Error Message: Property or Method Not Found (180727)

SYMPTOMS

When you run a 16-bit program created using Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0, you may receive either of the following error messages:

Run-time error 438: Property or method not found

Run-time error 423: Object doesn't support this property or method

When either of these error messages occurs, the program may not be able to continue running and may terminate unexpectedly.

CAUSE

These error message can occur if the following conditions exist:

The 16-bit program references some of its controls as variables.

Windows 95 is configured for a region other than the Unites States.

There is not enough physical memory (RAM) in the computer for all the currently running programs to run completely in RAM memory.

There is a problem in the LSTRCMP and LSTRCMPI string-comparison functions in Windows 95. This problem prevents the string comparison from succeeding if Windows 95 is configured for a non-U.S. locale and one of the strings being compared is in a 16-bit segment that has been discarded. Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 relies on these string-comparison functions to find the program's controls, depending on how the program is written. The error message occurs if the program cannot find its controls.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, use any of the following methods:

Change the Windows 95 location setting to "English (United States)" using the Regional Settings tool in Control Panel.
Run the program in Microsoft Windows NT.
Compile the program as a 32-bit program.
Compile the program using Visual Basic 5.0, which does not mark code segments as discardable when the program is compiled.
Rewrite the program to change the way it references its controls. For information about this method, see the "More Information" section of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 relies on these string-comparison functions to find names of the program's controls when the controls are referenced as variables (see below). Programs created using Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 have their control names stored in code segments marked discardable. Under relatively low-memory conditions, one or more of these segments may be discarded, to be reloaded again as needed.

When non-U.S. regional settings are in use, the LSTRCMP and LSTRCMPI functions do not cause the discarded code segment to be reloaded when the strings are compared, and return a result indicating that the strings do not match. When the string comparison does not find the matching control name when it is needed, the program displays one of the error messages, may not be able to continue running, and may terminate unexpectedly.

The following code samples demonstrate how a control can be referenced as a variable with Visual Basic:

Example 1:

   Dim myForm As Form
   Set myForm = Form1
   If myForm.ssTab1.Tab = 1 Then ' Error 438 when (.) operator is used
        MsgBox "Tab 1"
   End If

Example 2:

   Dim myForm As Form
   Set myForm = Form1
   If myForm!ssTab1.Tab = 1 Then ' Error 423 when (!) operator is used
        MsgBox "Tab 1"
   End If

You can work around this problem by using the (.) operator and changing the code to use a Property procedure, as in this example:

   Dim myForm As Form
   Set myForm = Form1
   If myForm.Tab1.Tab = 1 Then ' No error with (.) operator
        MsgBox "Tab 1"
   End If

   Public Property Get Tab1() As Control
            Set Tab1 = ssTab1
   End Property