XL97: Error Activating Chart Not on the Active Worksheet

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 97, when you run a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro or a Microsoft Excel 4.0 (XLM) macro that attempts to activate a chart object on a worksheet, you may receive the following error message:

   This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.
   If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.

   EXCEL caused an invalid page fault in module MSO97.DLL at
   0137:30705766.

   EXCEL caused an invalid page fault in module EXCEL.EXE at
   0137:301240ec.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if all of the following conditions are true:

• The macro uses a line of code similar to either of the following to activate the chart object:

        ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects("Chart 1").Activate
  

        -or-
  

        =UNHIDE("[Book1.xls]Sheet1 Chart 1")
  

      -and-
  

• The worksheet that contains the chart object is not the active worksheet.

      -and-
  

• The active worksheet contains split or frozen panes.

WORKAROUND

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/default.asp

Visual Basic Macro

If you are using a Visual Basic macro, modify the macro so that it contains code that is similar to the following:

   ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").Activate
   ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1").ChartObjects("Chart 1").Activate

XLM Macro

If you are using an XLM macro, modify the macro so that it contains code that is similar to the following:

   =ACTIVATE("Sheet1")
   =UNHIDE("[Book1.xls]Sheet1 Chart 1")

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

Note that the problem described in this article does not occur when a macro attempts to activate a chart object that is in the active worksheet. Also, the problem does not occur if the active worksheet does not contain split or frozen panes.