>Thanks for the help, but I am still not getting what I am looking for. I might be going about it the wrong way. Here is what I am doing.
>
>Dim oMapApp as Object
>
>' Is MapPoint Open or has oMapApp been assigned
>If VarType(oMapApp.Visible) = VariantType.Boolean 'Gives me an error
>End If
>
>If VarType(oMapApp) = VariantType.Object 'Returns True
> ' The above statement returns true because I dimmed it as an object, but
> ' I was hoping it would return false, since I haven't created the object
> ' yet. In FoxPro I would say - VARTYPE("oMapApp.Visible") = "L" - and
> ' if MapPoint was not created I was in business. What am I missing in
> ' VB, because it seems to be the same in VB.NET.
>Else
> oMapApp = CreateObject("MapPoint.Application")
>End If
>
>Thanks again for the help.
>
>Randy Belcher

Try this (although I don't recall if variants made it through VB.Net):

Dim oMapApp As Variant
If IsEmpty(oMapApp) Then
  'var has not been initialized
Else
  'variant can be checked with VarType() or TypeOf
End If