BindToMoniker Gets Two Windows then Windows(wb.Name).Visible Fails - vb.net

I'm trying to get an Excel file using BindToMoniker. For this question I'm starting with the no running instance of Excel (no workbooks open). It opens one Excel instance with two Excel windows shown. The one is entitled Excel and the other is titled with my workbook name. Neither of them show any open workbook.
Using Windows 10 64 bit with Excel 2016.
Dim wb As Excel.Workbook = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.BindToMoniker(PathName)
Dim xlApp As Object = wb.Parent
xlApp.Visible = True
'error here
xlApp.Windows(wb.Name).Visible = True
I should be able to unhide the window using xlApp.Windows(wb.Name).Visible = True instead I get a COMException: Invalid index. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8002000B (DISP_E_BADINDEX)) Just to verify I click on either window and in the View tab click Unhide. It shows the exact wb.name. I click OK to unhide and it does so just fine with the second window disappearing. Yet if I try to do that in the code it throws an error. So why does my code throw an error and/or how can I fix it?
EDIT:
This also throws an error "invalid index"
xlApp.Windows(1).Visible = True
EDIT 2:
This works
I break the code at xlApp.Windows(1).Visible = True
Click on the Excel window entitled with wb.name
Execute the line xlApp.Windows(1).Visible = True
My workbook is unhidden and all is well. But if I click on the other window entitled "Excel" then it doesn't find any windows and my workbook stays hidden. I don't understand why it's opening two windows. That seems to be a problem.
I tried restarting my computer; no change.
So why am I getting two windows and why can't it find the hidden workbook to unhide it? What's the solution?

Related

VBA - excel closes the previous workbook on opening the new one

I have a strange problem, I suscpect it's connected to the version of the Excel, but I'm not sure at all. I can't figure it out alone so I need your help. I have a macro, which operates on a fresh workbook - it's not saved anywhere, as the worker will save it manually afterwards. The macro is a .xlam format add-in, adding a couple of buttons to the ribbon and these buttons start the code.
Inside the code I have simple lines for opening a new workbook, chosen earlier by an user:
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
Set wbMPA = Workbooks.Open(MPA_file)
Application.DisplayAlerts = True
Earlier, the code sets active workbook as an object/workbook the macro will mainly work on (tried both versions):
Set dwb = Application.ActiveWorkbook
and later in the code
dwb.activate
OR:
dwb = ActiveWorkbook.Name
and then
workbooks(dwb).Activate
The lines are in separate subs, but the variable is globally declared.
The code works fine until the opening of wbMPA (watching it in the locals all the time). When I try to open the new file with the code above, the earlier workbook (dwb) just closes itself from unknown reasons.
The error I get from the 1st method is this:
error screenshot
The second one gives a simple "Subscipt out of range".
The errors, however, are not a problem. The problem is the cause of them, which is closing of the workbook from unknown reasons.
It happens only when I open the completely new workbook (using the excel icon on the Start bar) - when I do it from File -> New -> Blank Workbook using already opened workbook, the error does not occur.
Another strange thing - me and my colleague from work use 2013 version of Excel. I never have this error, she has it every time.
This is a general scheme of the code, other things are meaningless in this case because there are no other manipulations of workbooks/worksheets.
Dim dwb As Object
Dim wbMPA As Object
Sub_1()
Set dwb = ActiveWorkbook
Set wbMPA = Workbooks.Open(MPA_file)
Call Sub_2
End Sub
Sub_2()
dwb.Activate
End Sub
I get an error on the activation of dwb in Sub_2, because it closes itself for God knows what the reason on the opening of wbMPA in the Sub_1.
If you have only opened a blank workbook (clicking Excel from Toolbar, for example) and then you open any named workbook before making any changes to the blank workbook, the blank workbook will disappear. I believe that is normal/expected behavior.
I can't speculate why this happens on one computer but not another, but this is always how I have observed new/blank documents (Excel, PowerPoint, Word) to behave, and assume this to be the normal behavior. You may have some different option/configuration on your Excel environment which is changing this default behavior, or maybe you are slightly altering the blank file before running the macro, and your co-worker isn't, etc.
A word of caution to avoid relying on ActiveWorkbook -- and especially in this case if the expectation is to always Set dwb to a new/blank workbook, the best way to do that is to explicitly create a new/blank workbook, rather than relying on the user to manually open a new/blank target workbook.
Set dwb = Workbooks.Add
If, on the other hand dwb must be assigned to some other known/existing workbook, then you should be either providing the file path to an Open statement, or the workbook name to the Workbooks collection.
On a related note, it's almost never necessary to Activate a workbook, see here:
How to avoid using Select in Excel VBA macros
And further note: your variables aren't globally scoped, they're scoped only to the module using Dim statement. A public declaration uses the Public keyword, not the Dim keyword. Both module-scoped and global-scoped should be used with caution (Public moreso than module-scoped) and in most cases it's preferable to pass objects/variables by reference to dependent subs and functions:
How to make Excel VBA variables available to multiple macros?

