Get Error Messages Directly from the System

Here is a routine used to get error messages directly from the system instead of
hard-coding them :

Sample :


       Call APIError

       ' *** Or
       Debug.Print ReturnAPIError(53)
       ' *** Return : The network path was not found.

' #VBIDEUtils#**************************************************
' * Programmer Name  : Waty Thierry
' * Web Site	 : www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/6311/
' * E-Mail		 : waty.thierry@usa.net
' * Date		 : 12/10/1998
' * Time		 : 20:20
' * Module Name	 : APIError_Module
' * Module Filename  : APIError.bas
' **************************************************************
' * Comments	 :
' * Used to get error messages directly from the
' *   system instead of hard-coding them
' *
' *
' **************************************************************

Option Explicit

Private Const FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM = &H1000 Private Const FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS = &H200

Private Declare Function FormatMessage Lib "kernel32" _ Alias "FormatMessageA" (ByVal dwFlags As Long, lpSource As Any, ByVal dwMessageId As Long, _ ByVal dwLanguageId As Long, ByVal lpBuffer As String, ByVal nSize _ As Long, Arguments As Long) As Long

' *** Status Codes Public Const INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE = -1& Public Const ERROR_SUCCESS = 0&

Public Function ReturnAPIError(ErrorCode As Long) As String ' #VBIDEUtils#*********************************************** ' * Programmer Name : Waty Thierry ' * Web Site : www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/6311/ ' * E-Mail : waty.thierry@usa.net ' * Date : 12/10/1998 ' * Time : 20:21 ' * Module Name : APIError_Module ' * Module Filename : APIError.bas ' * Procedure Name : ReturnAPIError ' * Parameters : ' * ErrorCode As Long ' *********************************************************** ' * Comments : ' * Takes an API error number, and returns ' * a descriptive text string of the error ' * ' ***********************************************************

Dim sBuffer As String

' *** Allocate the string, then get the system to ' *** tell us the error message associated with ' *** this error number sBuffer = String(256, 0) FormatMessage FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM Or _ FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS, 0&, ErrorCode, 0&, sBuffer, Len(sBuffer), 0&

' *** Strip the last null, then the last CrLf pair if it exists sBuffer = Left(sBuffer, InStr(sBuffer, vbNullChar) - 1) If Right$(sBuffer, 2) = Chr$(13) & Chr$(10) Then sBuffer = Mid$(sBuffer, 1, Len(sBuffer) - 2) End If

ReturnAPIError = sBuffer

End Function

Public Sub APIError() ' #VBIDEUtils#*********************************************** ' * Programmer Name : Waty Thierry ' * Web Site : www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/6311/ ' * E-Mail : waty.thierry@usa.net ' * Date : 12/10/1998 ' * Time : 20:35 ' * Module Name : APIError_Module ' * Module Filename : APIError.bas ' * Procedure Name : APIError ' * Parameters : ' *********************************************************** ' * Comments : ' * Takes an API error number, and returns ' * a descriptive text string of the error ' * ' ***********************************************************

Dim sError As String On Error GoTo ERROR_APIError sError = InputBox("Enter the error number", _ "Returns API error") If IsNumeric(sError) = False Then Exit Sub MsgBox ReturnAPIError(CLng(sError)), vbInformation + vbOKOnly, _ "Error n " & sError Exit Sub ERROR_APIError: MsgBox "Error n " & sError & vbCrLf & _ " Invalid error number" & vbCrLf & _ "You have to give another one", _ vbCritical + vbOKOnly, "Error n " & sError End Sub

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