“Abort, Retry, Fail?” – MS-DOS error message circa 1986
This post provides a complete guide to VBA Error Handing. If you are looking for a quick summary then check out the quick guide table in the first section.
If you are looking for a particular topic on VBA Error Handing then check out the table of contents below(if it’s not visible click on the post header).
If you are new to VBA Error Handling, then you can read the post from start to finish as it is laid out in logical order.
A Quick Guide to Error Handing
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| On Error Goto 0 | When error occurs, the code stops and displays the error. |
| On Error Goto -1 | Clears the current error setting and reverts to the default. |
| On Error Resume Next | Ignores the error and continues on. |
| On Error Goto [Label] | Goes to a specific label when an error occurs. This allows us to handle the error. |
| Err Object | When an error occurs the error information is stored here. |
| Err.Number | The number of the error. (Only useful if you need to check a specific error occurred.) |
| Err.Description | Contains the error text. |
| Err.Source | You can populate this when you use Err.Raise. |
| Err.Raise | A function that allows you to generate your own error. |
| Error Function | Returns the error text from an error number. Obsolete. |
| Error Statement | Simulates an error. Use Err.Raise instead. |
The Webinar
Members of the Webinar Archives can access the webinar for this article by clicking on the image below.
(Note: Archive members have access to the webinar archive.)
Download the Error Handling Library
Introduction
Error Handling refers to code that is written to handle errors which occur when your application is running. These errors are normally caused by something outside your control like a missing file, database being unavailable, data being invalid etc.
If we think an error is likely to occur at some point, it is good practice to write specific code to handle the error if it occurs and deal with it.
For all other errors, we use generic code to deal with them. This is where the VBA error handling statement comes into play. They allow our application to deal gracefully with any errors we weren’t expecting.
To understand error handling we must first understand the different types of errors in VBA.
VBA Errors
There are three types of errors in VBA:
- Syntax
- Compilation
- Runtime
We use error handling to deal with runtime errors. Let’s have a look at each of these error types so that it is clear what a runtime error is.
Syntax Errors
If you have used VBA for any length of time you will have seen a syntax error. When you type a line and press return, VBA will evaluate the syntax and if it is not correct it will display an error message.
For example if you type If and forget the Then keyword, VBA will display the following error message
Some examples of syntax errors are
' then is missing If a > b ' equals is missing after i For i 2 To 7 ' missing right parenthesis b = left("ABCD",1
Syntax errors relate to one line only. They occur when the syntax of one line is incorrect.
Note: You can turn off the Syntax error dialog by going to Tools->Options and checking off “Auto Syntax Check”. The line will still appear red if there is an error but the dialog will not appear.
Compilation Errors
Compilation errors occur over more than one line. The syntax is correct on a single line but is incorrect when all the project code is taken into account.
Examples of compilation errors are:
- If statement without corresponding End If statement
- For without Next
- Select without End Select
- Calling a Sub or Function that does not exist
- Calling a Sub or Function with the wrong parameters
- Giving a Sub or Function the same name as a module
- Variables not declared(Option Explicit must be present at the top of the module)
The following screenshot shows a compilation error that occurs when a For loop has no matching Next statement.
Using Debug->Compile
To find compilation errors, we use Debug->Compile VBA Project from the Visual Basic menu.
When you select Debug->Compile, VBA displays the first error it comes across.
When this error is fixed, you can run Compile again and VBA will then find the next error.
Debug->Compile will also include syntax errors in it’s search which is very useful.
If there are no errors left and you run Debug->Compile , it may appear that nothing happened. However, “Compile” will be grayed out in the Debug menu. This means your application has no compilation errors at the current time.
Debug->Compile Error Summary
- Debug->Compile finds compilation(project wide) errors.
- It will also find syntax errors.
- It finds one error each time you use it.
- When there are no compilation errors left the Compile option will appear grayed out in the menu.
Debug->Compile Usage
You should always use Debug->Compile before you run your code. This ensures that your code has no compilation errors when you run it.
If you do not run Debug->Compile then VBA may find compile errors when it runs. These should not be confused with Runtime errors.
Runtime Errors
Runtime errors occur when your application is running. They are normally outside of your control but can be caused by errors in your code.
For example, imagine your application reads from an external workbook. If this file gets deleted then VBA will display an error when your code tries to open it.
Other examples of runtime errors are
- a database not being available
- the user entering invalid data
- a cell containing text instead of a number
As we have seen, the purpose of error handling is to deal with runtime errors when they occur.
Expected Versus Unexpected Errors
When we think a runtime error could occur we put code in place to handle it. For example, we would normally put code in place to deal with a file not being found.
The following code checks if the file exists before it tries to open it. If the file does not exist then a user friendly message is displayed and the code exits the sub.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub OpenFile() Dim sFile As String sFile = "C:docsdata.xlsx" ' Use Dir to check if file exists If Dir(sFile) = "" Then ' if file does not exist display message MsgBox "Could not find the file " & sFile Exit Sub End If ' Code will only reach here if file exists Workbooks.Open sFile End Sub
When we think an error is likely to occur at some point, it is good practice to add code to handle the situation. We normally refer to these errors as expected errors.
If we don’t have specific code to handle an error it is considered an unexpected error. We use the VBA error handling statements to handle the unexpected errors.
Runtime Errors that are not VBA Errors
Before we look at the VBA Handling there is one type of error we must mention. Some runtime errors are not considered errors by VBA but only by the user.
Let me explain this with an example. Imagine you have an application that requires you to add the values in the variables a and b
result = a + b
Let’s say you mistakenly use an asterisk instead of the plus sign
result = a * b
This is not a VBA error. Your code syntax is perfectly legal. However, from your requirements point of view it is an error.
These errors cannot be dealt with using error handling as they obviously won’t generate any error. You can deal with these errors using Unit Testing and Assertions. I have an in-depth post about using VBA assertions – see How to Make Your Code BulletProof.
The On Error Statement
As we have seen there are two ways to treat runtime errors
- Expected errors – write specific code to handle them.
- Unexpected errors – use VBA error handling statements to handle them.
The VBA On Error statement is used for error handling. This statement performs some action when an error occurs during runtime.
There are four different ways to use this statement
- On Error GoTo 0 – the code stops at the line with the error and displays a message.
- On Error Resume Next – the code moves to next line. No error message is displayed.
- On Error GoTo [label] – the code moves to a specific line or label. No error message is displayed. This is the one we use for error handling.
- On Error GoTo -1 – clears the current error.
Let’s look at each of these statements in turn.
On Error GoTo 0
This is the default behavior of VBA. In other words, if you don’t use On Error then this is the behavior you will see.
When an error occurs, VBA stops on the line with the error and displays the error message. The application requires user intervention with the code before it can continue. This could be fixing the error or restarting the application. In this scenario no error handling takes place.
