I've written an Excel addin that periodically checks a remote repository for data updates, including a check when the addin loads at Excel start up (during the addin's Workbook_Open event). If new respository data is detected, the addin asks the user for permission to proceed with the update. If the user clicks "yes", the addin successfully updates itself and everything is happy... except...
If Excel is not already running and the user selects an Excel file to open (e.g. via double-click in Windows), this sequence of events occurs and everything works, but the user-requested file opening is interrupted and not re-engaged. The Excel app is running, but with no workbook loaded (the workbook area is an empty frame).
I believe I have two options, neither of which I know how to accomplish:
Prevent the addin from completing its update check until the user-selected file has completed its open sequence and is fully loaded, or
Allow the addin to update itself and then somehow re-engage the user-selected file to complete the file open/load.
I have not been able to discover the filename/path of the user-requested file, so my addin isn't able to direct that file to be loaded.
My current workaround is a MsgBox telling the user to close Excel and re-open the selected file. Ideally, the addin update should occur and the original action should complete without requiring user intervention.
(Building on Option 1, I could start a delay timer for the addin to check for updates XX number of seconds after Excel starts, but this seems kludgy to me.)
Any guidance or ideas are appreciated. My interwebz searches aren't hitting the right combination of keywords for the exact scenario.
Instead of opening the new addin update file immediately you can use OnTime to delay it which should allow the other file to open successfully. See here: Process for updating Excel add-in?
In the answer you'll also see a reference to this package here which does everything you need. Autoupdates are hard so I would recommend going with someone else's solution.
http://www.decisionmodels.com/downloads.htm#addload
(Scroll down to Add-In Loader Version 2)
Related
My objective is to write a log file, once a user open a PPT file and Travers to different slides, system write this information in log file.
Till now I tried following solutions:
1. Create a Add-in (PPA) and attach it manually in PPT file.
2. Create a button on first slide and on click event call Auto-Open event.
But ultimately I want to implement a solution to install Add-in by making entry in REGISTRY.
I already read this great article http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00469_Add_-_install_an_addin_via_the_registry.htm
I work along with Abhishek on this. This addin is only available to the user logged in and loaded the addin via file->options->cutomize ribbon. But we want to make this addin machine specific so that we dont have to load the addin each time.
Thanks and Regards,
RS
Is there any way I can lock or freeze the VBE editor to prevent others from accidentally editing the VBA code?
I don't want to lock down the whole workbook where people can run macros but can't see the code.
I want to let others see the code but don't want them accidentally deleting something and break the program (something even I am prone to doing to my code).
Just go to Visual Basic, right click your module, select VBA Project Properties..., under protection tab, you can lock your VBA code with password.
Hope this help. ^^
If you want the code to be visible and executable, then you can't stop people from making changes to it.
You can however, stop them from saving those changes, by opening the workbook as read-only.
You can mark a workbook as read-only in the File Properties from within File Explorer. Or, if your workbook is opened via Automation, then you can specify read-only in the open method.
Is there a way to have an Excel macro to check what file I double clicked on to open.
When I open that file, the Add-Ins installed load first, then the file I clicked on loads. How can I write code inside one of my Add-Ins to check what the filename is that I am trying to open?
I tackled this by using 2 instances of Workbook_Open inside an excel Addin.
When a file is loaded, the addin starts up, and checks to see if there are any active workbooks. If there is none, then we wait a little bit and check again, looped as many times as you deem necessary, or until there is a valid workbook open. This makes sure your computer has time to load up the excel file. Once there is an active workbook, we process it to make sure it is not the workbook of the addin. If it is, then we exit our code. If it isn't then we Do Stuff.
I solved 2 of my questions on this site with the same code that can be found HERE
Note: I left out the parts where I Do Stuff... because really it's there to do anything you want with it. The code in the link just does what the previous paragraph describes.
All of this is being done in VB.NET using the Excel 14.0 Interop Services
I am at my wits end. I keep getting prompts from windows and excel during the middle of a batch run.
The program i have takes in a workbook with batch records, then runs simulations on each batch record, then writes the results back out to the excel file.
The steps:
Open workbook
check to see if workbook is already in use by another program.
if it is in use. we try to close the workbook. then we wait for a set amount of time before trying again.
if the workbook is not in use we continue.
