FIX: GPF/UAE When Large Tag w/ MultiSelect of 30+ Controls

The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual Basic programming system for Windows, version 2.0

SYMPTOMS

If you repeatedly select multiples of several controls on a form, and then attempt to set the Tag property of the controls to a long string, Visual Basic may display an out of memory error followed by a General Protection (GP) fault or Unrecoverable Application Error (UAE).

This problem occurs only in the Visual Basic development environment (VB.EXE), not when running the application.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a bug in Microsoft Visual Basic version 2.0 for Windows. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Visual Basic version 3.0 for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

To reproduce the problem, repetitively select 30 or more controls and then enter a considerable amount of text for the Tag property. The likelihood of this problem occurring goes up with the number of controls selected and the amount of text assigned to the Tag property.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Start Visual Basic or if Visual Basic is already running, choose New Project from the File menu (ALT, F, N). Form1 is created by default.

2. Add 30 or more controls to Form1.

3. Select all of the controls on Form1.

4. Assign a large amount of text to the Tag property of the controls on Form1. For example, hold down the A key for about one minute to assign a long string of A characters to the Tag property.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 above. Eventually, you will receive an out of memory error. After you get the error, Visual Basic will stop responding (hang) by continually displaying the out of memory message or you will encounter a GP fault or a UAE.