Let’s look at an example. In the following code, we have not used any On Error line so VBA will use the On Error GoTo 0 behavior by default.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub UsingDefault() Dim x As Long, y As Long x = 6 y = 6 / 0 x = 7 End Sub
The second assignment line results in a divide by zero error. When we run this code we will get the error message shown in the screenshot below
When the error appears you can choose End or Debug
If you select End then the application simply stops.
If you select Debug the application stops on the error line as the screenshot below shows
This behaviour is fine when you are writing VBA code as it shows you the exact line with the error.
This behavior is unsuitable for an application that you are given to a user. These errors look unprofessional and they make the application look unstable.
An error like this is essentially the application crashing. The user cannot continue on without restarting the application. They may not use it at all until you fix the error for them.
By using On Error GoTo [label] we can give the user a more controlled error message. It also prevents the application stopping. We can get the application to perform in a predefined manner.
On Error Resume Next
Using On Error Resume Next tells VBA to ignore the error and continue on.
There are specific occasions when this is useful. Most of the time you should avoid using it.
If we add Resume Next to our example Sub then VBA will ignore the divide by zero error
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub UsingResumeNext() On Error Resume Next Dim x As Long, y As Long x = 6 y = 6 / 0 x = 7 End Sub
It is not a good idea to do this. If you ignore the error, then the behavior can be unpredictable. The error can affect the application in multiple ways.You could end up with invalid data. The problem is that you aren’t aware that something went wrong because you have suppressed the error.
The code below is an example of where using Resume Next is valid
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub SendMail() On Error Resume Next ' Requires Reference: ' Microsoft Outlook 15.0 Object Library Dim Outlook As Outlook.Application Set Outlook = New Outlook.Application If Outlook Is Nothing Then MsgBox "Cannot create Microsoft Outlook session." _ & " The email will not be sent." Exit Sub End If End Sub
In this code we are checking to see if Microsoft Outlook is available on a computer. All we want to know is if it is available or not. We are not interested in the specific error.
In the code above, we continue on if there is an error. Then in the next line we check the value of the Outlook variable. If there has been an error then the value of this variable will be set to Nothing.
This is an example of when Resume could be useful. The point is that even though we use Resume we are still checking for the error. The vast majority of the time you will not need to use Resume.
On Error GoTo [label]
This is how we use Error Handling in VBA. It is the equivalent of the Try and Catch functionality you see in languages such as C# and Java.
When an error occurs you send the error to a specific label. It is normally at the bottom of the sub.
Let’s apply this to the sub we have been using
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub UsingGotoLine() On Error GoTo eh Dim x As Long, y As Long x = 6 y = 6 / 0 x = 7 Done: Exit Sub eh: MsgBox "The following error occurred: " & Err.Description End Sub
The screenshot below shows what happens when an error occurs
VBA jumps to the eh label because we specified this in the On Error Goto line.
Note 1: The label we use in the On…GoTo statement, must be in the current Sub/Function. If not you will get a compilation error.
Note 2: When an error occurs when using On Error GoTo [label], the error handling returns to the default behaviour i.e. The code will stop on the line with the error and display the error message. See the next section for more information about this.
On Error GoTo -1
This statement is different than the other three. It is used to clear the current error rather than setting a particular behaviour.
When an error occurs using On Error GoTo [label], the error handling behaviour returns to the default behaviour i.e. “On Error GoTo 0”. That means that if another error occurs the code will stop on the current line.
This behaviour only applies to the current sub. Once we exit the sub, the error will be cleared automatically.
Take a look at the code below. The first error will cause the code to jump to the eh label. The second error will stop on the line with the 1034 error.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub TwoErrors() On Error Goto eh ' generate "Type mismatch" error Error (13) Done: Exit Sub eh: ' generate "Application-defined" error Error (1034) End Sub
If we add further error handling it will not work as the error trap has not been cleared.
In the code below we have added the line
On Error Goto eh_other
after we catch the first error.
This has no effect as the error has not been cleared. In other words the code will stop on the line with the error and display the message.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub TwoErrors() On Error Goto eh ' generate "Type mismatch" error Error (13) Done: Exit Sub eh: On Error Goto eh_other ' generate "Application-defined" error Error (1034) Exit Sub eh_other: Debug.Print "eh_other " & Err.Description End Sub
To clear the error we use On Error GoTo -1. Think of it like setting a mouse trap. When the trap goes off you need to set it again.
In the code below we add this line and the second error will now cause the code to jump to the eh_other label
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub TwoErrors() On Error Goto eh ' generate "Type mismatch" error Error (13) Done: Exit Sub eh: ' clear error On Error Goto -1 On Error Goto eh_other ' generate "Application-defined" error Error (1034) Exit Sub eh_other: Debug.Print "eh_other " & Err.Description End Sub
Note 1: There are probably rare cases where using On Error GoTo -1 is useful. In most cases using Resume Next is better as it clears the error and resumes the code at the next line after the error occurs.
Note 2: The Err Object has a member Clear. Using Clear clears the text and numbers in the Err object, but it does NOT reset the error.
Using On Error
As we have seen, VBA will do one of three things when an error occurs
- Stop and display the error.
- Ignore the error and continue on.
- Jump to a specific line.
VBA will always be set to one of these behaviors. When you use On Error, VBA will change to the behaviour you specify and forget about any previous behavior.
In the following Sub, VBA changes the error behaviour each time we use the On Error statement
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub ErrorStates() Dim x As Long ' Go to eh label if error On Error Goto eh ' this will ignore the error on the following line On Error Resume Next x = 1 / 0 ' this will display an error message on the following line On Error Goto 0 x = 1 / 0 Done: Exit Sub eh: Debug.Print Err.Description End Sub
Resume Next
The Resume Next statement is used to clear the error and then resume the code from the line after where the error occurred.
If your code can have multiple errors and you want to keep detecting them then this line is very useful.
For example, in the following code we want to resume the code after the error has been reported:
Private Sub Main() On Error Goto eh Dim i As Long For i = 1 To 3 ' Generate type mismatch error Error 13 Next i done: Exit Sub eh: Debug.Print i, Err.Description End Sub
We could use On Error Goto -1 to clear the code and then use a goto statement to go back to the code like this:
Private Sub Main() On Error Goto eh Dim i As Long For i = 1 To 3 ' Generate type mismatch error Error 13 continue: Next i done: Exit Sub eh: Debug.Print i, Err.Description On Error Goto -1 ' clear the error Goto continue ' return to the code End Sub
The Resume Next provides a nicer way of doing it and it always means the code is much clearer and easier to understand:
Private Sub Main() On Error Goto eh Dim i As Long For i = 1 To 3 ' Generate type mismatch error Error 13 continue: Next i done: Exit Sub eh: Debug.Print i, Err.Description ' clear the error and return to the code Resume Next End Sub
The Err Object
When an error occurs you can view details of the error using the Err object.
