UserInterfaceOnly = True is discarded when opening a file - excel

I have an Excel+VBA file named "Myfile.xlsm" which needs that UserInterfaceOnly = True property so the VBA code can perform many operations without the user being aware.
I did place the following code to set UserInterfaceOnly = True property in the Workbook_Open event (also tried in the Workbook_Activate event) of "Myfile.xlsm".
Private Sub Workbook_Open()
Dim WSh As Worksheet
For Each WSh In ThisWorkbook.Worksheets
WSh.Protect Password:="myPWD", UserInterfaceOnly:=True
DoEvents
If WSh.ProtectionMode = False Then MsgBox "UIFOnly Init Failed on " & WSh.Name & " !!"
End If
Next WSh
End Sub
In some cases the UserInterfaceOnly is not set as expected and I get the "UIFOnly Init Failed on " message at opening "Myfile.xlsm" and as a consequence many other problems later.
EVEN BETTER: I created a new very simple "UnlockUIFOnly.xlsm" file which has the same code in Private Sub Workbook_Open().
If I open "UnlockUIFOnly.xlsm" first, protection works as expected. If I then open "Myfile.xlsm" (keeping "UnlockUIFOnly.xlsm" open) it works as expected.
If I close both files and open ONLY "Myfile.xlsm" it fails again.
I'm running Office 365 (version 2203 Build 16.0.150028.20512) 32 bits with Windows 10.
FURTHER OBSERVATION #1: I copied this not working "MyFile.xlsm" from its original directory to a new one.
When I opened it from its new directory, I got a banner to enable contents, and I answered yes. Then everything went smooth (No UIFOnly Init Failed on " message, no error 1004 ...). I checked some functionalities, so Excel asked whether I wanted to save changes, answered yes, then later if I wanted that document to be a trusted document, answered Yes as well.
At second open, I did not get any banner to enable contents (normal) but the problems were back.
FURTHER OBSERVATION #2: I again copied this not working "MyFile.xlsm" from its original directory to a new one.
When I opened it from its new directory, I got a banner to enable contents, and I answered yes. Then everything went smooth (No UIFOnly Init Failed on " message, no error 1004 ...). I checked some functionalities, so Excel asked whether I wanted to save changes, answered YES, then later if I wanted that document to be a trusted document, answered no. All further open tentatives asked to enable contents (answer yes) but were smooth.
It looks like declaring a document as trusted bypasses something or changes in which order events are generated, and has a huge impact on my problem

Related

How to work around Excel 2016 halting without message when trying to assign variable to VBProject?

