XL: MS Excel Hangs When You Set Options for Custom Function

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, you will receive an Invalid Page Fault error or a general protection (GP) fault if you attempt to set options for a user- defined function that accepts variables of a user-defined type.

CAUSE

This error will only occur if both of the following conditions are true:

• The user-defined function accepts variables of a specified type. For example, the following function accepts a "NewType" type variable:

        Function Test(X As NewType)
           Test = "Hello"
        End Function
  
     NOTE: The problem will not occur if the function accepts variables
     of any type or if it does not accept variables at all.
  
     -and-
  
  

• The type of the variable being accepted by the function is a user- defined type. Any type NOT included in the following list is a user- defined type:

        Boolean   Integer
        Long      Single
        Double    Currency
        Date      Object
        String    Variant
  
  

WORKAROUND

To prevent this error from occurring, remove all variables from the user- defined function and then set the options for the function. Once the options have been set for the user-defined function, you can then add the variables back into the function.

For example, if your user-defined function reads as follows

   Function Test(X As Integer, Y As NewType)
      Test = X * Y
   End Function

   Function Test()

1. On the View menu, click Object Browser.

2. In the Methods/Properties list, click the name of the function.

3. click Options.

   Function Test(X As Integer, Y As NewType)

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.