PRB: Error 35603 "Invalid Key" with TreeView or ListView Control (204054)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
This article was previously published under Q204054

SYMPTOMS

If you add a ListItem to a ListView control or a node to a TreeView control when the value being assigned to the key is numeric or is a string that evaluates to a number (such as "123"), the following error message is raised:
Run-time error '35603':

Invalid key

CAUSE

Keys are restricted to non-numeric values for compatibility with the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) Collection Object. Although collections allow numeric keys, an error could occur if an item in a collection was accessed using exclamation (!) syntax with a numeric key.

RESOLUTION

Append a non-numeric character to numeric keys.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce the Behavior

  1. Create a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
  2. On the Project menu, click to select Components, check Microsoft Windows Common Controls, and then click OK.
  3. Add a ListView control, a TreeView control, and a CommandButton control to Form1.
  4. Add the following code to the Declarations section of Form1:
    Option Explicit

Private Sub Command1_Click()
' Uncomment either of the following lines to raise the error
' ListView1.ListItems(1).Key = "123"
' TreeView1.Nodes(1).Key = "123"
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Load()
 ListView1.ListItems.Add , , "Test1"
 TreeView1.Nodes.Add , , , "Node1"

' Uncomment either of the following lines to raise the error
' ListView1.ListItems.Add , "123", "Test2"
' TreeView1.Nodes.Add , , "123", "Node2"
End Sub
  5. Uncomment any of the commented lines of code in the Form_Load event and run the project. Note that the error message in the "Symptoms" section appears immediately. Clicking the Debug button selects the uncommented line.
  6. Stop the project and comment the line again.
  7. Uncomment either line of code in the Command1_Click event, run the project, and click on Command1. The error message in the "Symptoms" section appears. Clicking the Debug button selects the uncommented line.

Additional Notes

  • You can use the IsNumeric function to test values before you use them as keys.
  • The use of white space (such as spaces) as the only non-numeric characters or appending only a single Alpha character may fail, depending on the language selected in Regional Settings.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/16/2004
Keywords:kbCmnCtrls kbListView kbnofix kbprb kbTreeView KB204054
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