Microsoft KB Archive/201979

= WD2000: Run-Time Error 5 Using Mid, Left, or Right Function =

Article ID: 201979

Article Last Modified on 6/17/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Word 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q201979



For a Microsoft Word 2002 version of this article, see 290969.



SYMPTOMS
When you use the Mid, Right, or Left function, the following error message may appear:

Run-time error '5': "Invalid procedure call or argument"



CAUSE
This problem occurs when the length argument for the statement is negative.

NOTE: In Word 2.0 for Windows, a negative value in the count argument of the Mid$, Right$, or Left$ functions is ignored and does not generate an error.

The Mid function returns a portion of a text string starting at a given character position. The syntax for the command is:

Mid(, [, ])

where is the text string to search, is the character position from which to start, and is the number of characters to return. If no argument is specified, or if there are fewer than characters in the text, the function returns all the characters from the position to the end of the string.

The following sample macro illustrates the error message described in the "Symptoms" section of this article:

Sub ErrorOccurs

Dim Test As String Test = Mid("hello", 1, -1) MsgBox Test

End Sub

The following sample macro returns the error because the length of the string variable (Test) minus one is a negative number (0 - 1 = -1):

Sub ErrorOccurs

Dim Test As String Dim ReturnText As String Test = ""

' Empty string, could be passed as an empty dialog ' variable, for example. ReturnText = Mid(Test, Len(Test) - 1)

End Sub

NOTE: Word 2.0 for Windows ignores a -1 value for the argument. So in Word 2.0, all the characters from the first character position to the end of the string appear in the message box. In the first example, the string "hello" appears.



RESOLUTION
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to 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 requirements.

To keep this error from occurring, first test the length of the string, as in the following example:

Sub ErrorDoesNotOccur

Dim Test As String Dim ReturnText As String

' Empty string, could be passed as an empty dialog ' variable, for example. Test = ""

' Test the length of the string to ensure ' that subtracting 1 from the length leaves ' at least 1 character. If Len(Test) - 1 > 0 then ReturnText = Mid(Test, Len(Test) - 1) End If

End Sub



MORE INFORMATION
For more information about Mid, Right, or Left functions, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type Returning Strings from Functions in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 163435

TITLE : VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Additional query words: vb parameter error 5 Run time Invalid procedure call or argument

Keywords: kbmacroexample kbprb kbdtacode KB201979

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