XL97: Cannot Activate a Worksheet While Inserting Control (171021)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 97, when you attempt to switch to another worksheet, the computer beeps, and the other worksheet does not become the active worksheet.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when you click a tool on the Control Toolbox toolbar, and then attempt to switch to another worksheet before you insert the selected control in the active worksheet.

WORKAROUND

To insert an ActiveX control into a worksheet other than the active worksheet, follow these steps:

In the Control Toolbox, click the tool for the type of control that you want to insert.
Right-click the tab scrolling buttons, which are located to the left of the sheet tabs near the bottom of the window of the active workbook.
On the shortcut menu, click the name of the worksheet in which you want to insert the control.
Draw the control in the worksheet by clicking the worksheet, and then dragging the crosshair pointer.

If you do not want to use this method, press ESC to cancel the insertion of the control. After you do this, switch to another worksheet and use the Control Toolbox to insert controls.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem no longer occurs in Microsoft Excel 2000.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel 97, if you click a tool on the Drawing toolbar, you can insert the drawing object in a worksheet other than the active worksheet by clicking the sheet tab for the worksheet and then drawing the object.

However, this behavior does not apply to inserting ActiveX controls. Unless you use the workaround in this article, you cannot switch to another worksheet when you before you insert the selected control.