>>>I tried
>>>

>>>if vartype(loWord.visible) = 'U'
>>>   loWord = createobject("Word.Application")
>>>endif
>>>

>>>
>>>I get an error message that "RPC server is unavailable". How do I check if the server is available?
>>>
>>
>>Strange error and strange check. Did you first check that loWord is an object?
>
>I tried that first and it returned 'O'
>>
>>Always wrap createobject in try/catch block.
>
>I have not used try/catch blocks yet. How would I do that?

I was thinking meanwhile that if you already have loWord object you would not probably be able to create another instance of it (need to test).

Anyway, here is what you can do:

try
  loWord = createobject('Word.Application')
  * proceed with the rest of the code

catch to loException
  * Something went wrong, analyze the reason and loException object
finally
  if vartype(m.loWord) = 'O' && Object was created
     loWord.Close(0)
     loWord.Quit
     loWord = null
  endif
endtry