When an runtime error occurs, VBA automatically fills the Err object with details.
The code below will print “Error Number: 13 Type Mismatch” which occurs when we try to place a string value in the long integer total
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub UsingErr() On Error Goto eh Dim total As Long total = "aa" Done: Exit Sub eh: Debug.Print "Error number: " & Err.Number _ & " " & Err.Description End Sub
The Err.Description provides details of the error that occurs. This is the text you normally see when an error occurs e.g. “Type Mismatch”
The Err.Number is the ID number of the error e.g. the error number for “Type Mismatch” is 13. The only time you really need this is if you are checking that a specific error occurred and this is only necessary on rare occasions.
The Err.Source property seems like a great idea but it does not work for a VBA error. The source will return the project name, which hardly narrows down where the error occurred. However, if you create an error using Err.Raise you can set the source yourself and this can be very useful.
Getting the Line Number
The Erl function is used to return the line number where the error occurs.
It often causes confusion. In the following code, Erl will return zero
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub UsingErr() On Error Goto eh Dim val As Long val = "aa" Done: Exit Sub eh: Debug.Print Erl End Sub
This is because there are no line numbers present. Most people don’t realise it but VBA allows you to have line numbers.
If we change the Sub above to have line number it will now print out 20
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub UsingErr() 10 On Error Goto eh Dim val As Long 20 val = "aa" Done: 30 Exit Sub eh: 40 Debug.Print Erl End Sub
Adding line numbers to your code manually is cumbersome. However there are tools available that will allow you to easily add and remove line numbers to a sub.
When you are finished working on a project and hand it over to the user it can be useful to add line numbers at this point. If you use the error handling strategy in the last section of this post, then VBA will report the line where the error occurred.
Using Err.Raise
Err.Raise allows us to create errors. We can use it to create custom errors for our application which is very useful. It is the equivalent of the Throw statement in JavaC#.
The format is as follows
Err.Raise [error number], [error source], [error description]
Let’s look at a simple example. Imagine we want to ensure that a cell has an entry that has a length of 5 characters. We could have a specific message for this
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Const ERROR_INVALID_DATA As Long = vbObjectError + 513 Sub ReadWorksheet() On Error Goto eh If Len(Sheet1.Range("A1")) <> 5 Then Err.Raise ERROR_INVALID_DATA, "ReadWorksheet" _ , "The value in the cell A1 must have exactly 5 characters." End If ' continue on if cell has valid data Dim id As String id = Sheet1.Range("A1") Done: Exit Sub eh: ' Err.Raise will send code to here MsgBox "Error found: " & Err.Description End Sub
When we create an error using Err.Raise we need to give it a number. We can use any number from 513 to 65535 for our error. We must use vbObjectError with the number e.g.
Err.Raise vbObjectError + 513
Using Err.Clear
Err.Clear is used to clear the text and numbers from the Err.Object. In other words, it clears the description and number.If you want the clear the actual error you can use either On Error GoTo -1 or Resume Next
It is rare that you will need to use Err.Clear but let’s have a look at an example where you might.
In the code below we are counting the number of errors that will occur. To keep it simple we are generating an error for each odd number.
We check the error number each time we go through the loop. If the number does not equal zero then an error has occurred. Once we count the error we need to set the error number back to zero so it is ready to check for the next error.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub UsingErrClear() Dim count As Long, i As Long ' Continue if error as we will check the error number On Error Resume Next For i = 0 To 9 ' generate error for every second one If i Mod 2 = 0 Then Error (13) ' Check for error If Err.Number <> 0 Then count = count + 1 Err.Clear ' Clear Err once it is counted End If Next Debug.Print "The number of errors was: " & count End Sub
Note 1: Err.Clear resets the text and numbers in the error object but it does not clear the error – see Resume Next Or On Error GoTo -1 for more information about clearing the actual error.
Logging
Logging means writing information from your application when it is running. When an error occurs you can write the details to a text file so you have a record of the error.
The code below shows a very simple logging procedure
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub Logger(sType As String, sSource As String, sDetails As String) Dim sFilename As String sFilename = "C:templogging.txt" ' Archive file at certain size If FileLen(sFilename) > 20000 Then FileCopy sFilename _ , Replace(sFilename, ".txt", Format(Now, "ddmmyyyy hhmmss.txt")) Kill sFilename End If ' Open the file to write Dim filenumber As Variant filenumber = FreeFile Open sFilename For Append As #filenumber Print #filenumber, CStr(Now) & "," & sType & "," & sSource _ & "," & sDetails & "," & Application.UserName Close #filenumber End Sub
You can use it like this
' Create unique error number ' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Const ERROR_DATA_MISSING As Long = vbObjectError + 514 Sub CreateReport() On Error Goto eh If Sheet1.Range("A1") = "" Then Err.Raise ERROR_DATA_MISSING, "CreateReport", "Data is missing from Cell A1" End If ' other code here Done: Exit Sub eh: Logger "Error", Err.Source, Err.Description End Sub
The log is not only for recording errors. You can record other information as the application runs. When an error occurs you can then check the sequence of events before an error occurred.
Below is an example of logging. How you implement logging really depends on the nature of the application and how useful it will be:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub ReadingData() Logger "Information", "ReadingData()", "Starting to read data." Dim coll As New Collection ' add data to the collection coll.Add "Apple" coll.Add "Pear" If coll.Count < 3 Then Logger "Warning", "ReadingData()", "Number of data items is low." End If Logger "Information", "ReadingData()", "Number of data items is " & coll.Count Logger "Information", "ReadingData()", "Finished reading data." End Sub
Having a lot of information when dealing with an error can be very useful. Often the user may not give you accurate information about the error that occurred. By looking at the log you can get more accurate information about the information.
Other Error Related Items
This section covers some of the other Error Handling tools that VBA has. These items are considered obsolete but I have included them as they may exist in legacy code.
Error Function
The Error Function is used to print the error description from a given error number. It is included in VBA for backward compatibility and is not needed because you can use the Err.Description instead.
Below are some examples:
' Print the text "Division by zero" Debug.Print Error(11) ' Print the text "Type mismatch" Debug.Print Error(13) ' Print the text "File not found" Debug.Print Error(53)
Error Statement
The Error statement allows you to simulate an error. It is included in VBA for backward compatibility. You should use Err.Raise instead.
In the following code we simulate a “Divide by zero” error.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub SimDivError() On Error Goto eh ' This will create a division by zero error Error 11 Exit Sub eh: Debug.Print Err.Number, Err.Description End Sub
This statement is included in VBA for backward compatibility. You should use Err.Raise instead.
A Simple Error Handling Strategy
With all the different options you may be confused about how to use error handling in VBA. In this section, I’m going to show you how to implement a simple error handling strategy that you can use in all your applications.
The Basic Implementation
This is a simple overview of our strategy
- Place the On Error GoTo Label line at the start of our topmost sub.
