Use the PutItems property when you have a table of elements stored into an array.  Use the AddItem method to add a single item to the control.  Use the InsertItem method to insert a child item to the control. Use the ItemPosition property to specify the item's position. Use the GetItems method to get the items collection to a safe array. Use the ColumnAutoResize property to specify whether the visible columns should fit the control's client area. Use the ConditionalFormats method to apply formats to a cell or range of cells, and have that formatting change depending on the value of the cell or the value of a formula.

The following VB sample uses the VB Array function to fill the control's items collection:

With ComboBox1
    .BeginUpdate
        .HeaderVisible = False
        .Columns.Add "Column 1"
        .PutItems Array(1, 2, "Jhon", Me.Font)
    .EndUpdate
End With

The following VB loads an array of strings.

Dim v(2, 2) As String
v(0, 0) = "One"
v(0, 1) = "Two"
v(0, 2) = "Three"
v(1, 0) = "One"
v(1, 1) = "Two"
v(1, 2) = "Three"
v(2, 0) = "One"
v(2, 1) = "Two"
v(2, 2) = "Three"

ComboBox1.BeginUpdate
ComboBox1.Columns.Add "Column 1"
ComboBox1.Columns.Add "Column 2"
ComboBox1.Columns.Add "Column 3"

ComboBox1.PutItems v
ComboBox1.EndUpdate

The following VB sample shows how to load an ADO recordset using PutItems method.

Set rs = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")
rs.Open "Orders", "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.3.51;Data Source= D:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VB98\NWIND.MDB", 3 ' Opens the table using static mode

ComboBox1.BeginUpdate
For Each f In rs.Fields
    ComboBox1.Columns.Add f.Name
Next
ComboBox1.PutItems rs.GetRows()
ComboBox1.EndUpdate

The following VB.NET sample adds a column and some items to a drop down list control:

With AxComboBox1
    .BeginUpdate()
    .ColumnAutoResize = True
    .Columns.Add("Column 1")
    Dim o() As Object = {1, "Item 2", 3, 4, 5}
    .PutItems(o)
    .Items.SelectItem(.Items.FindItem("Item 2")) = True
    .EndUpdate()
End With