WD97: Run-Time Error 5584 "Too Many DDE Channels Are Open..." (181067)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
This article was previously published under Q181067

SYMPTOMS

If Microsoft Word or another program cannot open any additional Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) channels, the following message may be displayed:
Run-Time error '5584':
Too Many DDE Channels are open. Please close a window.

CAUSE

When using DDE to communicate between programs, a separate "channel" or line of communication for each DDE conversation is created. It is possible to have multiple DDE conversations happening at the same time. While there is no absolute limit to the number of DDE conversations that can exist simultaneously, there is a relative limit that depends on the amount of system resources available. This limit varies from system to system.

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

To prevent the error message from occurring, terminate each DDE conversation after you are finished using the channel. To terminate a DDE channel, use either of the following commands. 
   Syntax to Terminate a Specific Channel Number
   ---------------------------------------------

   DDETerminate(ChannelNumber)
-or- 
   Syntax to Terminate All DDE Channels
   ------------------------------------

   DDETerminateAll
For example, the following macro (Sub procedure) uses DDETerminate to close each DDE channel that is initiated. 
   Sub DDETest
      For x = 1 to 40
         chan = DDEInitiate("Excel", "Sheet1")
         ' Your other commands go here.
         DDETerminate chan
      Next x
   End Sub
To reproduce the "Session too complex...." error message, start Word and Excel and run a macro that opens a number of DDE channels without terminating the channels. 
   Sub DDEReproduceError
      For x = 1 to 40
         n = DDEInitiate("Excel","Sheet1")
      Next x
   End Sub

REFERENCES

For more 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:MajorLast Reviewed:6/17/2005
Keywords:kbcode kbmacroexample kbprb kbProgramming KB181067
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