Description Property

Applies To

Error object.

Description

Returns a descriptive string associated with an error.

Return Values

The return value is a String data type that describes the error.

Remarks

The Description property comprises a short description of the error. Use this property to alert the user about an error that you cannot or do not want to handle.

See Also

AllowZeroLength property, Required property, TableDef object, ValidateOnSet property, ValidationRule property, ValidationText property, Value property.

Specifics (Microsoft Access)

In Microsoft Access, if you set the DAO DefaultValue property to GenUniqueID( ) to create an AutoNumber field, you must also set the Attributes property to dbAutoIncrement. If you don't set the Attributes property in this way, Microsoft Access won't assign the AutoNumber data type to the field, and you'll get an error when you try to view the table in Datasheet view.

The following code shows how you can create a field with the AutoNumber data type, given a TableDef object variable tdf and a Field object variable fld.

Set fld = tdf.CreateField("EmployeeID", dbLong)
fld.DefaultValue = "GenUniqueID()"
fld.Attributes = dbAutoIncrField
tdf.Fields.Append fld

If the DAO DefaultValue property setting is an expression, it can't contain user-defined functions, Microsoft Access domain aggregate functions, SQL aggregate functions, the CurrentUser function, the Eval function, or references to queries, forms, or other Field objects.

Example

This example forces an error, traps it, and displays the Description, Number, Source, HelpContext, and HelpFile properties of the resulting Error object.

Sub DescriptionX()

    Dim dbsTest As Database

    On Error GoTo ErrorHandler

    ' Intentionally trigger an error.
    Set dbsTest = OpenDatabase("NoDatabase")

    Exit Sub

ErrorHandler:
    Dim strError As String
    Dim errLoop As Error

    ' Enumerate Errors collection and display properties of
    ' each Error object.
    For Each errLoop In Errors
        With errLoop
            strError = _
                "Error #" & .Number & vbCr
            strError = strError & _
                "    " & .Description & vbCr
            strError = strError & _
                "    (Source: " & .Source & ")" & vbCr
            strError = strError & _
                "Press F1 to see topic " & .HelpContext & vbCr
            strError = strError & _
                "    in the file " & .HelpFile & "."
        End With
        MsgBox strError
    Next

    Resume Next

End Sub