- Place the error handling Label at the end of our topmost sub.
- If an expected error occurs then handle it and continue.
- If the application cannot continue then use Err.Raise to jump to the error handling label.
- If an unexpected error occurs the code will automatically jump to the error handling label.
The following image shows an overview of how this looks
The following code shows a simple implementation of this strategy:
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Public Const ERROR_NO_ACCOUNTS As Long = vbObjectError + 514 Sub BuildReport() On Error Goto eh ' If error in ReadAccounts then jump to error ReadAccounts ' Do something with the code Done: Exit Sub eh: ' All errors will jump to here MsgBox Err.Source & ": The following error occured " & Err.Description End Sub Sub ReadAccounts() ' EXPECTED ERROR - Can be handled by the code ' Application can handle A1 being zero If Sheet1.Range("A1") = 0 Then Sheet1.Range("A1") = 1 End If ' EXPECTED ERROR - cannot be handled by the code ' Application cannot continue if no accounts workbook If Dir("C:DocsAccount.xlsx") = "" Then Err.Raise ERROR_NO_ACCOUNTS, "UsingErr" _ , "There are no accounts present for this month." End If ' UNEXPECTED ERROR - cannot be handled by the code ' If cell B3 contains text we will get a type mismatch error Dim total As Long total = Sheet1.Range("B3") ' continue on and read accounts End Sub
This is a nice way of implementing error handling because
- We don’t need to add error handling code to every sub.
- If an error occurs then VBA exits the application gracefully.
A Complete Error Handling Strategy
The above strategy has one major drawback. It doesn’t provide any information about the error. It is better than having no strategy as it prevents the application crashing. But that is the only real benefit.
VBA doesn’t fill Err.Source with anything useful so we have to do this ourselves.
In this section, I am going to introduce a more complete error strategy. I have written two subs that perform all the heavy lifting so all you have to do is add them to your project.
The purpose of this strategy is to provide you with the Stack* and line number when an error exists.
*The Stack is the list of sub/functions that were currently in use when the error occurred.
This is our strategy
- Place error handling in all the subs.
- When an error occurs, the error handler adds details to the error and raises it again.
- When the error reaches the topmost sub it is displayed.
We are simply “bubbling” the error to the top. The following diagram shows a simple visual of what happens when an error occurs in Sub3
The only messy part to this is formatting the strings correctly. I have written two subs that handle this, so it is taken care of for you.
There are the two helper subs, RaiseError and DisplayError. You can download the library below:
An Example of using this strategy
Here is a simple coding example that uses these subs. In this strategy, we don’t place any code in the topmost sub. We only call subs from it.
' https://excelmacromastery.com/ Sub Topmost() On Error Goto EH Level1 Done: Exit Sub EH: DisplayError Err.source, Err.Description, "Module1.Topmost", Erl End Sub Sub Level1() On Error Goto EH Level2 Done: Exit Sub EH: RaiseError Err.Number, Err.source, "Module1.Level1", Err.Description, Erl End Sub Sub Level2() On Error Goto EH ' Error here Dim a As Long a = "7 / 0" Done: Exit Sub EH: RaiseError Err.Number, Err.source, "Module1.Level2", Err.Description, Erl End Sub
The result looks like this:
If your project has line numbers the result will include the line number of the error:
Error Handling in a Nutshell
- Error Handling is used to handle errors that occur when your application is running.
- You write specific code to handle expected errors. You use the VBA error handling statement On Error GoTo [label] to send VBA to a label when an unexpected error occurs.
- You can get details of the error from Err.Description.
- You can create your own error using Err.Raise.
- Using one On Error statement in the top most sub will catch all errors in subs that are called from here.
- If you want to record the name of the Sub with the error, you can update the error and rethrow it.
- You can use a log to record information about the application as it is running.
What’s Next?
Free VBA Tutorial If you are new to VBA or you want to sharpen your existing VBA skills then why not try out the The Ultimate VBA Tutorial.
Related Training: Get full access to the Excel VBA training webinars and all the tutorials.
(NOTE: Planning to build or manage a VBA Application? Learn how to build 10 Excel VBA applications from scratch.)
Excel VBA Errors & Error Handling, On Error & Resume Satements, Exit Statement, Err Object
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Contents:
VBA Erros & Error Handling
Error Handling Setting, in VBE
Error Handler
On Error Statements
Using an Exit Statement
Error Handling in Nested Procedures & The Resume Statement
Get Information from the Error Object
Raise Method of the Err Object: Generate a Run-time error
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Error Handling determines what is to be done next on the occurrence of an error. On encountering a run-time error, an On Error statement enables or disables an error-handling routine within a procedure. A Resume statement can only be used in an error-handling routine — it resumes execution at a sepcified point after the error-handline routine finishes. You can get information on the error from the properties of the Error object — this object is the Err Object. In this section, we cover:
VBA Erros & Error Handling
In vba programming you can have Syntax Errors or Run-time Errors. An error handler determines what action is to be taken within a procedure, on the occurrence of a run-time error.
A syntax error occurs when you enter a line of code which is not allowed or recognized by Visual Basic. You will encounter a syntax error on misspelling a keyword or a named argument, for incorrect punctuation (ex. not specifying a comma as a placeholder for the omitted argument), use an undefined procedure, and so on. These errors are easier to locate as the Code Editor points them out at the time you are writing your code.
A run-time error occurs at the time during which your code is running, that is after you have created your macro. There could be an error in your programming due to incorrect logic used in your code that prevents it from doing what you intended and may stop code execution, for example, if your code attempts to divide a value by zero. Another reason for an error which may cause even a valid code to crash could be a condition not being met, say, a reference to a worksheet in your code which has been deleted by the user. Other examples when a run-time error can occur are: on using incorrect variable names or variable types; if your code goes into an infinite loop; using a value or reference outside the allowable range; and so on. If you dont implement error handling in your macro, on encountering a run-time error your code will stop execution and go into Break Mode and display an error message, thereby confusing and frustrating the user.
Using Error Handling in VBA is an important tool for developers to trap & handle run-time errors in a vba procedure for seamless execution. It is important to set error handling in every procedure else your macro might just crash or stop executing on encountering a run-time error and vba will display a default error message and go into Break Mode allowing the user to debug your code.
Basic Error Handling hides the fault in the macro when it crashes and exits gracefully, and informs the users accordingly. Advanced Error Handling techniques involve saving information on the error cause and the point of the error, and attempt to resolve the error and provide information to the user on the next step.
Error Handling determines what is to be done next on the occurrence of an error. At a basic level, Error Handling involves two parts — (i) enables an error-handling routine with an On Error Statement on encountering an error, and (ii) an error-handling routine which is the section where the procedure flow is directed to on encountering an error. It is to be noted that an error-handling routine is not a procedure (Sub or Function) but a section of code marked by a line label or a line number. An On Error statement enables or disables an error-handling routine within a procedure.
