XL97: F1 in Custom XLM Dialog Box Displays Office Assistant

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 97, when you use the Microsoft Excel 4.0 macro function Dialog.Box to display a custom dialog box, and you press F1 while the dialog box is active, your custom help file does not appear. Instead, the Office Assistant appears.

NOTE: If you clear the "Respond to F1 Key" check box in the Options tab in Office Assistant, the Microsoft Excel help file appears.

CAUSE

You cannot use the F1 key in Microsoft Excel 97 to display a custom help file while a Microsoft Excel 4.0 custom dialog box is active.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use the following steps:

1. Display the custom dialog box.

2. Click with the right mouse button (right-click) an area of the custom dialog box.

3. Click "What's This?"

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.