invalid procedure call with InStr()

nod · Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 10

I am getting an ' invalid procedure call or argument' error with
the following code which I am using to break down the line of a text
file. The line's contents are separated by tabs.

tabbing = Chr(9)
Dim nextEntry As String
tabPos = 0
nextTab = 0
Do Until EOF(1)
Line Input #1, nextLine
For i = 0 To 16
nextTab = InStr(tabPos, nextLine, tabbing)
nextEntry = Mid(nextLine, tabPos, nextTab - tabPos)
tabPos = nextTab

the error occurs at
nextTab = InStr(tabPos, nextLine, tabbing)

tabPos value is 0
tabbing value looks ok to me ( a box within inverted commas)
nextLine contains text and a lot of those symbols that are shown as
the tabbing value

I would be grateful if someone could explain how I should be doing
this.

Nod

Archived from group: microsoft>public>vb>syntax

nod · Joined: 09 Oct 2007 Posts: 10

Got it sorted by setting tabPos to 1.
I would still welcome any criticism of the code or approach.

Nod

John Mishefske · Joined: 04 Oct 2007 Posts: 26

nod wrote:
> Got it sorted by setting tabPos to 1.
> I would still welcome any criticism of the code or approach.

For whatever reason a zero value for the StartPos argument to the
InStr() function is invalid. The first character is at position 1.

At a minimum I'd expect the application help to be very clear on this
issue but the user is left to deduct this from the samples in help.

--
'--------------------------
' John Mishefske
' UtterAccess Editor
' 2007 Microsoft Access MVP
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