XL98: Referenced Workbooks and Add-Ins Are Automatically Opened

ID: Q181464

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, when you create a reference from a workbook to another workbook or to an add-in, the referenced workbook or add-in is automatically opened by Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition. This behavior is different from behavior in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel. In earlier versions, the referenced workbook or add-in is not automatically opened.

This article explains the problems that you may encounter when you reference other workbooks and add-ins in Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, you can create a reference from one workbook to another workbook or to an add-in by following these steps:

Switch to the workbook from which you want to create the reference.

On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Visual Basic Editor.

On the Tools menu, click References.

In the References dialog box, select the check box to the left of the file for which you want to create the reference. If the file is not listed, click Browse, select the file in the Add Reference dialog box, and then click Open.

When you are done, click OK.

A workbook that contains a reference to another workbook or to an add-in is a "referencing" workbook. A workbook or add-in that is referred to by another workbook is a "referenced" workbook.

Errors Opening Referenced Workbooks or Add-Ins with Visual Basic Macros

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If you attempt to use a Visual Basic for Applications macro to open a workbook or add-in that is already referenced by another open workbook, you may receive the following error message:

Run-time error '1004':
This workbook is currently referenced by another workbook and cannot be closed.

For example, if Book1 references Book2, you receive the error message if a Visual Basic macro executes the following line of code:

Workbooks.Open FileName:="Book2"

To prevent the error message from appearing, modify the Visual Basic code to the following:


   On Error Resume Next                   ' Prevents the error message.
   Workbooks.Open FileName:="Book2.xls"   ' Opens the workbook or add-in.
   On Error GoTo 0                        ' Restores normal error handling.

Errors Closing Referenced Workbooks or Add-Ins

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, you cannot close a referenced workbook or add-in if the referencing workbook is open. If you attempt to do so, you receive one of the following error messages:

This workbook is currently referenced by another workbook and cannot be closed.

-or-

Run-time error '1004':
This workbook is currently referenced by another workbook and cannot be closed.

For more information about this problem, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q159794 XL97: Cannot Programmatically Close Referenced Workbook

Errors When Multiple Users Reference the Same Workbook or Add-In

Because Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition automatically opens referenced workbooks and add-ins, you may experience problems if multiple users reference the same copy of a workbook or an add-in. This problem may occur if you create a reference to a workbook or to an add-in that is stored on a network server, or if you open a workbook that contains this kind of reference.

The first user who creates the reference does not receive an error message. However, all users who subsequently create a reference or open a workbook that contains this kind of reference may receive the following error message:

'<Filename>' is being modified by
<First user's name>
Open as Read-Only, or choose Notify to be alerted when it is available.

If you click Cancel in the File Reservation dialog box, you may also receive the following error message:

Can't add a reference to the specified file.

If you use a Visual Basic macro to open the referencing workbook, the previous error message may not appear immediately, and the workbook is opened without any problems. When the error message does appear, click Read-Only or Notify.

If multiple users share the same copy of an add-in, you may want to give each user a copy of the add-in, and then ask each user to change the reference to refer to each copy of the add-in. By doing this, you can prevent this problem from occurring.

Additional query words: XL98

Keywords : xlvbainfo
Version : MACINTOSH:98
Platform : MACINTOSH
Issue type : kbinfo