Word VBA Can't Exit Design Mode Error (Word 2003)

Question

I have a Word form that has a bunch of command buttons, form fields, and combo boxes. There is a lot of code associated with the form both in the "ThisDocument" object and another module I added.

If I open the form by double-clicking the document from Windows, it opens and works fine when I enable macros.

However, if I open Word first, and then go to File > Open to open the form, I get an error message "Can't Exit Design Mode because Control cmdInstructions can not be created.

I've seen this error on a few other users' computers also, and it sometimes refers to different controls, not just the cmdInstructions button.

This problem began when we upgraded to Word 2003. Again, if you double-click on the document in Windows to open it, there is no problem. The message only crops up when you have Word already open (with a blank new document).

Has anyone seen this problem before? What do I need to do to my code to avoid this problem?

Answer 1

It may be late, but the answer is to upgrade to Office 2003 Service Pack 3