XL97: Page Fault Occurs When Running DDE Macro or Closing Windows (169176)

SYMPTOMS

When you run a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro or procedure that uses Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) commands, or you try to restart or shut down Microsoft Windows after running such a macro or procedure, one of the following error messages appears.

Microsoft Windows 95 or 98

This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

If the problem persists, contact the program vendor.

When you click Details, an error message similar to one of the following appears:

EXCEL caused an invalid page fault in module OLEAUT32.DLL at 0137:65349854.

-or-

EXCEL caused an invalid page fault in module EXCEL.EXE at 0137:302036d4.

Microsoft Windows NT

This Windows application cannot respond to the End Task request. It may be busy, waiting for a response from you, or it may have stopped executing.

-or-

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

EXCEL.exe
Exception access violation (0xc0000005),Address 0x30276e52.

RESOLUTION

If you open a DDE channel, you must terminate the channel before you quit Microsoft Excel. To terminate a DDE channel, use the DDETerminate method, as in the following example

Application.DDETerminate <ChanNum>

where <ChanNum> is the channel number returned by the DDEInitiate method.

If you encounter this problem, restart Microsoft Windows, and then edit the macro or procedure in Microsoft Excel. Insert the DDETerminate statement into the appropriate location in the code. For more information, see the sample macro in the "More Information" section of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft provides programming examples 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. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about Microsoft Certified Partners, please visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/partner/referral/

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

The following macro creates two DDE sessions to Microsoft Excel, inserts a new workbook, and then terminates the DDE channels that it created.

To run this macro, follow these steps:

Start Microsoft Excel 97.
In a new workbook, press ALT+F11 to start the Visual Basic Editor.

On the Insert menu, click Module, and then type the following macro in the module sheet:

      Sub DDESessions()

      Dim LobjExcelApp as Object
      Dim LwbNewWB as Object
         ' Perform commands within loop two times.
         For i = 1 to 2
            ' Create an object to Microsoft Excel.
            Set LobjExcelApp = CreateObject("Excel.application")
            ' Create workbook object.
            Set LwbNewWB = LobjExcelApp.Workbooks.Add
            ' Get DDE channel to Microsoft Excel.
            LwChanNum1 = Application.DDEInitiate("Excel", "System")
            ' Insert new workbook.
            Application.DDEExecute LwChanNum1, "[New]"
            ' Quit workbook.
            Application.DDEExecute LwChanNum1, "[Quit()]"
            ' Terminate this DDE channel.
            Application.DDETerminate LwChanNum1
         Next i
         MsgBox "DDESessions is complete"

      End Sub

On the File menu, click "Close and Return to Microsoft Excel."
In the workbook, point to Macro on the Tools menu, and then click Macros.
Click DDESessions, and then click Run.
When the message box that indicates the macro is completed appears, click OK.