Hi Dirk, Your are correct, I was trying to keep the code simple.  The
variable is a collection and not a container.

Here's the actual code that I have in my program:  

Public Function read_DBTable(ByVal tblName As String, _
                             ByRef PKeys As Collection, _
                             ByRef FKeys As Collection, _
                             ByRef RecipeNames As Collection, _
                             ByRef numOfRows As Integer) As errType
 On Error GoTo ErrorHandler
 
 Dim conn As ADODB.Connection
 Dim rs As ADODB.recordSet
 Dim tmpSQLstr As String
 Dim strConn As String

 Debug.Print ""
 Debug.Print "clsDBManager[read_DBTable]: Entry Point "
 
 read_DBTable = noError
 
 ' open the connection using the tmpSQLstr parameter
 tmpSQLstr = "SELECT "
   tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + tblName & ".* "
 tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + " FROM "
   tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + tblName
   tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + " WHERE "
   tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + tblName
   tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + ".ForeignKey = 2 "
   tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + "ORDER BY "
   tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + tblName
   tmpSQLstr = tmpSQLstr + ".Name;"
   
 strConn = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" & _
           "Data Source=" & CurrentProject.Path & _
           "\" & parm.dbName & ";"
 
 ' open the connection us
 Set conn = New ADODB.Connection
 conn.Open strConn
 
 ' open database table
 Set rs = New ADODB.recordSet
 rs.Open tmpSQLstr, conn, adOpenKeyset, adLockOptimistic
 
 Debug.Print "   --- Opening database """ & parm.dbName & """ and table """
& tblName & """"
 
 If rs.BOF And rs.EOF Then
   MsgBox "clsDBManager[read_DBTable]: ERROR, did not find any records in
database table """ & tblName & """"
   Debug.Print "clsDBManager[read_DBTable]: ERROR, did not find any records
in database table """ & tblName & """"
   read_DBTable = errOccured
   Exit Function
 End If
 
 numOfRows = 1
 
 Do Until rs.EOF
   ' we don't want to store blank data in the collection; therefore, if we
   '   encounter a blank, we need to skip the record
   If IsNull(rs.Fields.Item(2)) Then
     read_DBTable = errOccured
     Debug.Print "clsDBManager[read_DBTable]: Error in table, check table
values [" & _
                                               rs.Fields.Item(0) & ":" & _
                                               rs.Fields.Item(1) & ":" & _
                                               rs.Fields.Item(2) & """]"
   Else
     PKeys.Add (rs.Fields.Item(0).value), CStr(numOfRows)
     FKeys.Add (rs.Fields.Item(1).value), CStr(numOfRows)
     RecipeNames.Add (rs.Fields.Item(2).value), CStr(numOfRows)

     Debug.Print "   --- Saving table data[" & numOfRows; "]: """ & _
                         rs.Fields.Item(0).value & ":" & _
                         rs.Fields.Item(1).value & ":" & _
                         rs.Fields.Item(2).value & """"

     numOfRows = numOfRows + 1
   End If

  ' move to the next row in the table
  rs.MoveNext
 Loop

' Add EOF Marker to last record in collection
 PKeys.Add 0, CStr(numOfRows)
 FKeys.Add 0, CStr(numOfRows)
 RecipeNames.Add "EOF", CStr(numOfRows)

' set the number of rows to include all the table data except the "EOF" record
' the "EOF" marker is there for safty reasons
 numOfRows = numOfRows - 1

' clean up
 rs.Close
 conn.Close

 Set rs = Nothing
 Set conn = Nothing

 Debug.Print "clsDBManager[read_DBTable]: Exit Point "
 Debug.Print ""
 
 Exit Function
 
ErrorHandler:
 read_DBTable = errOccured
 ' clean up
 If Not rs Is Nothing Then
     If rs.State = adStateOpen Then rs.Close
 End If
 
 Set rs = Nothing
   
 If Not conn Is Nothing Then
   If conn.State = adStateOpen Then conn.Close
 End If
 
 Set conn = Nothing
   
 If Err <> 0 Then
   MsgBox "clsDBManager[read_DBTable]: Error, in trying to open database"
   Debug.Print "clsDBManager[read_DBTable]: Error, in trying to open
database"
'    MsgBox Err.Source & "-->" & Err.Description, , "Error"
 End If
End Function