SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Excel, if a workbook is not visible in the workspace, and you
run a macro or procedure that attempts to display a built-in dialog box
that requires that a workbook be active, the following error message may appear:
Run-time error '1004':
Show method of Dialog Class failed.
WORKAROUND
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To work around this problem, you must make at least one workbook visible in
the workspace before you attempt to display the built-in dialog box.
Sample Visual Basic Procedure
The following Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro is an example
of how to show the
Save As dialog box when all open workbooks are hidden.
Sub SaveHidden()
' Sets the Visible property to False.
ActiveWindow.Visible = False
' Sets ScreenUpdating to False.
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
' Sets the macro workbook Visible property to True.
Windows(ThisWorkbook.Name).Visible = True
' Displays the SaveAs Dialogbox.
Application.Dialogs(xlDialogSaveAs).Show ("Book1.xls")
' Resets the Visible property to False.
ActiveWindow.Visible = False
End Sub