Excel file remaining locked for editing after use - excel

I have a Windows Forms application with an OpenFileDialog. The user clicks a "Process" button and the application goes through the file - an Excel spreadsheet - and processes the data in it. All of this works as expected with one caveat.
After the application is done processing, the file remains locked for editing so when I open the file to make changes, I get this message:
If I close the application completely, the file is unlocked so I'm assuming the application is just holding onto the file for longer than it should. I'm guessing there should be some sort of Close() method or something that will release the resources but I can't figure out exactly what I need. I tried using Dispose() and wrapping my code in a Using block which I thought destroyed everything automatically but no luck.
Here's my code:
Using excel = New ExcelPackage(OpenFileDialog1.OpenFile)
Dim ws = excel.Workbook.Worksheets.First()
'Process data in ws...
OpenFileDialog1.Dispose() 'Doesn't seem to release the file
excel.Dispose() 'Doesn't seem to release the file
End Using

The OpenFileDialog.OpenFile Method returns a Stream object that likely is not being closed by the ExcelPackage.
To ensure that the stream is released, use the following pattern.
Using strm As IO.Stream = OpenFileDialog1.OpenFile
Using excel = New ExcelPackage(strm)
' ...
End Using
End Using

Related

UserInterfaceOnly = True is discarded when opening a file

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

How to lock a file in onedrive using VBA?

I am making a vba Programm that access a file in OneDrive and edits it. However, I don't want two users to be able to edit the file at the same time. I can't completly lock the file, because while one user is editing, the others might still read it.
I used to lock the file with something like this:
If varForReadOnly = False Then
wbExample.LockServerFile
End If
This never worked on my version of the programm, but always worked on my client for months. Now, after changing the OneDrive file's name, this has stopped working all of a sudden, with the same error it had in my computer.
Does anyone knows what I did wrong, or what I can do to lock the file?
Thanks!
After a lot of searching, I found out how to do this. I am going to leave the answer here, because I still didn't find any answer to this question.
You must use the CheckIn() and CheckOut methods. Something like this:
If Workbooks.CanCheckOut(varForFilePath) = True Then
Workbooks.CheckOut(varForFilePath)
Set wbVarForWorkbook = Workbooks.Open(varForFilePath)
'works with workbook and in the end check it back
wbVarForWorkbook.CheckIn SaveChanges:=True
Else
'message about busy workbook
End If
This methods are complex and there are other things you should be careful about when working with them, but this is the basic answer for what methods to use to replace LockServerFile and lock a file in OneDrive so that only one user at a time can edit it.

Excel VBA: Can Shell run a macro in a workbook in another Excel instance

For example something like this to open the workbook in a new instance and then start the macro:
Shell(Excel.exe workbook.xlsm!macro1)
Or if the workbook was already open then:
Shell(xlObject macro1)
Most important thing is to use Shell so as to allow the code to continue whilst the macro runs separately. If not possible then perhaps I could Shell(file.bat) to a batch file that would do the same. What would the batch file look like?
Thank you.
You cannot execute VBA code inside a host application from the command line - that includes Shell.
There are two alternatives, though (with Excel#1 being the current open file and Excel#2 being the one you want to run the code in):
Put the code you want to run in the Excel #2 workbook's Workbook_Open event handler so it will execute every time you open that file - independet of how it was opened.
Have Excel#1 create a new Excel.Application object in VBA and open Excel#2 in that application. You could now call the Run() method on the Excel#2's application object to execute code from Excel#2, but this will be done synchronous to the Excel#1's code. You can use the Excel#2 application's OnTime() method though for delayed macro execution, in which case Excel#2's application will call the code when the delay has passed and the code runs asynchronous in Excel#2's application.
Sample code for Option 2 could look like this:
Public Function RemoteRun(ByVal strFile As String) As Application
Dim app As Application
Dim wb As Workbook
Set app = New Application
Set wb = app.Workbooks.Open(strFile)
app.OnTime Now + 1 / 24 / 60 / 60, "RemoteMacro"
Set RemoteRun = app
End Function
Make sure to store the return value (the Excel#2's application object) somehwere so it won't automatically close (it still has to run RemoteMacro asynchronously). Setting its Visible property to True will work as well if you don't want Excel#1's code to manage the lifetime of Excel#2's application object.

MATLAB 2015b broken ActiveX/Excel Controls

Having an issue involving the creation of ActiveX handles using MATLAB 2015b. Before updating (from 2013a) I used to create a new Excel application handle using the following 'try catch':
global Excel
try
Excel = actxGetRunningServer('Excel.Application') ;
catch
Excel = actxserver('Excel.Application');
end
Since updating to 2015b, the code still runs through without error, but now the Excel handle created, whilst still of type Excel_Application, has no properties. Calling Excel.get returns a struct with no fields.
Apart from the update, there haven't been any other changes made to the code, and the version of MS Office hasn't changed.
Have there been any changes in the way MATLAB handles the ActiveX interface, or is there something wrong with my code?

Excel Object SaveAs, error happens when Existing File is Open

Excel_Obj = CREATE OleObject
Excel_Obj.ConnectToNewObject( 'excel.application' )
Excel_Obj.Workbooks.Add
Excel_Obj.Application.ActiveWorkbook.WorkSheets.Add
Excel_Sheet = Excel_Obj.Application.ActiveWorkbook.WorkSheets[1]
//EXAMPLE
Excel_Sheet.Cells[1,1] = 45
Excel_Obj.Application.ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs(ls_file,56) //csv
//where ls_file = the Opened File
error happened after / during saveas.
try catch throw "error calling external object..in click..line.. saveas.."
--
i want to state to the user that the excel file is open therefore cannot be overwritten properly. I used a try catch and throwed a proper message but before the messagebox for the catch event happens, the PB execution error R0035 happens. any solutions or proper way to know if the excel file is open.
You might be able to check if the file is open first, have a look at this answer:
how to check if file is opened in excel using OLE (leaves excel process open)
I'd try a PowerScript FileOpen () call with a LockReadWrite! parameter to see if it can be opened, followed immediately by a FileClose () if it was successful. (I think this is a PowerScript-specific variation on the DXL solution Colin linked to.)
Good luck,
Terry
Have you tried approaches similar to these?
Using Win32 API:
http://www.rgagnon.com/pbdetails/pb-0030.html
Using PB function fileopen()with the (default) exclusive rights set:
http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1610670
In other words, see if the file can be opened exclusively before connecting to Excel or making the CSV?
You will have to turn off the option to break into the debugger for that exception to see the exception handling work in the IDE. Look for the Help topic "Exception Settings dialog box" for details. Once you see it's working I recommend you set it back to break into the debugger, since you'd normally want to see what threw the error.
You cannot use ole when document is open( even you set lock write) by the user and not by apllication.
my approach, I have been using many times till now:
Check excel is open or not, use use can use api or wsh script in the internet to check app opened. If opened do not run save as and tell user to close excel and not run it for while for while.
if you user run excel and your program still running active workbook and worksheet application will be switch to excel that opened by user ( imagine it wrong written data).
Change your code as below
if Excel_Obj.ConnectToNewObject( 'excel.application' ) <> 0 then
messagebox("warning", "could connect to excel", stopsign!)
RETURN
end if
just for knowledge another technique is DDE call, but not common today and most complicated.
Happy coding From pb developer.

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