XL97: Error Inserting ActiveX Object in a Worksheet

Last reviewed: February 12, 1998
Article ID: Q165450

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you insert an ActiveX control onto a Microsoft Excel worksheet, you may receive the following error message:

   Cannot insert object

CAUSE

You receive this error message if the ActiveX control that you are inserting does not support the IDataObject OLE interface.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel 97.

MORE INFORMATION

You can insert an ActiveX control onto a Microsoft Excel worksheet using the Control Toolbox toolbar. By default, only the controls in the Fm20.dll file that ships with Microsoft Office are available on the Control Toolbox toolbar. Clicking More Controls on the Control Toolbox toolbar displays a list of other ActiveX controls that are registered on your computer.

The following ActiveX controls are installed with Microsoft Excel 97. These controls are the only ActiveX controls that are fully tested and supported for use with Microsoft Excel.

 ActiveX
 Control Name          Installed with                          File Name
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------

 Check Box             Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Text Box              Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Command Button        Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Option Button         Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 List Box              Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Combo Box             Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Toggle Button         Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Spin Button           Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Scroll Bar            Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Label                 Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll
 Image                 Microsoft Office 97                     Fm20.dll

You can insert the following ActiveX controls onto a Microsoft Excel worksheet without receiving an error message. However, these ActiveX controls have not been tested for use on Microsoft Excel worksheets. These controls may not be fully functional.

 ActiveX
 Control Name          Installed with                          File Name
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Calendar Control     Microsoft Office 97                     Mscal.ocx
 Web Browser Control  Microsoft Office 97 ValuPack            Shdocvw.dll
 MsComm Control       Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Mscomm32.ocx
 MAPIMessages Control Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Msmapi32.ocx
 MAPISessions Control Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Msmapi32.ocx
 Masked Edit Control  Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Msmask32.ocx
 Picture Clip Control Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Piclclp32.ocx

NOTE: Other ActiveX controls that exhibit the behavior discussed in this article may be installed on your computer. These controls are not listed in the table.

When you insert the following ActiveX controls on a Microsoft Excel worksheet, you receive the error message in this article.

 ActiveX
 Control Name        Installed with                           File Name
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Animation Control   Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comct232.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 Common Dialog
 Control             Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comdlg32.ocx

 ImageList Control   Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 ListView Control    Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 Rich Textbox
 Control             Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Richtx32.ocx

 MSInet Control      Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx

 ProgressBar Control Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 Slider Control      Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 StatusBar Control   Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 TabStrip Control    Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 Toolbar Control     Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 TreeView Control    Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comctl32.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 UpDown Control      Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Comct232.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 WinSock Control     Microsoft Office 97, Developer Edition   Mswinsck.ocx
                     Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional

 Internet Transfer   Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional  Msinet.ocx

 FlexGrid
 Control             Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional Msflexgrid.ocx

 RichText Control    Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional  Richtx32.ocx

 Tabbed Dialog
 Control             Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional  Tabctl32.ocx

 DBList Control      Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional  Dblist32.ocx

 DBGrid Control      Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 Professional  Dbgrid32.ocx

NOTE: Other ActiveX controls that exhibit the behavior discussed in this article may be installed on your computer. These controls are not listed in the table.

REFERENCES

For more information about inserting ActiveX controls, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

   activex controls, adding

and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Add buttons, check boxes, or other controls to a worksheet" topic.

Additional query words: XL97 ocx ole active x
Keywords : xlui kberrmsg kbinterop
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb

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Last reviewed: February 12, 1998
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