Q161288: HOWTO: Get More Information on the ODBC Call Failed Error

Article: Q161288
Product(s): Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows
Version(s): 2.5,5.0,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbODBC kbRDO kbVBp kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVBDB kbDSupport kbMDAC250
Last Modified: 11-JAN-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
- Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 
- Microsoft Data Access Components version 2.5 
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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. 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. However, this is not necessary under Visual Basic versions 4.0
and 5.0.

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 Standard EXE project. Form1 is added by default.

2. Add a CommandButton 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 CommandButton and you
  should receive error 3146, "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 one of the
  following error handlers:

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

        ' RDO Error Handler
        Dim MyError As rdoError
        MsgBox rdoErrors.Count
        For Each MyError In rdoEngine.rdoErrors
          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, pages 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

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Keywords          : kbODBC kbRDO kbVBp kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVBDB kbDSupport kbMDAC250 
Technology        : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB500Search kbVB600Search kbVBA500 kbVBA600 kbVB500 kbVB600 kbMDACSearch kbMDAC250
Version           : :2.5,5.0,6.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

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