XL97: Illegal Operation Using Chart Wizard

When you create a chart using the Chart Wizard, the following error message appears: If you click Details, an error message similar to the following appears: When you click Close, Microsoft Excel quits.

This problem occurs when you add the Dark Shading or the Light Shading tool to a toolbar, and then use the Chart Wizard to create a chart.

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods.

Method 1: Hide the Toolbar

Hide the toolbar that contains the shading buttons. To hide a toolbar, point to Toolbars on the View menu and click the name of the toolbar that you want to hide.

Method 2: Remove the Shading Tools

Remove the Dark Shading and Light Shading tools from your toolbar before you use the Chart Wizard. To remove a tool from a toolbar, hold down ALT, and then drag the button off the toolbar.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows, Service Release 1.

The Dark Shading and Light Shading tools allow you to add shading to cells and objects in a worksheet. You can add the tools to a custom or a built-in toolbar in the Customize dialog box. To display this dialog box, right- click a blank area on a toolbar and click Customize. To add a command to a toolbar, click the Commands tab in the Customize dialog box and drag an item from the Commands list onto a toolbar.

For additional information about creating custom tools, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: