XL97: Using Quit Method May Cause Illegal Operation

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This article was previously published under Q159922

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SYMPTOMS

When you use the Quit method in a Visual Basic for Applications macro to quit Microsoft Excel 97, 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.

If you click Details, you receive the following error message:

EXCEL caused an invalid page fault in module EXCEL.EXE at 014f:3002dbae.

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CAUSE

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

You are controlling Microsoft Excel 97 through Automation from another program such as Microsoft Word 97, Microsoft Access 97, or Microsoft Visual Basic. -and-
In the macro, you set an object variable to refer to a worksheet in Microsoft Excel 97. -and-
You dimension the object variable that refers to a worksheet at the module level instead of the procedure level. (The "Dim" line is not contained in the actual subroutine.) -and-
You do not release the object variable (by setting it equal to Nothing in the macro) before you quit Microsoft Excel 97.

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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 professionals 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 a Microsoft Certified Partner or Microsoft Advisory Services. For more information, visit these Microsoft Web sites:

Microsoft Certified Partners - https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104 (https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104)

Microsoft Advisory Services - http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice)

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;cntactms) To prevent this problem from occurring, set object variables that refer to Microsoft Excel worksheet objects to Nothing before you quit Microsoft Excel 97. For example, use the following lines of code:

   Set xSheet = Nothing
   xlApp.Quit

Alternatively, dimension the object variables in the procedures in which they are used. For example, if you create a Test procedure that uses the xSheet variable, use the following lines of code:

   Sub Test()

       Dim xSheet As Object
       '<Code that uses xSheet>

   End Sub

instead of the following lines of code:

   Dim xSheet As Object

   Sub Test()

       '<Code that uses xSheet>

   End Sub

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem no longer occurs in Microsoft Excel 2000.

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MORE INFORMATION

The following example subroutine demonstrates when this problem may occur:

     'Dimension the object variable outside of the subroutine that uses it.
   Dim xSheet As Object

   Sub MakeXLCrash()

       'Create an instance of Microsoft Excel 97.
       Set xlApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application.8")

       'Make the instance of Microsoft Excel 97 visible.
       xlApp.Visible = True

       'Create a new workbook. Set object variables equal to the workbook
       'and to a sheet in the workbook.
       Set xWorkbook = xlApp.Workbooks.Add
       Set xSheet = xWorkbook.ActiveSheet

       'Quit the instance of Microsoft Excel 97.
       xlApp.Quit

   End Sub

If you type this code in a Visual Basic module in another program (for example, Microsoft Word 97), and then run the macro, Microsoft Excel 97 will stop responding (crash) when the macro executes the Quit. This occurs because the macro has not released object variable xSheet.

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

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kbbug kberrmsg KB159922

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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