Error Handling Setting, in VBE
You can determine how errors are handled in VBE, by selecting the appropriate option. In VBE, click Options on the Tools Menu, select the General tab in the dialog box. In the Error Trapping Section, you can select from 3 options.
Break on All Errors: Selecting this will stop your code execution and enter Break Mode on every error, even if you are using an error handler (including the On Error Resume Next statement), hence it is not advised to select this option.
Break on Unhandled Errors: This works well in that an error is trapped when an error handler is active else the error causes the macro to go into Break Mode, except for debugging class modules wherein on encountering an error the debugger stops on the line which calls the class and not on the actual error line in the class, thus making it difficult to spot the error and fixing it.
Break in Class Module: Selecting this option will cause an unhandled error in a class module to stop code execution and go into Break Mode at the actual error causing line of code in that class module, but does not work if you use raise errors in your classes via the Err.Raise command which will actually cause an “error”.
Error Handler
An error handler determines what action is to be taken within a procedure, on the occurrence of an error. An ‘enabled’ error handler is the one which is enabled by the On Error Statement; an ‘active’ error handler is the ‘enabled’ error handler which is in the process of handling an error. On encountering an error you may decide to exit the procedure, or else you may want to rectify the error and resume execution. For this you will use On Error statements or Resume statements. A Resume statement can only be used in an error-handling routine — it resumes execution after the error-handline routine finishes.
On Error Statements
On encountering a run-time error, an On Error statement enables or disables an error-handling routine within a procedure. If an error-handling routine is enabled, procedure flow is directed to the error-handling routine which handles the error.
On Error GoTo line
The On Error GoTo line Statement enables the error-handling routine, which is the section starting at the line specified in the line argument. The line argument is required to be specified, and it can be any line label or line number in the same procedure as the On Error statement. A compile-time error will occur if the specified line argument is not in the same procedure as as the On Error statement. The On Error GoTo statement traps all errors, without exceptions.
On Error Resume Next
This Statement specifies that on the occurrence of a run-time error, the procedure flow is directed to the next statement which follows the statement where the error occurred. This effectively skips the error and continues with the macro execution.
An On Error Resume Next statement becomes inactive on calling another procedure is called, hence it needs to be specified in every procedure that is called to use this error handling therein. Note that the properties of the Error object (Err Object) get cleared automatically when Resume Next is used in an error-handling routine, but not on using the Resume Next statement otherwise. Using the On Error Resume Next statement only defers error trapping & handling, whereas an error-handling routine handles the error and using the Resume Next statement therein resumes execution at same line that caused the error.
On Error GoTo 0
On Error GoTo 0 statement Disables any enabled error handler in the current procedure — it means as having no error handler in the code. This statement does not specify 0 as the start of the error-handling routine even though a line numbered 0 may be present in the procedure. An error handler is automatically disabled when a procedure is exited or if it has has run completely, if the procedure does not have an On Error GoTo 0 statement.
Using an Exit Statement
Placing an Exit Sub, Exit Function or Exit Property statement
For a procedure containing an error-handling routine, you will also need to include an exit routine within the procedure to ensure that the error-handling routine runs only if an error is encountered. This can be done by placing an Exit Sub, Exit Function or Exit Property statement immediately above the error-handling routine, if you don’t want it to execute when there is no error.
Single Exit Point
It may be preferable, not necessary, to have a single exit point in your procedure, so that after the Error Handler has handled the error, the procedure flow is directed to a point within the procedure so that the procedure exit is the same under all circumstances. This can be done by placing a Resume statement — Resume <Label> — the Label determines the point at which procedure flow is resumed after the Error Handler has handled the error. This Label has no effect on code execution if no error has occurred. It is preferable to have a single exit point because usually some type of clean up is required before the procedure exits, ex. you often enter Application.EnableEvents = False at the beginning of the code for a worksheet_change event and because EnableEvents is not automatically changed back to True you add Application.EnableEvents = True at the end of the code before exit. A single exit point will obviate the need to duplicate this clean up code in the error-handling routine.
Error Handling in Nested Procedures & The Resume Statement
Using a Resume Statement
A Resume statement can only be used in an error-handling routine — it resumes execution at a sepcified point after the error-handline routine finishes. You can aslo exit or end the procedure after the error-handling routine finishes and not necessarily use the Resume statement. We discuss below three types of syntax used for the Resume statement, and how the control transfers (ie. code execution resumes) by these Resume statements. You should always use a Resume statement instead of a GoTo statement within an error-handling routine, because using a «GoTo line» statement apparantly deactivates subsequent Error Handling — even though both Resume & GoTo statements direct procedure flow out of the error-handling routine.
Resume or Resume 0: Where the error occurrs in the same procedure as the error handler, control is returned to the statement that caused the error and execution resumes at this line. Where the error occurrs in a called procedure, control is returned to the last calling statement in the procedure containing the error handler.
Resume Next: Where the error occurrs in the same procedure as the error handler, control is returned to the next statement which follows the statement that caused the error and execution resumes at this line. Where the error occurrs in a called procedure, control is returned to the next statement which follows the last calling statement in the procedure containing the error handler.
Resume line: When an error occurrs in a procedure, control transfers to the line specified in the line argument. The line argument is a line label or line number and should be in the same procedure as the error handler.
Which Resume Statement to use:
The Resume or Resume 0 statement is used when it is necessary for the macro to correct the error and re-execute the corrected code — say when the user enters an invalid value and you want to prompt the user to enter a valid value and resume at the same line and re-excecute. The Resume Next statement is used when the error handler corrects the error and it is not required to re-execute the error code but to continue execution at the next line. The Resume line statement is used when you want to continue execution at another point in the procedure, which could also be an exit routine.
Given below are 2 Examples which illustrate using On Error Statements & Error Handler in a Procedure
Example 1:
Sub OnErrorResNxtSt()
‘using an On Error Resume Next Statement in a procedure for handling errors
‘a run-time error 1004 occurs while naming another sheet with the same name
‘execution flows to the next statement which follows the statement that caused the error
On Error Resume Next
Dim strNewName As String, ws As Worksheet, response As Integer
‘add a new worksheet at the end
ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets.Add After:=Worksheets(Sheets.Count)
WsName:
‘enter name for worksheet
strNewName = InputBox(«Enter Worksheet Name»)
‘StrPtr — String Pointer — function used to determine if Cancel button has been pressed.
If StrPtr(strNewName) = 0 Then
MsgBox «You have pressed Cancel, Exiting Procedure without changing Worksheet Name»
Exit Sub
End If
‘rename the new worksheet — if name already exists, a run-time error 1004 will occur
ActiveSheet.Name = strNewName
‘Check Err object Number property if it corresponds to the error no. 1004.
