tab, the selected item could be any of the above plus a Table, Feature Dataset or Workspace. If multiple items are selected a Set object is returned.