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When a run-time error occurs in a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro, an error message appears on the screen, and the macro either halts or behaves unpredictably.
To prevent the application from crashing or behaving unpredictably, you can include macro code that intercepts the error and tells the macro how to handle it. The process of intercepting and handling a run-time error is called "error trapping." The set of instructions that tells the application how to handle the error is called the "error-handling routine" or "error handler."
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. While Visual Basic code is running, you may encounter several types of errors that can be trapped. You can take advantage of error trapping in Microsoft Excel for Mac by using the following functions and statements.
On Error StatementThe On Error statement causes Visual Basic for Applications to start or stop error trapping. The On Error statement also specifies a set of statements to execute if an error is encountered.
Err FunctionThe Err function returns the number of the error encountered.
Example Using the Err Function:
The following table contains a list of the trappable error codes you may encounter when you use the Err function.
Error code Error message ---------- ------------- 3 Return without GoSub 5 Invalid procedure call 6 Overflow 7 Out of memory 9 Subscript out of range 10 This array is fixed or temporarily locked 11 Division by zero 13 Type mismatch 14 Out of string space 16 Expression too complex 17 Can't perform requested operation 18 User interrupt occurred 20 Resume without error 28 Out of stack space 35 Sub, function, or property not defined 47 Too many DLL application clients 48 Error in loading DLL 49 Bad DLL calling convention 51 Internal error 52 Bad file name or number 53 File not found 54 Bad file mode 55 File already open 57 Device I/O error 58 File already exists 59 Bad record length 61 Disk full 62 Input past end of line 63 Bad record number 67 Too many files 68 Device unavailable 70 Permission denied 71 Disk not ready 74 Can't rename with different drive 75 Path/File access error 76 Path not found 91 Object variable or With block variable not set 92 For Loop not initialized 93 Invalid pattern string 94 Invalid use of Null 298 System DLL could not be loaded 320 Can't use character device names in specified file names 321 Invalid file format 322 Can't create necessary temporary file 325 Invalid format in resource file 327 Data value named was not found 328 Illegal parameter; can't write arrays 335 Could not access system registry 336 ActiveX component not correctly registered 337 ActiveX component not found 338 ActiveX component did not correctly run 360 Object already loaded 361 Can't load or unload this object 363 Specified ActiveX control not found 364 Object was unloaded 365 Unable to unload within this context 368 The specified file is out of date. This program requires a newer version 371 The specified object can't be used as an owner form for Show 380 Invalid property value 381 Invalid property-array index 382 Property Set can't be executed at run time 383 Property Set can't be used with a read-only property 385 Need property-array index 387 Property Set not permitted 393 Property Get can't be executed at run time 394 Property Get can't be executed on write-only property 400 Form already displayed; can't show modally 402 Code must close topmost modal form first 419 Permission to use object denied 422 Property not found 423 Property or method not found 424 Object required 425 Invalid object use 429 ActiveX component can't create object or return reference to this object 430 Class doesn't support OLE Automation 430 Class doesn't support Automation 432 File name or class name not found during Automation operation 438 Object doesn't support this property or method 440 OLE Automation error 440 Automation error 442 Connection to type library or object library for remote process has been lost 443 Automation object doesn't have a default value 445 Object doesn't support this action 446 Object doesn't support named arguments 447 Object doesn't support current locale settings 448 Named argument not found 449 Argument not optional or invalid property assignment 450 Wrong number of arguments or invalid property assignment 451 Object not a collection 452 Invalid ordinal 453 Specified DLL function not found 454 Code resource not found 455 Code resource lock error 457 This key is already associated with an element of this collection 458 Variable uses a type not supported in Visual Basic 459 This component doesn't support events 460 Invalid Cipboard format 461 Specified format doesn't match format of data 480 Can't create AutoRedraw image 481 Invalid picture 482 Printer error 483 Printer driver does not support specified property 484 Problem getting printer information from the system. Make sure the printer is set up correctly 485 Invalid picture type 486 Can't print form image to this type of printer 735 Can't save file to Temp directory 744 Search text not found 746 Replacements too long 31001 Out of memory 31004 No object 31018 Class is not set 31027 Unable to activate object 31032 Unable to create embedded object 31036 Error saving to file 31037 Error loading from file
Error FunctionThe Error Function returns the error message that corresponds to a given error number.
Example Using the Error Function:
Error StatementThe Error statement simulates the occurrence of an error by allowing you to assign a custom error number to the Err function. These user- defined error values are values that you define for your procedures and that are always stored in variables of the Variant data type. A common use of this type of error value is in procedures that accept several arguments and return a value. For example, suppose the return value is valid only if the arguments fall within a certain range. Your procedure can test the arguments that the user provides, and if the arguments aren't in the acceptable range, you can have the procedure return the appropriate error value.