‘Error No. 1004 occurs if worksheet with the same name already exists
If Err = 1004 Then
response = MsgBox(«Name already Exists, do you want to retry?», vbYesNo + vbQuestion)
If response = vbYes Then
‘clear error
Err.Clear
‘if worksheet name already exists, enter a new name
GoTo WsName
Else
MsgBox «Exiting Procedure without changing Worksheet Name»
Exit Sub
End If
End If
‘returns 0 — either no error occurred or error was cleared
MsgBox Err.Number
End Sub
Example 2:
Sub OnErrorGoToSt()
‘using an On Error GoTo Statement in a procedure for handling errors, and a Resume statement within an error-handling routine
‘a run-time error 1004 occurs while naming another sheet with the same name
On Error GoTo ErrHandler
Dim strNewName As String, ws As Worksheet
‘add a new worksheet at the end
ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets.Add After:=Worksheets(Sheets.Count)
WsName:
‘enter name for worksheet
strNewName = InputBox(«Enter Worksheet Name«)
‘StrPtr — String Pointer — function used to determine if Cancel button has been pressed.
If StrPtr(strNewName) = 0 Then
MsgBox «You have pressed Cancel, Exiting Procedure»
GoTo exit_proc
End If
‘rename the new worksheet — if name already exists, a run-time error 1004 will occur
ActiveSheet.Name = strNewName
‘returns 0 — either no error occurred or error was cleared (using Resume statement in an error-handling routine, automatically clears the error)
MsgBox Err.Number
‘exit routine to skip error handler
exit_proc:
Exit Sub
ErrHandler:
‘Error No. 1004 occurs in this case if worksheet with the same name already exists
If Err = 1004 Then
MsgBox «Name already exists»
‘resumes execution at this point (WsName)
Resume WsName
Else
‘resumes execution at exit routine and exits sub
Resume exit_proc
End If
End Sub
Error Handling in a Called Procedure
If the called procedure in which an error has occurred does not have an error handler, VBA searches backward in the calling procedures for an enabled error handler, and if found the control is transferred to that error handler in the calling procedure. If an enabled error handler is not found in the backward search, then execution will stop in the current procedure displaying an error message.
Example 3: Error in Nested Procedures — in the absence of an error handler in the called procedure in which an error has occurred, VBA searches backward in the calling procedures and control is transferred to an enabled error handler, if present, in the calling procedure.
Sub CallMarksGrades()
‘this is the calling procedure, with an error handler and Resume statements — the error handler is capable of correcting Type Mismatch, Overflow & Division by Zero errors.
On Error GoTo ErrHandler
‘Declare constants to indicate likely errors
Dim iMarks As Integer, iTotalMarks As Integer, dPcnt As Double, response As Integer
Const conErrorTypeMismatch As Long = 13
Const conErrorDivZero As Long = 11
Const conErrorOverflow As Long = 6
M:
iMarks = InputBox(«Enter Marks«)
TM:
iTotalMarks = InputBox(«Enter Total Marks«)
‘call the MarksPercent function and the result is assgined to the local variable dPcnt
dPcnt = MarksPercent(iMarks, iTotalMarks)
MsgBox «Percentage is » & dPcnt & «%»
‘exit routine to skip error handler
exit_proc:
Exit Sub
ErrHandler:
MsgBox Err
‘Check Err object Number property if it corresponds to the Type Mismatch error
‘a Type Mismatch error will occur if you have entered a non-numerical or pressed Cancel in the Input Box
If Err = conErrorTypeMismatch Then
response = MsgBox(«You may have entered a non-numerical value or pressed Cancel, do you want to Exit procedure?», vbYesNo + vbQuestion)
If response = vbYes Then
Resume exit_proc
Else
‘after correcting the error, resume execution at the same line which caused the error ie. Input Box is re-generated for making a valid entry
Resume
End If
‘Check Err object Number property if it corresponds to the Overflow error (where values exceed limitations or allowable range)
ElseIf Err = conErrorOverflow Then
MsgBox «Overflow error — also possible if both Marks & Total Marks are zero»
‘after correcting an Overflow error, resume execution at the specified line ie. M, which generates the Input Boxes afresh
Resume M
‘Check Err object Number property if it corresponds to the Division by Zero error
ElseIf Err = conErrorDivZero Then
MsgBox «Division by Zero error — Total Marks cannot be zero»
‘after correcting a division by zero error, resume execution at the specified line ie. TM, which generates the Input Box for iTotalMarks
Resume TM
Else
‘control is returned to the next statement which follows the statement that caused the error
Resume Next
End If
End Sub
Function MarksPercent(Marks As Integer, TotalMarks As Integer) As Double
‘this is the called procedure — in case of an error in this procedure, say a division by zero run-time error no. 11, VBA searches backward in the calling procedures for an enabled error handler, and if found the control is transferred to that error handler in the calling procedure.
MarksPercent = Marks / TotalMarks * 100
MarksPercent = Round(MarksPercent, 2)
End Function
If an error occurs in a called procedure within an active error handler which does not correct for that error, using the Raise method to regenerate the original error will force Visual Basic to search backward through the calling procedures hierarchy for an enabled error handler. The Err object’s Raise method is useful to regenerate an original error in a vba procedure — refer the section on Error Object for details on the Raise Method. This is useful in cases where the called procedure’s error handler is not equipped to correct the error either because this type of error was not expected to occur in the called procedure or for any other reason. In this scenario the sequence will be that an error occurrs in a called procedure — the called procedure has an enabled error handler which does not correct the error, and the original error is regenerated using the Raise Method — Visual Basic is forced to do a backward search and execution flows to the error handler (if present) of the immediately preceding calling procedure, which may or may not correct the error — if the immediately preceding calling procedure does not have an error handler or its error handler is not capable of correcting the error and the error is regenerated then the backward search continues. If you do not regenerate the error in the called procedure whose enabled error handler is incapable of handling the error, the error may cause the macro to stop or continue with the error causing other errors.
Example 4: Error in Nested Procedures — for an error in a called procedure with an active error handler which does not correct for that error, on Regenerating the error with the Raise Method, VBA searches backward in the calling procedures and control is transferred to an enabled error handler, if present, in the calling procedure.
