Knowledge Base

PRB: Key in VBA Collection Object Is Not Case-Sensitive

Article ID: 189251

Article Last Modified on 7/15/2004

Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 5.0
Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Learning Edition
Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Edition
Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Enterprise Edition
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 Q189251

SYMPTOMS

When trying to add or retrieve an element of a Collection using the Key property, the Key value is not case-sensitive. This is inconsistent with Collections elsewhere in Visual Basic.

RESOLUTION

If you need a Collection with a case-sensitive key, use the Dictionary Object. The Dictionary is quite similar to a Collection, but offers expanded functionality. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

187234 Use the Dictionary Object with Visual Basic

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior:

Start a new Standard EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.

Add the following code to the Form_Load event of Form1:

      Dim col As New Collection
      col.Add Key:="TEST", Item:="some data"
      col.Add Key:="Test", Item:="more data"

Run the project. You should see:
"Runtime Error '457': This Key is already associated with an element of this Collection."

Additional query words: kbDSupport kbDSD kbvba kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbNoKeyWord

Keywords: kbprb KB189251