ActiveControl will not point to an object until the Init has finished and the Activate has been run. You should be able to trap this with the Type() call as Mike said. I had this last week, will try to remember what caused it but I think it was the form going out of focus.

>The error is: " activecontrol is not an object"
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>The documentation says it generates an error if the control being referenced is not enabled. I have code to test the validity of the control that ensures it's not null. The error persists.
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>>>But activeControl.property generates an error when the form is first launched. But works fine there after. Any ideas why and how to resolve this. Or any better ideas of achieving this?
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>>What is the error? What else dose it say? Make sure Type('thisform.activecontol') = 'O' before you use it, does that prevent the error?