Knowledge Base

PRB: Naming Conflicts Between Variables and Objects

Article ID: 129898

Article Last Modified on 12/9/2003

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 Professional Edition
Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 Professional Edition
Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 16-bit Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 32-Bit Enterprise Edition

This article was previously published under Q129898

SYMPTOMS

Conflicts between the names of various constructs produce errors in Visual Basic version 4.0.

CAUSE

Problems of this type are caused by not taking into account the scope of variables and objects. When a conflict occurs, Visual Basic gives precedence to constructs of a narrower scope over those of a broader scope. Some cases of this type can be handled by Visual Basic's design time syntax checker, but others must be handled later (called late binding) in order to permit more versatility.

RESOLUTION

Use unique names for variables, objects, and other constructs whenever possible. When this is not possible, such as with type libraries, specify a fully qualified name (for example, OpenDialog.Help_Button) to avoid potential conflicts.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Variables

Variables have three possible levels of scope: local, module, and global. If two variables of the same name are defined, Visual Basic uses the variable of the narrowest scope. Therefore, by using unique names for local variables, you can avoid a problem.

Type and Object Libraries

Multiple type libraries may use the same name but give different values. The ShowHelp flag of the Common Dialog control has different values for each type of dialog that uses it. Attempting to refer to just ShowHelp produces the diagnostic "Ambiguous name detected" at run time.

To avoid conflicts, specify the fully qualified name of the construct, such as FileOpenConstants.ShowHelp. The "Ambiguous name detected" topic in the Help file describes the following other ways this message can be produced:

More than one object in the same scope may have elements with the same name. Qualify the element name by including the object name and a period. For example:
```
      Object.Property
                        
```
Module-level identifiers and project-level identifiers (module names and referenced project names) may be reused in a procedure although it makes programs harder to maintain and debug. However, if you want to refer to both items in the same procedure, the item having wider scope must be qualified. For example, if MyID is declared at the module level of MyModule, and then a procedure-level variable is declared with the same name in the module, references to the module-level variable must be appropriately qualified:
```
       Dim MyID As String

      Sub MySub
         MyModule.MyID = "This is module-level variable"
         Dim MyID As String
         MyID = "This is the procedure-level variable"
         Debug.Print MyID
         Debug.Print MyModule.MyID
      End Sub
                        
```
An identifier declared at module level conflicts with a procedure name. For example, this error occurs if the variable MyID is declared at module level, and then a procedure is defined with the same name:
```
       Public MyID

      Sub MyID
         '. . .
      End Sub
                        
```
In this case, change one of the names because modification with a common module name would not resolve the ambiguity. Note that procedure names are Public by default, but variable names are Private unless specified as Public.

Form and Module Names

Using the name of an internal function as the name of a Module, such as String.BAS, produces no diagnostic in the IDE. Attempting to run the program with references to the String$() functions produces the following diagnostic:

Expected variable or procedures, not module

Because Visual Basic considers the module definition to be of narrower scope than the internal function, it attempts to call the module as a function. Specifying the function as VBA.String$() resolves the issue, but selecting a different module name is the better option.

Keywords: kbprogramming kbprb KB129898

Microsoft KB Archive/129898

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