System Details.
Windows 10
Excel 365 64-bit V16.0 (Apps for Enterprise)
Issue.
I have a macro that opens a file, checks if the user has allowed programmatic access to the VBA Project in the trust center and raises an alert if they have not. This works fine on windows 7 machines with both 32bit and 64bit Excel from 2013 onwards.
The specific problem I am having on the Windows 10 machine is that when workbooks.open(path) is executed the file opens but in the VBA Project explorer window the VBAProject object for that file does not appear. I also get a popup saying that code cannot be run in break mode when I try this while stepping through the code. When run on Win 7 with this version of Excel and others both 32 and 64-bit the VBAProject object appears and no popup is generated.
This lack of the VBA Project causes an issue later when I run set vbproj = ActiveWorkbook.VBProject. At this point when stepping through the code execution halts with no messages at all. The Project pops up in the Project explorer window and it takes me to a module in the opened workbook. This gets opened with Design Mode turned on and when you click to turn it off I get an error message saying 'Macros have been disabled'
Notes
set vbproj = ActiveWorkbook.VBProject works fine if the file is open and the VBAProject is visible in the Project explorer window.
If the file being opened does not contain a macro then it works correctly.
I have made sure that the files are in a Trusted Location.
I have set Enable all macros in the Macro Settings of the Trust Center.
When opening the files manually I do not get any alerts that macros have been disabled by an administrator and I do not get any message asking if I want to enable macros.
I have looked at W10 group policies to see if there is one that would block VBAProjects / Macros from files opened via VBA and there does not appear to be one as far as I can see.
The Trust Center setting for programmatic access to the VBA Project does not matter to this test case. It will return True if it is allowed and False if it is not allowed.
This has been tested on another Windows 10 laptop with the same version of Excel 64-bit and it has the same result so is not an issue with a specific users laptop.
I removed the folder from the Trusted Location on the Windows 7 machine and the code still executes correctly and returns True/False.
In the actual macro this check is done for each opened file in a loop and the variant vbproj is used to remove data from the modules within that project. I have considered working around the issue by using Application.onTime and that may be a solution but have not spent much time on that and with how it halts it may not be viable.
Attempted Solutions
I have tried set wb = workbooks.open(path) to open the workbook and then using set vbproj = wb.VBProject but it has the same behavior as above.
I have tried doing ActiveWorkbook.Activate and similar actions to see if that will make the VBA project appear, it does not.
I have tried setting Application.FileValidation = msoFileValidationSkip before opening the file, this does not change the behavior.
I have tried setting Application.EnableEvents=False before opening the file, this does not change the behavior.
I have tried making vbproj a variant, an object and a VBProject, this does not change the behavior.
Steps to Recreate
Create a new workbook.
Put the below code into Module 1.
Function projectAccess()
Dim vbproj As Variant
On Error GoTo noaccess
Set vbproj = ActiveWorkbook.VBProject 'If access is denied an error is raised.
projectAccess = True
Exit Function
noaccess:
projectAccess = False
End Function
Sub openfile()
Dim filepath As String
filepath = Application.ThisWorkbook.Path
Workbooks.Open (filepath & "\openfile.xlsm")
Debug.Print projectAccess
End Sub
Save the workbook
Create a 2nd workbook, in my case it was called openfile.xlsm and put some code into Module 1.
put both workbooks in the same location and make sure it is a Trusted Location in Excel.
run openfile().
If successful the immediate window will display True / False depending on the Trust Center setting.
I am out of ideas. Any suggestions for some setting that I may have overlooked to make the Win 10 machines behave the same as the Win 7 machines or suggestions for a possible work around?
Even if it is a group policy setting that would be something I can raise with IT as long as I know what to ask for.
Many Thanks
Andrew
EDIT: Thanks to Rory in the comments the issue was making sure that the automation security was set like so Application.AutomationSecurity = msoAutomationSecurityLow as the way the new Win 10 + Office 64 systems have been set up by my IT dept is to have it default to msoAutomationForceDisable

Macro gives error when updating connections - but only sometimes

My macro opens up a couple of files, then updates Connections in one of those files. These connections are all pulls from website html tables. The macro worked just fine for a while. Now, when I run the macro, I get this error:
Run-time error '1004':
Application-defined or object-defined error
When debugging, the error points to the first connection update line of the macro (Advanced2). Here's the code:
Workbooks.Open (ThisWorkbook.Path & "\TheFormulaFinal V5.xlsm")
Workbooks.Open (ThisWorkbook.Path & "\WebScraper.xlsx")
Windows("WebScraper.xlsx").Activate
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("Advanced2").Refresh
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("DVP").Refresh
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("PrSolu").Refresh
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("Misc").Refresh
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("NF Project").Refresh
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("OppTot").Refresh
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("PlrTot2").Refresh
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("TeamTot").Refresh
ActiveWorkbook.Connections("RotoGuru").Refresh
Sheets("PlrTot2").Select
However, the very odd thing is that if I close the two files my code opened (WebScraper and TheFormula V5) without saving, then run the exact same macro, the next time it works! I suspect it has to be some kind of time-related error. I have turned off all background connection refresh as well as any kind of refresh upon file open, so none of these connections should ever update unless they are manually called to do so. I tried using Application Wait to add some time after the WebScraper file opened, and/or after the first refresh, but no avail. I also tried adding some dummy activities after the WebScraper file is activated to see if the file needed some time to load the connections, but also no luck.
Any help is appreciated, thanks!
Workbooks.Open function returns reference to opened workbook. You can use this reference instead ActiveWorkbook.
Dim wb As Workbook
Set wb = Workbooks.Open(ThisWorkbook.Path & "\WebScraper.xlsx")
wb.Connetions("Advanced2").Refresh
...

