PRB: "Ambiguous name detected" Compile-Time Error in VB 4.0 (129636)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 16-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 16-bit, for Windows 4.0
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit, for Windows 4.0
This article was previously published under Q129636

SYMPTOMS

Better type checking in Microsoft Visual Basic version 4.0 causes it to return a compile-time error message when you declare two functions (or subroutines) with the same name in the same module or form. This is a change in behavior from Microsoft Visual Basic version 3.0.

The error message returned is:
Ambiguous name detected: <function or sub name>

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

  1. Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
  2. Add the following code to the general declarations section of Form1: 
       Private Declare Function GetSystemDirectory Lib "Kernel" _
      (ByVal strBuffer As String, ByVal intSize As Integer) As Integer
   Private Declare Function GetSystemDirectory% Lib "Kernel" _
      (ByVal lpBuffer$, ByVal nSize%)
  3. Attempt to run the application by pressing the F5 key. Visual Basic will not run the application. Instead you will get this error message:
    Ambiguous name detected: GetSystemDirectory
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/9/2003
Keywords:kbprb KB129636
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.