DOCUMENT:Q154510  11-JAN-2001  [vbwin]
TITLE   :HOWTO: Get More Information on the ODBC Call Failed Error
PRODUCT :Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:4.0
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:kbVBp400

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 16-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 16-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
 - Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article describes how to get more information on the ODBC Call Failed
error. When errors occur using ODBC databases, Visual Basic will provide an
"ODBC Call Failed" error message. This generic error message provides no
specific detail so you must cycle through the Errors collection to get
additional information. This can be done with both the Visual Basic 16-bit and
32-bit editions. Below is a code sample that shows the difference in behavior.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The DBEngine has an Errors collection that can be manipulated by the FOR- EACH
construct. The JET Engine can store multiple errors in the DBEngine Errors
collection. In Visual Basic 3.0, it was possible to parse the string using the
routine shown on Page 175 of the Visual Basic 4.0 Professional Features Book
under the "Guide to Data Access Objects" section. The # symbol was used to
separate the "ODBC Call Failed" message from the detailed ODBC description in
Visual Basic 3.0 but this is not necessary under Visual Basic 4.0.

For the example below, a two-field table called MyTable has been set up on an
ODBC Source and a primary key set on the ID Field. Two records have been added
as below:

   Field      ID      Description
   ===============================
   Record 1    1      Hello
   Record 2    2      World

The code below will generate an error by trying to add a record with a duplicate
primary key value to test the code:

1. Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.

2. Add a Command button to Form1.

3. Add the following code to the General Declarations section of Form1:

      Option Explicit

      Private Sub Command1_Click()
        Dim db As Database
        Dim rs As Recordset
        On Error GoTo trap:
        Set db = OpenDatabase("")
        Set rs = db.OpenRecordset("Select * from MyTable")
        rs.AddNew
          rs.Fields(0).Value = 2
        rs.Update
        Exit Sub
      trap:
        MsgBox Errors.Count
        MsgBox Err.Number & " " & Err.Description
      End Sub

4. Press the F5 key to run the project. Click on the Command button and you
   should receive Error message 3146 stating "ODBC Call Failed." Although the
   Error count is greater than one, only one message will be displayed.

5. Remove the code from within the error trap and replace it with the following
   code:

      Dim MyError As Error
      MsgBox Errors.Count
      For Each MyError In DBEngine.Errors
        With MyError
          MsgBox .Number & " " & .Description
        End With
      Next MyError

6. Press the F5 key to run the project. You should see a detailed message and
   then the 3146 Error for "ODBC Call Failed."

REFERENCES
==========

Visual Basic 4.0 Professional Features, Chapter 9 of the "Guide to Data Access
Object."

Jet Database Engine Programmers Guide, Page 425-427.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

   Q120763 How to Retrieve Info from RAISERROR Function in SQL Server DB

Additional query words: errors Collection kbintluk

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Keywords          : kbVBp400 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbVB400Search kbVB400 kbVB16bitSearch
Version           : WINDOWS:4.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

=============================================================================

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