Constantly getting Err 1004 when trying to using Application.AddIns.Add

I'm trying to implement a bootstrap installer for my add-ins workbook, such that I can easily install the add-in for new users and send out updates. It works fine on my machine, but when having others test it, I get a runtime error when I try to call Set AI = Application.AddIns.Add(fileName:=fullPath, copyfile:=True). Specifically, the error is "1004: Unable to get the Add property of the AddIns class". I thought this was because the user needed to have "Trust access to the VBA project object model" enabled, but the error seems to occur even after they've toggled that box.
Other things I've checked:
The fullPath to the add-in is valid and the user can access the directory and the file
The user has the folder located at Application.UserLibraryPath
Any ideas?
Figured it out. It appears that the issue isn't one of permissions, but rather of whether a workbook is already open. Opening any workbook before running the Addins.Add prevented the error from occurring so I've simply added that into the program:
If Application.Workbooks.Count = 0 then Set wb = Application.Workbooks.Add()
Set AI = Application.AddIns.Add(fileName:=fullPath, copyfile:=True)
If not wb is nothing then wb.Close
Duke, perhaps it's the Trust Center settings on the recipients' machines. I have found this and may be helpful.
Best,
Danny
Check out VBA videos on ExcelVBADude on YouTube.

How to open Locked for Editing file as Read Only?

I have a macro that opens multiple files. If it comes to a file "Locked for Editing" it will give me an error saying
FileName is currently in use. Try again later.
How can I make it open said file as read only? I tried:
Workbooks.Open FileName:=Selected_EOS_Report_File, ReadOnly:=True
and
Workbooks.Open FileName:=Selected_EOS_Report_File, ReadOnly:=True, IgnoreReadOnlyRecommended:=True
Update: The first method does work. My code runs on multiple files that pass through the "Selected_EOS_Report_File" variable. At some point a file passed through that was an Excel temp file (begins the filename with "~$"). I created an if/then statement to skip over any such files.
As far as I know, you need Notify:= True
MSDN link
Notify
If the file cannot be opened in read/write mode, this argument is True
to add the file to the file notification list. Microsoft Excel will
open the file as read-only, poll the file notification list, and then
notify the user when the file becomes available. If this argument is
False or omitted, no notification is requested, and any attempts to
open an unavailable file will fail.
The code below worked for a similar Problem I had. This will set the ReadOnly and IgnoreReadOnlyRecommended parameters.
I tested this for Excel 365.
ReadOnly: True to open the workbook in read-only mode.
IgnoreReadOnlyRecommended: True to have Microsoft Excel not display the read-only recommended message (if the workbook was saved with the Read-Only Recommended option).
dim wbReadOnly as Workbook
Set wbReadOnly = Workbooks.Open(strXLSFileName, , True, , , , True)
link to VBA Documentation
Try this?
Dim wb As Workbook
Set wb = GetObject(Selected_EOS_Report_File)
wb.Open 'ReadOnly:=True (removed the readonly part)
Derived from this post: Opening .xlsx with VBA, File in Use error. Read-only not working
edit
A post here indicates a similar issue for older versions, and that if you undate to xlsx then it goes away:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/5c9f7444-a2c7-4598-beca-21a6d5575d94/excel-file-currently-in-use

