Subroutine isn't found. Is seen by compiler as variable.

PaulS

Summary

I have a subroutine VersionInfo which is called in the Initialize method.
When I run the program an error stop the program.
The error is:
clsInitialisation:5:1: Runtime error: Undefined variable 'VersionInfo'.
[Runtime Error] clsInitialisation.Initialize Line 1: Undefined variable 'VersionInfo'.

Objo Studio Version

26.5.7

Operating System

macOS Tahoe 26.5
Select the operating system(s) affected as tags for this post.

Steps To Reproduce

Expected Result

Subroutine should be seen as subroutine

Actual Result

Subroutine is seen as variable

Screenshots, Logs, Or Sample Project

Garry

Thanks for the report. This is a compiler bug.

Initialize is marked Shared, but VersionInfo is an instance Sub. A Shared method has no instance/Me, so it can’t call an instance method as VersionInfo().

The compiler should have caught that and shown a clear compile-time error. Instead it let the code through, and the VM then tried to resolve VersionInfo as a global name, which is why the runtime error says “Undefined variable”.

I’ve logged and fixed this for the next release: https://feedback.objo.dev/bug/283

For the current build, use one of these workarounds:

Make Initialize an instance method and call it on an instance.
Or make VersionInfo Shared too and call it via the class name:

clsInitialisation.VersionInfo()

In the next release, the original code will produce a proper compile-time error instead of failing at runtime.

PaulS

Make Initialize an instance method and call it on an instance.

I've tried that and kept the scope Public.

Initialize is called in the Opening Event of App.

If Not clsInitialisation.Initialize() Then
  System.Quit()
End If

Now I get an error in the IDE.
[Error] App.Opening Line 6: Type 'clsInitialisation' has no member 'Initialize'.

The Method scope is Public and to my knowledge should be available when using clsInitialisation.Initialize().

Garry

Ah, I should have been clearer about the second half of that workaround.

Public and Shared mean different things:

Public means the method is visible from outside the class.
Shared means the method belongs to the class itself and can be called as clsInitialisation.Initialize().

Once you remove Shared from Initialize, it becomes an instance method. So this call:

If Not clsInitialisation.Initialize() Then
  System.Quit()
End If

is still trying to call Initialize on the class itself, but Initialize no longer exists there. That is why the IDE says:

Type 'clsInitialisation' has no member 'Initialize'

The instance-method version needs to create an object first:

Var initialisation As New clsInitialisation()

If Not initialisation.Initialize() Then
  System.Quit()
End If

Alternatively, if you want to keep calling it as clsInitialisation.Initialize(), then Initialize must remain Shared, and any methods it calls without an object, such as VersionInfo, must also be Shared.

So this latest IDE error is expected. The original bug was that the compiler previously allowed a Shared method to call an instance method and only failed later at runtime. In the next release that original code will produce a clearer compile-time error.