XL97: Overflow Error Occurs When Using Err Object

When you run a Visual Basic for Applications macro in Microsoft Excel 97, you may receive the following error message:

This problem may occur when all of the following conditions are true:

• You set the value of a variable equal to the value of the Err object in the macro; the following is a sample statement:

        ErrNum = Err

  -and-
• You dimension the variable in question as type Integer.
  
  -and-
• You use the Raise method of the Err object (Err.Raise) to generate a run-time error that has a value greater than 32767 or less than -32768.

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel.

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals 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 needs.
If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or Microsoft Advisory Services. For more information, visit these Microsoft Web sites:

Microsoft Certified Partners - https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104 (https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104)

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For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;cntactms) To work around this problem, dimension variables that will contain Err values as type Long. For example, instead of using use: This code ensures that you do not receive the overflow error message.

In Microsoft Excel, the Err object contains information about run-time errors that occur when you run a Visual Basic macro. You can determine the value of the last run-time error that occurs by reading the value of the Err object. For example, the following line of code sets the variable (ErrNum) equal to the value of the last run-time error that occurs: You can use the Raise method of the Err object to generate a run-time error with any value. For example, to generate a run-time error whose value is 50000, use the following code: If you use this code and set the value of a variable equal to the value of the Err object, as in the following code: you receive an overflow error if the variable (ErrNum) is dimensioned as type Integer.

NOTE: All run-time errors generated by Microsoft Excel 97 should have a value between -32768 and 32767. Therefore, you receive an overflow error only after you use Err.Raise to change the value of the Err object to a non-Integer value.