Vlookup not working if open excel sheet in invisible mode?

I am retrieving data from another sheet using vlookup function, the source file opened in background mode, below is the code i used for hide the excel opening and screen update
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
app.Visible = False
But without above line vlookup working fine, when open in the invisible mode only vlookup function not working.
partner = "C:\K\KDt\Con.xls"
Set pf = app.Workbooks.Open(partner)
Set ps = pf.Worksheets("Con")
ThisWorkbook.Sheets("KQC").Range("H4:H" & k) = "=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(A4&""SP"",Contract_PARTNERS.xls!$H:$R,4,),"""")"
The issue is cause by how Excel treats links between workbook references. Your code is creating a link to a file that Excel expects is not open and is therefore incorrect. Even if it is not visible it is open.
To reference another workbook you do not have to have that file open at the same time.
Example formula when file is open:
=VLOOKUP(A1,'1.csv'!$A:$I,9,0)
Same formula when file is closed
=VLOOKUP(A1,'C:\Users\nable\Documents\csvs\[1.csv]1'!$A:$I,9,0)
Excel should auto make the adjustment when the file is open/closed if the link was established at the time the formula was put in.

VBA Dialogs.Show doesn't display warning message

Have Excel (2010 in my case but I think it will be the same also in other versions) with two workbooks. Save first one with name "1.xlx" (example) via Save As dialog. Save second one with the same name "1.xlx" to different location. Excel will not allow it with following warning message:
"You cannot save this workbook with the same name as another open workbook or add-in. Choose a different name, or close the other workbook or add-in before saving."
So far so good. But my problem is that I need to invoke dialog via VBA. I am using following code:
Sub test()
Application.Dialogs(XlBuiltInDialog.xlDialogSaveAs).Show
End Sub
Now I am trying to save second workbook (with the same name to different location) but when I click to 'Save' button nothing happen, no warning message. If I wouldn't know what is wrong it would be very difficult to tell. I didn't change any setting (there is nothing as DisplayAlerts set to true or so). Any idea how make SaveAs dialog invoked via VBA to display similar warnings?
I'm not sure why that doesn't give you an error, but it doesn't me either. If you use Application.FileDialog, you can get that error.
Sub testts()
With Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogSaveAs)
.Show
.Execute
End With
End Sub
Or you could use GetSaveAsFileName and check the names of all the open workbooks and generate the error yourself.
Can you try with the below code on starting on your code.
Application.DisplayAlerts = True

Vba closing excel applications/workbooks freezes

I have a problem with the following code:
Dim excelapp as object
set excelapp = CreateObject("excel.application")
dim ws as object
dim wb as Workbook
wb= excelapp.Workbooks.Open(path)
ws= wb.Sheets(1)
'in the code i send the worksheet object around by reference in order to read the
'worksheet and manipulate data, i dont create other instances of excel apps or
'workbooks
then i try :
wb.Close
and i have also tried :
excelapp.Quit
Neither have worked, they both freeze and say they are waiting on OLE actions, and i have multiple excel processes opening if i do not call these, when i try to open the excel files i had opened via code, i can only open them as read-only because theyre checked out to me.
I also tried executing a shell script that closes all applications "Excel.Exe" but it closes...the actual excel file where the vba is being executed, so thats not a good solution.
Thank you in advance.
It might be that the Excel app has detected that the workbook has changed and is putting up a dialog box (which is invisible because the app is not visible). Try:
wb.Close False
Which tells Excel to ignore any changes to the workbook.

Why do I get an HRESULT 0x800A03EC when using Worksheets.Visible?

I've been trying to figure out ways to tell the difference between instances of excel that load the worksheets and ones that don't
Currently I use code to open existing files that looks something like that:
Dim wkbWorkBook as Excel.Workbook
Dim objExcel As Excel.Application
wkbWorkBook = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.BindToMoniker(filename)
objExcel = wkbWorkBook.Parent
'To make the excel app visible while working with it:
objExcel.Visible = true
What i've noticed while using this code is that If I open a file that exists, but isn't open in excel, when I make the Excel Application visible, the Worksheets aren't visible, but they do exist (I can access worksheets.count and there is an appropriate number of sheets)
I try using Worksheets.Visible but I've noticed it only has an HRESULT error in the place where a "Visible" value would be.
The same error occurs when I try to get the Visible property even when the worksheets are visible (in cases when I BindToMoniker() a file that is currently open in excel.. )
Part of my question is why the BindToMoniker() + Application = workbook.Parent is always giving me an Excel Application without any sheets loaded.. I can't work with it when it's like that..
without gurantees, but I would say worksheets.visible -> won't work, becasue worksheets gives you a list of worksheets.
You cannot apply .visible on that -> you would have to use worksheets(1).visible
Additionally, if there aren't any worksheets, this should fail anyways. you would have to check your count of worksheets first.
Another thing - i don't know if this is possible under vb.net with interop, but maybe you can access specific worksheets through their internal codename - like this:
pobjExcel.table1.visible