Sub Calling_Proc()
‘calling procedure — this handles any error, and corrects in case it is a File Not Found error no. 53
Const conFileNotFound As Integer = 53
On Error GoTo ErrHandler
‘call another procedure
Call Called_Proc
‘exit routine to skip error handler
exit_routine:
Exit Sub
‘error handling routine of the calling procedure
ErrHandler:
‘error is corrected if it is a File Not Found error no. 53
If Err = conFileNotFound Then
MsgBox «Error No 53 — File Not Found, will create a New File to Copy»
Dim strFileToCopy As String, strFileCopied As String
strFileToCopy = «Book11.xlsx«
strFileCopied = «Book22.xlsx«
‘create a new workbook:
Workbooks.Add
‘save as .xlsx file, the default Excel 2007 file format, using the FileFormat Enumeration xlOpenXMLWorkbook (value 51):
ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs fileName:=strFileToCopy, FileFormat:=xlOpenXMLWorkbook
‘close workbook after saving changes:
ActiveWorkbook.Close SaveChanges:=True
‘this will copy the file
FileCopy strFileToCopy, strFileCopied
MsgBox «File Created & Copied»
‘if error is other than a File Not Found error no. 53
Else
MsgBox «Unresolved Error, Exiting Procedure»
End If
‘resumes execution at exit routine and exits sub
Resume exit_routine
End Sub
Sub Called_Proc()
‘this is a called procedure with an error handler that will correct only a Path not found error no. 76
‘for any other error in this procedure, say if the file is not found in the path/directory, the Raise method is used to regenerate the original error and execution flows to an enabled error handler (if present) in the calling procedure
‘Declare constant to indicate anticipated error
Const conPathNotFound As Integer = 76
Dim strFilePath As String, intOrigErrNum As Integer
Dim strFileToCopy As String, strFileCopied As String
strFileToCopy = «Book11.xlsx«
strFileCopied = «Book22.xlsx«
On Error GoTo ErrHandler76
‘specify file path: PATH NOT FOUND ERROR OCCURS HERE
‘not finding the specified path will give a run-time error ’76’ — Path not found
strFilePath = «C:ExcelFiles«
ChDir strFilePath
‘OTHER ERROR OCCURS HERE
‘attempting to Copy a file which does not exist will give a run-time error ’53’ — File not found
FileCopy strFileToCopy, strFileCopied
MsgBox «File Copied»
‘exit routine to skip error handler
exit_proc:
Exit Sub
ErrHandler76:
‘Check Err object Number property if it corresponds to the Path not found error.
If Err = conPathNotFound Then
‘correcting the Path in the Error Handler
strFilePath = ThisWorkbook.Path
MsgBox «Correcting Error No 76 — Path changed to ThisWorkbook path»
‘after correcting the Path, resume execution at the same line which caused the error
Resume
Else
‘for an error other than error no. 76, determine error number.
intOrigErrNum = Err.Number
‘clear error
Err.Clear
MsgBox «Error is other than error no. 76 — will Search Backward in Calling Procedures for an Error Handler to correct this error»
‘Regenerate original error — this will search backward in the calling procedures for an Error Handler if its exists
Err.Raise intOrigErrNum
‘resumes execution at exit routine and exits sub — execution flows to an enabled error handler in the calling procedure if it exists
Resume exit_proc
End If
End Sub
Get Information from the Error Object
Err Object & Properties: On the occurrence of a run-time error, you can get information on the error from the properties of the Error object (this object is the Err Object), which will help you in managing the error and to determine what is to be done next. The Number Property (Err.Number) returns a numeric value specifying the error with a value of zero meaning no error — this is the error’s number. The Number Property is the default property of the Err object. The Description Property (Err.Description) returns a short description of the error but this may not exist at times — if no Visual Basic error corresponds to the Number property, the «Application-defined or object-defined error» message is used. The Description property returns a zero-length string («») if no run-time error has occurred or ErrorNumber is 0. The property settings of the Err object relate to the most recent run-time error, so it is important that your error-handling routine saves these values before the occurrence of another error.
Use the Clear Method (Err.Clear) to to explicitly clear all property settings of the Err object. Using an Exit Sub, Exit Function or Exit Property statement, or using Resume Next statement in an error-handling routine, automatically calls the Clear Method and resets the numeric properties (viz. Number property) of the Err object to zero and the string properties (viz. Description property) to zero-length strings («»). However, the properties of the Err object are not reset when you use any Resume statement outside of an error-handling routine. Err.Clear is used to clear the properties of the Err object properties after the error is handled — using the On Error Resume Next statement defers error handling, whereas an error-handling routine handles the error and using the Resume Next statement therein resumes execution at same line that caused the error. Note that setting the error number to zero (Err.Number = 0) is not the same as using the Clear method because this does not reset the description property.
Using the Source property (Err.Source) lets you know what generated the error — Source returns the name of the object or application that generated the error. Source contains the project name for an error in a standard module. Source is the programmatic ID of your application if an error is generated by your application from code. Source contains a name with the project.class form, for an error in a class module. Source can be specifically defined by the user while using the Raise Method to generate an error. This property may not be very useful in providing information on vba run-time erros as it basically returns the name of the project in which the error occurred.
For Error Handling within a procedure it is usual to programmatically use only the Number property of the Err object, while other properties of the Err object are useful to provide additional information to the user on the cause of the error. Many times in your code it may be preferable to use the On Error Resume Next statement over On Error GoTo statement, because by checking the Err object’s properties after each interaction with an object (line of code) you can determine which object or statement originally generated what error — refer Example 1.
Example 5: Illustrating some common run-time errors in vba, with their respective Error.Number & Error.Description
Sub RunTimeErrorsInVba()
‘Illustrating some common run-time errors in vba, with their respective Error.Number & Error.Description
‘Err.Source in all cases below is «VBAProject», except in 2 instances of Run-time error ‘1004’ wherein the Source is «Microsoft Office Excel»
‘Run-time error ’11’: Division by zero (dividing a number by zero will give this error)
MsgBox 2 / 0
‘Run-time error ‘9’: Subscript out of range (This error occurs if you attempt to access array elements & members of collections beyond their defined ranges. In this case Sheet does not exist — active Workbook contains only 3 sheets)
MsgBox Sheets(7).Name
‘Run-time error ‘1004’: Application-defined or object-defined error (invalid reference). Err.Source returns ‘VBAProject’
Cells(1, 1).Offset(-1, 0) = 5
‘Run-time error ‘1004’: Select method of Range class failed (Sheet1 is not the active sheet whereas Select Method is valid for active sheet only). Err.Source returns ‘Microsoft Office Excel’
Sheets(«Sheet1»).Cells(1, 1).Select
‘Run-time error ‘1004’: Cannot rename a sheet to the same name as another sheet, a referenced object library or a workbook referenced by Visual Basic (renaming the active sheet wherein sheet with the same name already exists).
