XL97: Copy Method of Sheets Object Causes Invalid Page Fault (177634)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 97, when you programmatically add sheets to a workbook, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Windows 95

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 an error message similar to the following:

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

-or-

EXCEL caused an invalid page fault in module EXCEL.EXE at 015f:3023ab75

Windows NT

An application error has occurred and an application log is being generated.

EXCEL.exe
Exception: access violation(0xc0000005), Address: 0x307de830

and then Excel quits.

-or-

Run-time error '1004': Copy method of Worksheet class failed

WORKAROUND

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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

To work around this problem, try using code similar to the following to copy worksheets:

 Sub Copy Sheets()

    For x = 1 To 300
        Sheets.Add
        Workbooks("YourWorkBook.xls").Sheets("sheet1").Cells.Copy
        ActiveSheet.Paste
        Workbooks("YourWorkBook.xls").Sheets("sheet1").Select
    Next x

 End Sub

MORE INFORMATION

This problem occurs because each time you copy the same sheet a codename is assigned to the copy, and each time the sheet is copied, that codename becomes longer. For example, if you copy sheet1 once, the codename assigned to the sheet is sheet11. When you copy the sheet again, it is assigned sheet111, and so on. The codename has a maximum number of about 35 characters. When this limit is reached, Excel stops responding.

Example of the problem

NOTE: This example may cause Excel to stop responding. Please use with discretion.

Start Microsoft Excel 97.
Press ALT+F11 to start the Visual Basic Editor.
On the Insert menu, click Module.

Type the following into the new module sheet:

      Sub test()
         For x = 1 To 300
            ActiveSheet.Copy before:=Sheets(1)
            Sheets(1).Select
         Next x
      End Sub

Press ALT+F11 to return to Excel.
On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Macros. Select test and then click Run.

The macro will copy sheets in Excel until it stops responding.