Outlook 2010 - strange item.Attachments error

I have the following code, that should save a specific Excel file attached to an email. The code is combined with a rule, that trigger this script when an emai lwith a specific subject is received.
The code is triggered, but here comes the strangest error I saw lately: itm.Attachments.Count appear to be zero and obviously the file is not saved! But... if I put a breakpoint on "For each..." line and add itm.Attachments.Count to watch window, it is shown as zero. If I add itm only, then browse to Attachments property, then to Count property it shows 1 for Count (as it should) and the code is executed fine. I spent half a day trying to understand what's going on, but I can't figure it out.
The behaviour is the same both on a Outlook 2010 x64 on a Windows 7 x64 and on a Outlook 2010 x86 on a Windows 7 x86. Macros are enabled in Trust Center. I have attached some screenshot with the code and rule settings and also a movie showing the watch windows strangeness.
The script was built some time ago and it worked well on a couple of PCs and it was based on the steps from here: iterrors.com/outlook-automatically-save-an-outlook-attachment-to-disk/.
Any ideas?
Rule screen here
1 min. movie here
Public Sub Kona(itm As Outlook.MailItem)
Dim objAtt As Outlook.Attachment
Dim saveFolder As String
saveFolder = "C:\test"
For Each objAtt In itm.Attachments
If InStr(objAtt.DisplayName, "Kona Preferred Fixed Price Matrix (ALL)") Then
objAtt.SaveAsFile saveFolder & "\" & objAtt.DisplayName
End If
Set objAtt = Nothing
Next
End Sub
In case if you have an IMAP account configured in Outlook: your Offline Settings might be set to only store up to 1 month, 3 months, 12 month worth of emails on your local disk.
If you’ve got enough space on your disk and want to cache more emails locally, you can set the sync slider in the following way:
File-> Account Settings-> Account Settings…-> double click on your IMAP account.
Try to increase the offline storage in Outlook. See Empty Inbox and other IMAP synching issues in Outlook 2013 for more information.
My best understanding of this behavior is that Microsoft Outlook (at least the versions of 2010 that I tested) has a bug. There may be other factors that I'm not aware of contributing to this, but I was able to reproduce the error using different service pack levels / builds of Outlook 2010 on Windows Vista. Office 2013 does not appear to be affected.
I managed to create a workaround.
I found that by displaying the message while stepping through the code in debug mode using
objMailItem.GetInspector.Activate
the number of attachments was subsequently correctly detected (without having to do strange things like setting up a watch for the object variable and then clicking on it in the IDE).
However, this only worked while stepping through the code, not during normal execution.
For this reason, I suspected the message might not be displaying long enough during normal code execution for Outlook to get the twist out of its knickers. I reasoned that it might be possible to insert a delay to allow sufficient time for this.
I tried out several methods of inserting a delay. Here is the one that worked for me. I created a form called
frmTimer
and added the freeware RSTimer OCX control (http://www.softpedia.com/get/Programming/Components-Libraries/RS-Timer.shtml) to it.
I set the
Interval
property of the OCX to 1000 ms.
The form is loaded right after displaying the message like this:
objMailItem.GetInspector.Activate
frmTimer.Show ' <-- form is loaded and displayed (it is not sufficient to just 'load' it)
objMailItem.Close OlInspectorClose.olDiscard
The form has one single event handler:
Private Sub RSTimer1_Timer()
Unload frmTimer
End Sub
When the event fires, the form is unloaded and code execution continues with
objMailItem.GetInspector.Activate
frmTimer.Show
objMailItem.Close OlInspectorClose.olDiscard ' <-- code execution continues here
Here is a complete function that allows the attachment to be detected correctly.
Function EmailHasAttachments(ByVal objMailItem As Outlook.MailItem) As Boolean
On Error GoTo ErrHandler
objMailItem.GetInspector.Activate
frmTimer.Show
objMailItem.Close OlInspectorClose.olDiscard
If objMailItem.Attachments.Count > 0 Then
EmailHasAttachments = True
Else
EmailHasAttachments = False
End If
ExitHere:
Exit Function
ErrHandler:
Debug.Print Err.Number, Err.Description
Select Case Err.Number
Case 12345
' handle the error
Case Else
MsgBox "An unknown error has occurred."
Exit Function
End Select
End Function

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