Get the contents
Mark the records as being processed
save and close the file.
process the records.
do the same process above to open the workbook.
save the results to the workbook.
close the workbook.
loop these processes until all the records have been simulated.
Ok the problems that can occur:
Workbook is already in use or two programs are trying to interact with the save workbook at the same time.
Ok now for the problem that i am having.
When the workbook is being interacted with by two programs at the same time. a prompt will show saying the file is currently in use.
another problem that happens that i can't explain is excel will show a prompt saying that the file is now ready to be modified with the options read-write, notify, cancel.
I need to find a way to handle these prompts programmatically.
If any one can point me in the right direction I would be very greatful.
You can prevent the prompts from appearing by setting:
Dim xlApp As Excel.Application = New Excel.Application
xlApp.DisplayEvents = False
But I've not found a way to actually "catch" the prompts and do something useful. I've noticed that often if Interop cannot get hold of a file then it will throw an exception. The exception rarely contains any way to distinguish what the actual error is, but you can sometimes work it out based on what could happen at that point.
This post is about installing XLAM's without creating links. (Everyone hates links). Consider the trivial addin:
Public Function UDF_HELLO(x)
UDF_HELLO = "Hello " & x
End Function
Put this code and nothing else into a Module and save as "Hello.xlam" on the Desktop (and NOT in the default excel addins folder). Next, while HELLO.XLAM is still open, create a new XLSX workbook with the formula
=UDF_Hello("world")
in cell A1, which simply displays "Hello world" in that cell. Save the workbook and exit Excel. Now, if you reopen the workbook without the XLAM, Excel will complain about "links to other sources ...". Whether you click "Update" or "Don't Update", Excel will mangle the formula in cell A1 like this:
='C:\Documents and Settings\tpascale\Desktop\Hello.xlam'!UDF_Hello("world")
Very often this "forced-linkage" is NOT desirable. In my computing environment there is a lot of ad-hoc analysis and it makes no sense to impose an install regimen on every XLAM we throw together to solve the problem of the day. I just want to hand out XLAM files to users and let those users open them when they need them, WITHOUT having to worry about the slightest mis-step causing their formulas to get mangled.
QUESTION:
Is there a way to instruct Excel to NEVER construct external links for UDFs, and simply to use UDFs if they're loaded and return #VALUEs otherwise ?
I don't know of a way around this with .xla/.xlam add-ins.
But this issue does not occur with .xll add-ins.
These can be created in C using the Excel 2010 SDK, or in managed languages like VB.NET or C# using the free Excel-DNA library.
(Disclaimer: I'm the developer of Excel-DNA. This issue is one of the reasons I went with the .xll interface for making managed UDF add-ins.)
You can have them open the .xla file and have an Auto_Open procedure install the add-in.
http://www.vbaexpress.com/kb/getarticle.php?kb_id=693
After excel closes you can have the add-in uninstall itself.
oAddIn.Installed = False
You can give your add-in a setting for the user to not uninstall after every use by using a worksheet named something then have cell A1 equal to true or false.
I haven't tested this but hopefully it works for you.
This should work to resolve your issue though it does not instruct Excel regarding external links. I have tested it myself by creating the XLAM, saving it to my desktop, installing it in the Excel add-ins and then using it on a new workbook.
Steps:
Once you have saved the add-in, close it.
Go to Excel Options-->Add-Ins
In the Manage drop-down select Excel Add-ins and press 'Go'
In the 'Add-Ins'dialogue that appears click 'Browse' and navigate to
the add-in you just created. Select it and hit 'Ok'
If prompted to save the add-in in the add-ins folder, select 'No'.
Selecting 'Yes' may cause an error if the add-in file suffix does
not match the version of Excel being used.
Your add-in should appear in the 'Add-Ins available' scrollbox,
check its box and hit 'Ok'
Your add-in should now be active whenever you open Excel.
Test this by opening a new workbook and try using your UDF.
Best,
I usually solve this problem by:
Saving an XLA/XLAM file (outside Personal folder, of course)
Connect to it in Tools - Addins
Write pseudo macros in your current Excel file that links to those macros / functions in the XLA/XLAM file.
See the detailed instructions in my reply here.