Property not found error

[Monty51]

This might not be the right thread. Please direct me to the correct area if that's the case.

I'm upgrading an Access 97 application to Access 2016. By and large it's going well: all forms and reports seem to have come over with little trouble, although I had to manually recreate the 30-ish tables necessary.



My question comes from the execution of a "Welcome" form that launches when the database is invoked, and begins to load the form accordingly, but somewhere between the completion of opening the form and invoking the timer, I get a general Access error box that say "Property Not Found". I've coded break points (simple message boxes that say where they are in the code) and the message always come up somewhere between the execution of the form opening script ("On Open" property) and the timer script ("On Timer" property).

I'm wondering if there is another way to step through the execution of this form to discover where the error is coming from. I don't mean to step through any VB code, I mean to query the DB engine to find out what's generating that error (something like that, anyway).

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

[ranman256]

the 1st line in the routine can be : ON ERROR RESUME NEXT

it will not show errors.

[Welshgasman]

Did the old DB have any custom properties?
Put a break point on the first line of executable code and walk through it line by line with F8

[Monty51]

I'd like to do that, but I'd really like to know where this error is coming from. It may be nothing, but it might be something.

Thanks for looking.

[Monty51]

The old DB h ad/has tons of custom stuff: 30+ tables, at least as many forms, VBA code (is that correct? VBA code?...regardless), and so many controls with properties. I need a way to narrow it down some...actually, a lot.

Thanks for looking.

[pbaldy]

If there is an "On Error GoTo..." line, temporarily comment it out and run the code. You may get a debug option that will tell you the specific spot that causes the error. If I had to guess, there's code looping the controls on the form and referring to a property that doesn't exist for all controls (like the Value property and the current control is a label). In that event, you could limit the types of controls tested.

[Welshgasman]

Run this code on each db and compare the output.
It might be obvious if you see something you recognise, like a copyright notice mentioned here
http://allenbrowne.com/ser-09.html

Sub ListDBProperties()
Dim db As DAO.Database
Dim P As Property

Set db = CurrentDb()
For Each P In db.Properties
        Debug.Print P.Name
Next
Set db = Nothing

End Sub

[CJ_London]

Some properties are not created until you utilise them during form creation, if you have been creating new forms and copying across ‘old’ code, it me be trying to reference such a property.

And as access has matured it has become less tolerant of poorly written code

Ensure you have option explicit at the top of every module just below option compare database and then compile your code

Otherwise temporarily disable your error checking allowing the code to stop on the offending line.

[Monty51]

Would I do this in an immediate window or as a separate routine that executes at runtime? I'm uncertain on where this goes or how to invoke it.

Thanks

[Monty51]

Where exactly would I put this code, in an immediate window or save it as a separate routine somewhere in all the code modules? I'm uncertain where this goes or how to invoke it...I'm also not the most experienced at VBA, but I can at least recognize it

Thanks

[Monty51]

Posts number 9 and 10 were supposed to be a reply to post number 7.

[Welshgasman]

Add a new module ModTest or whatever you want to call it.
Copy and paste into there.
Click into the code and press F5, then look in the immediate window for the results.

[isladogs]

Error 3270 (property not found) occurs if you try to set the value of a property which doesn't exist.
I would strongly recommend you don't just use On Error Resume Next in your procedures (as suggested in post #2) as it will effectively suppress all errors without you being aware of them.

A safer alternative is to handle that specific error as part of your error handling routines. For example:

Public Sub UpdateLinkedTables()

On Error GoTo Err_Handler

...Your code goes here...

Exit_Handler:
    Exit Sub


Err_Handler:
    If Err.Number = 3270 Then 'property not found
        Resume Next
    Else
        MsgBox "Error " & Err.Number & " in UpdateLinkedTables routine :" & vbCrLf & "  - " & Err.description
        Resume Exit_Handler
    End If


End Sub

[moke123]

The first things I would do are those suggested by Ajax, Option explicit and error handling.
What code runs in your open event and timer events?
Try commenting out code to see where the error may be.

[Monty51]

Actually there are a number of those lines (I believe almost every single procedure has one, come to think of it), and I'll give that a whirl.

Thanks!