XL98: Error with Invalid Characters in Drawing Object Name (182648)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q182648 SYMPTOMS
When you run a Visual Basic for Applications macro in Microsoft Excel 98
Macintosh Edition, you may receive the following error message:
Run-time error '1004':
Unable to get the DrawingObjects property of the Worksheet class
CAUSE
This error will occur if you attempt to reference a drawing object such as
a rectangle or an ellipse, or an AutoShape whose name contains non-valid
characters.
Valid characters for drawing object names include the following:
- Alphanumerics (A-Z, a-z, 0-9)
- Spaces ( )
- Underscores (_)
All other characters are invalid and should not be used in drawing object
names.
WORKAROUND
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.
The following line of code will fail:
ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects("Hello!").Select
The drawing object's name, Hello!, contains an exclamation point (!)
character, which is invalid. You can still reference it by using its index.
For example, if you know that the drawing object in question is the first
drawing object in the worksheet, you can reference it as follows:
ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects(1).Select
If your worksheet contains a large number of drawing objects, you can use a
loop to cycle through the drawing objects, checking each drawing object's
name. For example, this sample subroutine will loop through all of the
drawing objects in the active worksheet and select the drawing object named
"Hello!":
Sub Test()
For X = 1 To ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects.Count
If ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects(X).Name = "Hello!" Then
ActiveSheet.DrawingObjects(X).Select
Exit For
End If
Next X
End Sub
STATUS
This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition.
MORE INFORMATION
In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, you can create drawing objects and
AutoShapes by using the tools on the Drawing toolbar. After you have
created a drawing object, you can change its name by selecting it, clicking
the Name box to the left of the Formula Bar, typing a new name, and
pressing the RETURN key.
If you rename a drawing object so that its name includes invalid
characters, you cannot use a Visual Basic macro to directly reference the
drawing object by its name. If your drawing objects' names include such
characters, use the workaround shown in this article to reference the
drawing objects.
Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 9/11/2002 |
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Keywords: | kbdtacode kberrmsg kbprb KB182648 |
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