WD2000: BreakLink Method Deletes Object Reference (212570)

SYMPTOMS

When you have a Visual Basic for Applications macro that uses the BreakLink method in combination with an object reference, the following error message may appear:

Run-time error '5825':
Object has been deleted

For more information about the BreakLink Method, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type breaklink in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

CAUSE

The link the object variable referred to no longer exists.

You receive the "Object has been deleted" message if the macro has attempted to access an object that has been deleted. The object may have been deleted deliberately, such as with the Delete method, or it may have been deleted as a side effect of another operation, such as when a frame is added around an inline shape, which deletes the original inline shape and creates a copy of it in the frame.

WORKAROUND

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.
For more information about how to use the sample code in this article, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

212536 OFF2000: How to Run Sample Code from Knowledge Base Articles

To verify that an object still exists, use the IsObjectValid method.

This example adds a picture to the active document and assigns it to the variable sPIC. If the variable sPIC is true and the object exists, a message box containing True is returned. The macro then deletes the inserted picture object. If the variable sPIC is False and the object does not exist, a message box containing False is returned.

Sub testObject()

   Dim sPIC As InlineShape
   Set sPIC = ActiveDocument.InlineShapes.AddPicture _
     ("C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Bitmaps\Dbwiz\ledger.gif")
   MsgBox IsObjectValid(sPIC)     ' This will display True
   sPIC.Delete
   MsgBox IsObjectValid(sPIC)     ' This will display False

End Sub

For more information about the IsObjectValid property, in the Visual Basic Editor, click Microsoft Visual Basic Help on the Help menu, type IsObjectValid in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.

REFERENCES

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

212623 WD2000: Macro Programming Resources