How to stop internal links from turning to #REF? - vba

Question

I have a tab (Tab A) in my workbook that has links to another tab (Tab B and Tab C) that VBA inserts with Application.GetOpenFilename. When I run the macro I get #REF! in Tab A for the formulas on that tab (the formulas reference the inserted tabs ie Tab B and Tab C). How can I prevent this from happening and to keep the formulas on Tab A intact?
Here is my code:
Sub Data_Tab()
'
' Data Tab Macro
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim LastCell As Range
Dim LastCellRowNumber As Long
Dim sourceSheet As Worksheet
Set sourceSheet = ActiveSheet
On Error Resume Next
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
Worksheets("CC_DMSR").Delete
Sheets.Add Before:=ActiveSheet
ActiveSheet.Name = "CC_DMSR"
Application.DisplayAlerts = True
Dim wb1 As Workbook
Dim wb2 As Workbook
Dim Sheet As Worksheet
Dim PasteStart As Range
Set wb1 = ActiveWorkbook
Set PasteStart = [CC_DMSR!A1]
Sheets("CC_DMSR").Select
Cells.Select
Selection.ClearContents
MsgBox "Please select the CC DMSR File"
FileToOpen = Application.GetOpenFilename _
(Title:="Please choose a Report to Parse", _
FileFilter:="Report Files *.xlsx (*.xlsx),")
If FileToOpen = False Then
MsgBox "No File Specified.", vbExclamation, "ERROR"
Exit Sub
Else
Set wb2 = Workbooks.Open(Filename:=FileToOpen)
For Each Sheet In wb2.Sheets
With Sheet.UsedRange
.Copy PasteStart
Set PasteStart = PasteStart.Offset(.Rows.Count)
End With
Next Sheet
End If
wb2.Close
On Error Resume Next
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
Worksheets("Submitted_DMSR").Delete
Sheets.Add Before:=ActiveSheet
ActiveSheet.Name = "Submitted_DMSR"
Application.DisplayAlerts = True
Set wb1 = ActiveWorkbook
Set PasteStart = [Submitted_DMSR!A1]
Sheets("Submitted_DMSR").Select
Cells.Select
Selection.ClearContents
MsgBox "Please select the Submitted DMSR File"
FileToOpen = Application.GetOpenFilename _
(Title:="Please choose a Report to Parse", _
FileFilter:="Report Files *.xlsx (*.xlsx),")
If FileToOpen = False Then
MsgBox "No File Specified.", vbExclamation, "ERROR"
Exit Sub
Else
Set wb2 = Workbooks.Open(Filename:=FileToOpen)
For Each Sheet In wb2.Sheets
With Sheet.UsedRange
.Copy PasteStart
Set PasteStart = PasteStart.Offset(.Rows.Count)
End With
Next Sheet
End If
wb2.Close
ActiveWorkbook.RefreshAll
ActiveSheet.PivotTables("PivotTable2").PivotCache.MissingItemsLimit = _
xlMissingItemsNone
ActiveSheet.PivotTables("PivotTable1").PivotCache.MissingItemsLimit = _
xlMissingItemsNone
With Sheets("Comparison").PivotTables("PivotTable1").PivotFields("TASK/TB")
.PivotItems("(blank)").Visible = False
End With
With Sheets("Comparison").PivotTables("PivotTable2").PivotFields("TASK/TB")
.PivotItems("(blank)").Visible = False
End With
Dim bottomrow As Long
Sheets("Comparison").Select
bottomrow = Cells(Rows.Count, "B").End(xlUp).Row
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
Range("D4:J4").AutoFill Destination:=Range("D4:J" & bottomrow), Type:=xlFillDefault
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
Call sourceSheet.Activate
End Sub

Answer 1

I'm not sure if just opening wb2 is introducing the REF errors or the insertion of the sheets.
E.g.
If you open workbook1, which has a formula which contains a reference to workbook2, and workbook2 is then opened in Protected Mode (per default settings), Excel will introduce REF errors in any cells with references to workbook2 (due to Protected mode).
If the above is your problem, then one way might be to add wb2 as trusted document or location, or Excel>File>Options>And turn off protected mode (inadvisable).
Irrespective of the above, other solution is you using:
Range.Find and loop through all cells with references to the
sheet(s) that will be inserted
Temporarily replace the first '=' with ' =' in these cells, which should turn the formula into a string value.
You then insert the sheets you want (string values can't experience REF errors)
Then replace ' =' with '=' to convert string back to Excel formula.
You could set a range object in step 1 that could then be reused in step 2 and 3.