PRB: "Invalid Property Value" If TrueType Fonts Only Selected

• Standard, Professional, and Enterprise Editions of Microsoft Visual Basic, 16-bit and 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0
• Standard and Professional Editions of Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows, version 3.0

SYMPTOMS

If you have "TrueType fonts only" set in the Fonts applet in the Windows Control Panel, when you execute Visual Basic code that sets a Fontname property of a form or control to "MS Sans Serif" (or any other non-TrueType font), the program generates error 380:

   Invalid property value

   Form1.FontName = Form1.FontName

CAUSE

MS Sans Serif is the default font for every control created in Visual Basic. Visual Basic does not detect the 'True Types only' setting in the Fonts applet and is, therefore, unaware of the fact that "MS Sans Serif" is an invalid font choice. When the program causes an assignment of the Fontname, Visual Basic is bound to the 'True Types only' setting and rejects any Fontnames not on the list.

RESOLUTION

If you need to set your Fontname property, you can guarantee that the font chosen is valid by stepping through the Screen.Fonts collection with this code:

   Private Sub Form_Load()
      Dim AFontName As String
      Dim ItsLegal As Integer

      AFontName = "MS Sans Serif"

      For I = 1 To Screen.FontCount - 1
         If AFontName = Screen.Fonts(I) Then
            ItsLegal = True
            Exit For
         End If
      Next
      If ItsLegal Then
         Form1.FontName = AFontName
      Else
         MsgBox AFontName & " is not available."
      End If
   End Sub

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Start the Windows Control Panel in the Main group in Program Manager.

2. Start the Fonts applet.

3. Click the TrueType button, and select the "Show Only True Type Fonts in Applications" check box. Click OK.

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

5. Add the following code to the Form1_Load procedure:

      Sub Form1_Load()
         Form1.Fontname = Form1.Fontname
      End Sub
   
      -or-
   
      Sub Form1_Load ()
         Form1.Fontname = "MS Sans Serif"
      End Sub
   
   

6. Start the program by pressing the F5 key.