VBA debugging "Expected: =" - vba

Question

Function PrintTableDefs()
Dim aDB As DAO.Database
Dim aTD As DAO.TableDef
Dim aTableName As String
Dim aForeignTableName As String
Dim aString As String
Dim count As Integer
Set count = 0
Set aDB = CurrentDb()
For Each aTD In aDB.TableDefs
Debug.Print aTD.Name
Debug.Print aTD.Connect
Debug.Print ""
count = count + 1
Next
Debug.Print "There are " & count & "table defs."
End Function
When calling this function I get "Compile Error: Expected: =". I have noticed through other questions it is related to parentheses however being mildly unfamiliar with VBA I'm unsure where my syntax is off.

Answer 1

Remove the set from set count = 0
set is only for assigning object references and an Integer is not an object instance.

Answer 2

Alex pointed out the only issue in your function that could throw a compile error: you don't need a set to initialize your count variable, because it is not an object. The rest is correct and should not throw an error, so it is elsewhere.
However your code shows that you don't really understand what is the difference between a sub and a function and it might be helpful to explain it.
A function returns a value, a sub doesn't. That's what's make them different.
You are not returning any value so you should use a sub.
Although your code works fine, because functions that doesn't return a value are accepted by the VBA compiler, it is semantically incorrect and a bad programming habit.
You can make a proper function out of it by returning the number of tables you found (your count variable)
Sub test()
Debug.Print "There are " & PrintTableDefs() & " table defs."
End Sub
Function PrintTableDefs() As Integer
Dim aDB As DAO.Database
Dim aTD As DAO.TableDef
Dim aTableName As String
Dim aForeignTableName As String
Dim aString As String
Dim count As Integer
count = 0
Set aDB = CurrentDb
For Each aTD In aDB.TableDefs
Debug.Print aTD.Name
Debug.Print aTD.Connect
Debug.Print ""
count = count + 1
Next
PrintTableDefs = count
End Function
And if you don't need anything to be returned, make a sub:
Sub PrintTableDefs()
Dim aDB As DAO.Database
Dim aTD As DAO.TableDef
Dim aTableName As String
Dim aForeignTableName As String
Dim aString As String
Dim count As Integer
count = 0
Set aDB = CurrentDb
For Each aTD In aDB.TableDefs
Debug.Print aTD.Name
Debug.Print aTD.Connect
Debug.Print ""
count = count + 1
Next
Debug.Print "There are " & count & " table defs."
End Sub
Additionally, you don't need () when you assign the CurrentDb object :
Set aDB = CurrentDb

Answer 3

My experience is that when calling a function or subroutine in VBA, enclosing your parameters (or lack thereof) in parentheses will cause this error.
There are two ways I know of to handle this:
Just don't use parentheses and always call the sub or function without them. This is fine if you are going from "PrintTableDefs()" to "PrintTableDefs" but can be problematic if the call is nested in a control structure or as another parameter.
Keep your parentheses, because you like parentheses and they remind you of C based language syntax, which helps you forget you are using the sadness of VBA. In that case, always assign the value of a function to a variable "result = PrintTableDefs()" and always use the Call keyword when invoking subroutines.
As an aside: your function returns no value. You should probably replace it with a subroutine, which is done by just replacing the word "Function" with the word "Sub".