PRB: Object Variable Not Set Error If Object Not Instantiated

 Last reviewed: October 30, 1995
Article ID: Q129836
The information in this article applies to:
  • Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions of Microsoft Visual Basic, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

Referencing an object that has not been instantiated results in this error: 

   "Object variable or With block variable not Set"
   (Err = 91)

CAUSE

If you declare an object as in this example: 

   Dim MyForm as Form1
you have allocated a reference to the object (similar to a pointer in the C programming language), but you have not allocated or instantiated the object itself.

Therefore, when the object is referenced in code as in this example: 

   MyForm.Print "Hello World!"
the error message "Object variable or With block not Set" is generated.

RESOLUTION

The following three code examples demonstrate how to declare and use an object variable (MyForm in this case) correctly:

Code Sample One

Dim MyForm as Form1 Set MyForm = New Form1 

' Where the object type is the same as the object type used in the
' declaration.
MyForm.Print "Hello World!"

Code Sample Two

Dim MyForm as New Form1 MyForm.Print "Hello World!"

Code Sample Three

Dim MyForm as Form1 Dim MyForm1 as New Form1 Set MyForm= MyForm1 MyForm.Print "Hello World!"

Additional reference words: 4.00 vb4win vb4all
KBCategory: kbprg kbcode kbprb
KBSubcategory: IAPVBA

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Last reviewed: October 30, 1995
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