Is it necessary to close an Adodb.recordset object before setting it to nothing?

Question

Dim rs as ADODB.Recordset
set rs = ReturnARecordset 'assume ReturnARecordset does just that...

'do something with rs

rs.Close
set rs = Nothing

Is it necessary to call rs.Close before setting it to nothing?

Edit: We have one global connection that we keep open for the duration of the application and all recordset objects use this same connection. I see two answers below talking about the need to close recordsets in order to ensure connections aren't left hanging open. To me that sounds like a lot of silly talk because connections are controlled with connection objects, not recordset objects right? But please let me know if I'm missing something here...

Answer 1

The only reason calling Close explicitly is when you are not sure if the recordset is referenced from somewhere else in your project, usually a result of some sloppy coding.

Dim rs as ADODB.Recordset
Set rs = ReturnARecordset
...
MyControl.ObscureMethod rs
...
Set rs = Nothing

Last line is supposed to terminate the recordset instance without calling Close explicitly, unless MyControl is holding an extra reference and thus preventing normal tear-down. Calling Close on rs will make sure MyControl cannot use its reference for anything useful, crashing in flames in the meantime.