XL97: Referenced Workbooks and Add-Ins Are Automatically Opened

In Microsoft Excel 97, 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 97. This 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 97.

In Microsoft Excel 97, you can create a reference from one workbook to another workbook or to an add-in by doing the following:

1. Switch to the workbook from which you want to create the reference.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Visual Basic Editor.
3. On the Tools menu, click References.
4. 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.
5. 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

Microsoft provides examples of Visual Basic for Applications procedures 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. The Visual Basic procedures in this article are provided 'as is' and Microsoft does not guarantee that they can be used in all situations. While Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular macro, they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality, nor will they help you construct macros to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to consult one of the Microsoft Solution Providers. Solution Providers offer a wide range of fee-based services, including creating custom macros. For more information about Microsoft Solution Providers, call Microsoft Customer Information Service at (800) 426-9400.

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: For example, if Book1.xls references Book2.xls, you receive the error message if a Visual Basic macro executes the following line of code: To prevent the error message from appearing, modify the Visual Basic code to the following:

Errors Closing Referenced Workbooks or Add-Ins

In Microsoft Excel 97, 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: For more information about this problem, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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

Because Microsoft Excel 97 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 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: If you click Cancel in the File Reservation dialog box, you may also receive the following error message: 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 change the reference to refer to each copy of the add-in. By doing this, you can prevent this problem from occurring.