Err.Source returns ‘Microsoft Office Excel’
ActiveSheet.Name = «Sheet1«
‘Run-time error ’76’: Path not found (the specified path is not found)
ChDir «C:ExcelClients»
‘Run-time error ’68’: Device unavailable (drive does not exist)
ChDrive «H»
‘run-time error ’53’ — File not found (copy or delete a file which does not exist viz. Book1.xlsx)
FileCopy ActiveWorkbook.Path & «» & «Book1.xlsx», ActiveWorkbook.Path & «» & «Book2.xlsx»
Kill ActiveWorkbook.Path & «» & «Book1.xlsx»
‘Run-time error ’91’: Object variable or With block variable not set (using an object variable that does not yet reference a valid object: an error is generated on the reference to ws because the Set statement is omitted viz. Set ws =
ActiveSheet)
Dim ws As Worksheet
ws = ActiveSheet
MsgBox ws.Name
‘Run-time error ‘424’: Object required (sheet name is not a valid object)
Dim ws As Worksheet
Set ws = ActiveSheet.Name
‘Run-time error ’13’: Type mismatch (variable is of incorrect type — reference is to a range object & not worksheet — variable should be declared as — Dim ws As Range)
Dim ws As Worksheet
Set ws = ActiveSheet.Cells(1, 1)
‘entering a string value in the input box below will give a Run-time error ’13’: Type mismatch
Dim result As Single
result = InputBox(«Enter a number»)
‘Run-time error ‘6’: Overflow (this error occurs if you attempt to assign values exceeding the assigned target’s limit — in the present case the value of i is larger than an integer because an integer can hold whole numbers in the range -32,768
to 32,767)
Dim i As Integer
i = 100 * 20000
MsgBox i
End Sub
Raise Method of the Err Object: Generate a Run-time error
Raise Method is used to generate a run-time error. You can raise either a pre-defined error using its corresponding error number, or generate a custom (user-defined) error. Though Raise can be used in place of the Error statement, but because errors generated by using the Error statement give richer information in the Err object, Raise is useful to generate run-time errors for system errors and class modules. Syntax: Err.Raise(Number, Source, Description, HelpFile, HelpContext). The Raise method generates a specific error and the Err object properties are populated with information on that error. Only the Number argument is necessary to specify in the Raise Method, and all other arguments are optional. If optional arguments are omitted and the Err object properties contain uncleared values, those values are assumed for your error values. The Err object’s Raise method is useful to regenerate an original error in a vba procedure — if an error occurs within an active error handler which does not correct for that error, using the Raise method to regenerate the original error will force Visual Basic to search backward through the calling procedures for an enabled error handler. This has been explained & illustrated in Example 4 above.
Arguments of Raise Method: The Number argument is the error’s number. The Source argument represents the source of the error. The Description argument describes the error providing additional information about it. The HelpFile and HelpContext arguments represent the help file and help context ID used to link help to the error message box.
Raise Custom Errors (user-defined errors) using the Err Object’s Raise Method:
You can deliberately generate custom (run-time) errors in vba code, using the Raise Method of the Err Object. You may want to generate a custom error when your code does something you don’t want, for example, to prevent a user from inputting data which may be outside an acceptable range, you can stop the macro by raising an error, complete with an error code and the source of occurrence. To enable this, use the Err object’s Raise method.
The arguments of the Raise Method correspond to the properties of the Err object, and all arguments except the Number argument are optional. While raising a custom error you can set your own custom arguments in the Raise Method. You can raise pre-defined errors using their respective error numbers, but for a custom error you cannot use an error number which is in conflict with any Office built-in error number. To set Err.Number for your custom error, add the number you select as an error code to the vbObjectError constant (-2147221504) to ensure your custom error number is not in conflict with any built-in error numbers, for ex. to return the number -2147220504 as an error code, assign vbObjectError + 1000 to the Err.Number property — Err.Raise vbObjectError + 1000. One option is to set the Source argument as the name of the procedure in which the error occurs.
Example 6: Raise a custom error using Raise Method of the Err object, if length of name is less than 4 characters
Sub RaiseCustomError_1()
‘raise a custom error using Raise Method of the Err object, if length of name is less than 4 characters
On Error GoTo CustomError_Err
Dim strName As String
strName = «Jo«
If Len(strName) < 4 Then
‘an error occurs if name length < 4 characters — raise a custom error
Err.Raise Number:=vbObjectError + 1000, Description:=»Minimum Length of Name is 4 characters«
Else
‘macro executes if no error
MsgBox «Name: » & strName
End If
‘if no error, display message is «Program Executed»
MsgBox «Program Executed»
CustomError_End:
Exit Sub
CustomError_Err:
‘Display error number and description in message box: «Error Number: -2147220504, Description: Minimum Length of Name is 4 characters»
MsgBox «Error Number: » & Err.Number & «, Description: » & Err.Description
‘display message is «Exit Program without Executing»
MsgBox «Exit Program without Executing»
‘resume execution at this point after error handler has handled an error
Resume CustomError_End
End Sub
Обработка ошибок в VBA Excel с помощью оператора On Error. Синтаксис выражений с оператором On Error. Пример кода с простым обработчиком ошибок.
On Error – это оператор, который используется для отслеживания ошибок во время исполнения кода VBA. При возникновении ошибки On Error передает информацию о ней в объект Err и включает программу обработки ошибок, начинающуюся с указанной строки.
В первую очередь, обработчик ошибок нужен для пользователей файлов Excel с кодами VBA. Любая ошибка приводит к прекращению выполнения программы, открытию редактора VBA с непонятным для пользователя сообщением или даже к полному зависанию приложения.
Обработчик ошибок позволяет завершить выполнение программы при возникновении ошибки и вывести сообщение пользователю с ее описанием.
Синтаксис выражений с On Error
Включает алгоритм обнаружения ошибок и, в случае возникновения ошибки, передает управление операторам обработчика ошибок с указанной в выражении строки. Stroka – это метка, после которой расположены операторы обработчика ошибок.
Включает алгоритм обнаружения ошибок и, в случае возникновения ошибки, передает управление оператору, следующему за оператором, вызвавшем ошибку.
Отключает любой включенный обработчик ошибок в текущей процедуре.
Простой обработчик ошибок
Шаблон простейшего обработчика ошибок:
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Sub Primer() On Error GoTo Stroka ‘Блок операторов процедуры Exit Sub Stroka: MsgBox «Произошла ошибка: « & Err.Description End Sub |
Оператор On Error GoTo размещается в начале процедуры, метка и обработчик ошибок – в конце процедуры. Название метки можно сменить на другое, в том числе на кириллице.
Оператор Exit Sub обеспечивает выход из процедуры, если блок операторов выполнен без ошибок. Для вывода описания ошибки используется свойство Description объекта Err.
Примеры обработки ошибок
Пример 1
Деление на ноль:
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Sub Primer1() On Error GoTo Инструкция Dim a As Double a = 45 / 0 Exit Sub Instr: MsgBox «Произошла ошибка: « & Err.Description End Sub |
Результат выполнения кода VBA Excel с обработчиком ошибок:
Пример 2
Выход за границы диапазона:
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Sub Primer2() On Error GoTo Instr Dim myRange As Range Set myRange = Range(«A1:D4»).Offset(—2) Exit Sub Instr: MsgBox «Произошла ошибка: « & Err.Description End Sub |
Результат выполнения кода VBA Excel с оператором On Error GoTo:
Пример использования выражений On Error Resume Next и On Error GoTo 0 смотрите в статье: Отбор уникальных значений с помощью Collection.