XL97: Error Using DDEPoke When Chart Is the Active Sheet (176783)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
This article was previously published under Q176783

SYMPTOMS

You get the following error message when you run a macro that sends data to Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows:
Excel caused an invalid page fault in module
Mso97.dll at 014f:30705766.
When you click Close, you get the following error message:
This task is taking longer than expected. Do you want to continue waiting.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when you do the following:

  • You use DDEPOKE to send data to Excel. -and-

  • The active sheet of the workbook is a Chart sheet.

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

Use either of the following methods to prevent this problem from reoccurring.

Method 1: Change the Active Sheet

This problem does not occur if the active sheet is a worksheet. To change the active sheet to a worksheet, use the DDEExecute statement to send the Workbook.Activate command to change the active sheet. For example, the following macro sends the string "this is a test" to cell A1 of Sheet1 in the workbook Book1. 
   Sub Example1()
      chan = DDEInitiate ("Excel", "[Book1]Sheet1")
      DDEExecute chan, "[Workbook.Activate(""Sheet1"")]"
      DDEPoke chan,  "R1C1", "this is a test"
      DDETerminate chan
   End Sub
NOTE: You must know the exact name of the worksheet you are switching to.

Method 2: Use DDEExecute

Use the DDEExecute statement with the Formula function instead of using the DDEPoke statement. For example, the following macro sends the string "this is a test" to cell A1 of Sheet1 in the workbook Book1. 
   Sub Example2()
      chan = DDEInitiate ("Excel", "[Book1]Sheet1")
      DDEExecute chan, "[Formula(""this is a test"",""'Sheet2'!R1C1""]"
      DDETerminate chan
   End Sub

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) is a method you can use to exchange data with another DDE-compliant program.

For additional information about using DDE commands in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

141772 XL: Visual Basic Examples Using DDE

REFERENCES

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

163435 VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/10/2006
Keywords:kbbug kberrmsg kbProgramming KB176783
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