Error is a subtype of the Variant data type and when the term "error value" is used, it usually means that a variable is of the Variant type, and that it contains a value that Visual Basic for Applications recognizes as a user-defined error. Error values are used in a procedure to indicate that error conditions have occurred. Unlike normal run-time errors, these errors do not interrupt your code because they are recognized as ordinary variables and not errors. Your procedures can test for these error values and take the appropriate corrective actions.
You can also use the Error statement to simulate run-time errors. This is especially useful when you are testing your applications, or when you want to treat a particular condition as being equivalent to a run- time error. Any Visual Basic for Applications run-time error can be simulated by supplying the error code for the error in an Error statement. You can also use the Error statement to create your own user-defined errors by supplying an error code that does not correspond to a Visual Basic for Applications run-time error. The table containing a list of built-in errors appears earlier in this article (under the "Err Function" section). At this time, Visual Basic for Applications does not use all of the available numbers for built-in errors. In future releases of Visual Basic for Applications, the internal numbers will increase as more built- in errors are added. It is recommended that you start your error numbers at 50,000 and work your way up to 65,535 to avoid possible conflicts in the future.
Example Using Error Statement to Simulate Run-time Errors:
When the Test macro is run, you receive a message box that contains "my own error occurred" as the message.
CVErr FunctionThe CVErr function is used to create error values. The CVErr function takes an argument that must either be an integer or be a variable that contains an integer.
Example Using the CVErr Function:
Using Built-In Error ValuesThere are seven built-in error values in Excel for Mac. The table below shows the error number (constant), the literal error value, and the converted error value.
You work with these built-in worksheet error values the same way you work with the user-defined errors--as numbers converted to error values using the CVErr function. The only difference is that for the worksheet errors, Visual Basic for Applications provides the error numbers as built-in constants and also provides literal error values. These items are not provided for user-defined error values. The literal error values must be enclosed in square brackets as shown in the table above.
Error number (Constant) Literal error value Converted error value xlErrDiv0 [#DIV/0!] CVErr(xlErrDiv0) xlErrNA [#N/A] CVErr(xlErrNA) xlErrName [#NAME?] CVErr(xlErrName) xlErrNull [#NULL!] CVErr(xlErrNull) xlErrNum [#NUM!] CVErr(xlErrNum) xlErrRef [#REF!] CVErr(xlErrRef) xlErrValue [#VALUE!] CVErr(xlErrValue)
Example Using Built-In Error Values:
Centralizing Error Handling CodeWhen you add error-handling code to your Visual Basic for Applications macros, you will discover that the same errors are being handled over and over again. You can reduce the size of your code and the effort required to write code by writing a few procedures that your error- handling code can call to handle the common error situations.
The following is an example of a function procedure that displays a message corresponding to the error that has occurred, and where possible, it allows the user to specify what action to take next by choosing a particular button. It then returns the code number to the procedure that called it.
Handling User InterruptsA user can interrupt a Visual Basic for Applications procedure by pressing COMMAND+PERIOD. It is possible to disable interrupts for procedures in your finished applications. However, if you do not disable the user interrupts in the finished procedure, you can make sure that your procedure is notified when an interrupt has occurred so that it can close files, disconnect from shared resources, or restore modified variables before returning control of the application to the user.
You can trap user interrupts in your procedures by setting the EnableCancelKey property to xlErrorHandler. When this property is set, all interrupts will generate a run-time error number 18, which can be trapped using an On Error statement. You can handle the error to halt the procedure and exit the program. If the Resume statement is used to continue the procedure after a trapped run-time error, the interrupt is ignored.
It is also possible to ignore user interrupts completely by setting the EnableCancelKey property to xlDisabled. In this state, Excel for Mac ignores all attempts by the user to interrupt the running procedure. To restore the default interrupt processing, change the setting of the EnableCancelKey property to xlInterrupt. To prevent a procedure from permanently disabling user interrupts, Excel for Mac always restores the default setting of the EnableCancelKey property to xlInterrupt whenever the procedure completes its execution. To ensure that interrupts are handled correctly within your code, you must explicitly disable or trap the interrupts every time the procedure is executed. It should be noted that only one interrupt handler can be used for each procedure, and that the same handler is used for all run-time errors encountered by that procedure.
The following example demonstrates a procedure that requires a large period of time to complete. If a user interrupts the procedure, an error is trapped. The user interrupt first confirms that the procedure should actually be halted and then exits the procedure in an orderly manner.
If you run the ProcessData macro and then quickly press CTRL+BREAK, a message box that prompts you whether to stop processing records appears. If you click Yes, another message box with "User interrupt occurred" appears. If you click OK in this message box, the macro ends. If you click No in the first message box, the macro continues.
Resume StatementThe Resume statement resumes code execution after an error handling routine has finished.