XL5: GP Fault Saving File with Invalid Name Reference

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, when you save a file to the Microsoft Excel 4.0 Worksheet or Workbook file format, you receive a general protection (GP) fault if the file contains an embedded chart with unattached text that references a name that contains an invalid reference.

CAUSE

This error occurs when you modify a defined name that is used on an embedded chart so that it refers to an invalid reference. For example, if an embedded chart contains unattached text that references the name TEST, and you modify the defined name TEST so that it refers to a workbook that does not exist, you receive a GP fault when you save the file to the Microsoft Excel 4.0 Worksheet or Workbook file format. Note that this error only occurs when you save a new file to the Microsoft Excel 4.0 Worksheet or Workbook file format. This problem does not occur if you save the file to the Microsoft Excel 5.0 Worksheet or Workbook format first.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

If you modify a name so that it refers to an invalid reference, and this name is used on a worksheet, the File Not Found dialog box appears, asking you to locate the file that the name is referencing. If you modify a name so that it refers to an invalid reference, and the name is used on a chart sheet, you do not receive an error message; however, you receive a GP fault when you save the file to the Microsoft Excel 4.0 Worksheet or Workbook format.

Note that you cannot use a name that contains an invalid reference on either a worksheet or a chart.