XL: GP Fault/Error Using For Each Statement with OLE Object Type

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a
• Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

In a Visual Basic module in Microsoft Excel, if you use the For Each...Next statement, and you declare the variable used to iterate through the elements of the collection as an OLE object type, such as MenuItem, you receive one of the following error messages when you run the macro procedure.

Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows, and

Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 5.0

   Run-time error '13':
   Type mismatch

Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0 and 7.0

   General Protection (GP) fault in module VBA.DLL

CAUSE

This behavior occurs only if an error is encountered while the objects are being retrieved from the collection. Object types that this problem may occur with include MenuItem, Sheet, and DrawingObject.

For example, if you run the following procedure

   Sub Show_Menu_Items()
       Dim m as MenuItem
       For Each m In Activemenubar.Menus("Tools").MenuItems
           MsgBox m.Caption
       Next
   End Sub

   Run-time error '13':
   Type mismatch

WORKAROUND

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

   http://www.microsoft.com/supportnet/refguide/ 

   Sub Show_Menu_Items()
       Dim m as Object
       For Each m In ActiveMenuBar.Menus("Tools").MenuItems
           MsgBox m.Caption
       Next
   End Sub

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here as it becomes available.

Note that in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, Microsoft Excel 97, and Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 5.0, you still receive the "type mismatch" error message, but you do not receive the GP fault. To avoid receiving this error message, use the workaround in this article.

MORE INFORMATION

An OLE object type is a type of object exposed by an application through Automation. Some of the types of objects that Microsoft Excel exposes through Automation include Application, File, and Sheet. In the following example, the variable MySheet is declared as Sheet type:

   Dim MySheet as Sheet

REFERENCES

For more information about the For Each...Next Statement, choose the Search button in the Visual Basic Reference and type:

    For