OnError Macro Action

  • Article

You can use the OnError action to specify what should happen when an error occurs in a macro.

Setting

The OnError action has the following arguments.

Action argument

Description

Go to

Specify the general behavior that should occur when an error is encountered. Click the drop-down arrow and then click one of the following settings:

Setting Description
Next Microsoft Office Access 2007 records the details of the error in the MacroError object but does not stop the macro. The macro continues with the next action.
Macro Name Access stops the current macro and runs the macro that is named in the Macro Name argument.
Fail Access stops the current macro and displays an error message.

Macro Name

If the Go to argument is set to Macro Name, type the name of the macro to be used for error handling. The name you type must match a name in the Macro Name column of the current macro; you can't enter the name of a different macro object. In the example below, the ErrorHandler macro is contained in the same macro object as the OnError action. This argument must be left blank if the Go to argument is set to Next or Fail.

Remarks

  • The OnError action is usually placed at the beginning of a macro, but you can also place the action later in the macro. The rules established by the action will take effect whenever the action is run.

  • If you set the Go to argument to Fail, Access behaves the same way it would if there were no OnError action in the macro. That is, if an error is encountered, Access stops the macro and displays a standard error message. The main use for the Fail setting is to turn off any error handling that you established earlier in a macro.

Example

The following macro demonstrates the use of the OnError action. In this example, the OnError action specifies that Access run a custom error handling macro named ErrorHandler when an error occurs. When an error occurs, the CatchErrors submacro is called. If the error number is 2102, a specific message is displayed and macro execution is halted. Otherwise, a message describing the error is displayed and the macro is paused so that you can perform additional troubleshooting. The ErrorHandler macro displays a message box that refers to the MacroError object to display information about the error.

Sample code provided by: Access 2010 Programmers Reference book cover The Microsoft Access 2010 Programmer’s Reference | About the Contributors

/* MACRO: mcrThrowErrors                                  */
/* PURPOSE: Error handling using macros in Access 2010    */

OnError
    Go to Macro Name
    Macro Name CatchErrors

OpenForm 
    Form Name frmSamples
    View Form
    Filter Name
    Where Condition
    Data Mode
    Window Mode Normal

MessageBox 
    Message This message appears after the OpenForm action
    Beep Yes
    Type None
    Title


/* SUBMACRO: CatchErrors                                   */

SubMacro: CatchErrors
    If [MacroError].[Number]=2101 Then
        MessageBox
            Message Cannot find the specified form!
            Beep Yes
            Type Critical
            Title
        StopMacro

    Else
        MessageBox
            Message =[MacroErro].[Description]
            Beep Yes
            Type None
            Title Unhandled Error

        SingleStep
    End If

End SubMacro

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