Excel Deletes query table connection while running VBA macro - excel

Question

I am struggling with an interesting problem that I have never experienced before and cannot seem to find any information about online. Here is the setup:
I am looping through a set of rows in a table - each row has a column for sheet name and a link from which I want to webscrape some data. I have written VBA code which loops through each row, creates a new sheet with the correct name, creates a querytable in that sheet, web scrapes the correct link and deletes the querytable.
Here is the code:
Sub WQ_Refresh(wsname As String, wqName As String, wqURL As String, strFC As String)
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim wq As QueryTable
Dim errno As Long
Dim loopcnt As Integer
Dim refreshTime As Double
Dim lastrow As Long
refreshTime = Timer
Application.StatusBar = "Now downloading " & wqName & " for " & strFC
If wsname = "" Then Exit Sub
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets(wsname)
If ws.QueryTables.Count > 0 Then
Set wq = ws.QueryTables(1)
wq.Delete
End If
lastrow = ws.Range("A" & ws.Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row
If lastrow > 1 Then lastrow = lastrow + 1
Set wq = ws.QueryTables.Add(Connection:="URL;" & wqURL, Destination:=ws.Range("A" & lastrow))
errno = 1
loopcnt = 0
Do While Not (errno = 0 And loopcnt < 10)
On Error Resume Next
With wq
.FieldNames = True
.WebFormatting = xlWebFormattingNone
.WebSelectionType = xlAllTables
.Refresh BackgroundQuery:=False
.Delete
End With
loopcnt = loopcnt + 1
errno = Err.Number
If loopcnt = 10 Then HashtagFail wqName
On Error GoTo 0
Loop
If lastrow > 1 Then
ws.Rows(lastrow - 1 & ":" & lastrow).Delete
End If
Set wq = Nothing
Application.StatusBar = "Downloaded " & wqName & " in " & Round(Timer - refreshTime, 0) & " seconds"
For some reason that I cannot understand, the wq.Delete function will correctly delete the created wq but it will also remove a connection in another sheet which is set up manually as part of the file.
To be clear - it does not DELETE the connection. It is still there but if you look at its properties, and go to the Used In tab, it shows as no longer used in any sheet.
I have no idea why this is happening - for me, the code should clearly delete only the connection in the sheet in the loop and not impact any other connections in the file.
This seems like a fundamental excel bug but I'd really like any input you have because I'm completely stuck.
Appreciate your help!

Answer 1

Based on the comment form #DeanDeVilliers The solution that worked was to reference the table by name. Here is the working code if anyone is curious
Sub WQ_Refresh(wsname As String, wqName As String, wqURL As String, strFC As String)
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim wq As QueryTable
Dim errno As Long
Dim loopcnt As Integer
Dim refreshTime As Double
Dim lastrow As Long
refreshTime = Timer
Application.StatusBar = "Now downloading " & wqName & " for " & strFC
If wsname = "" Then Exit Sub
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets(wsname)
If ws.QueryTables.Count > 0 Then ws.QueryTables("WQ_" & wqName).Delete
lastrow = ws.Range("A" & ws.Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row
If lastrow > 1 Then lastrow = lastrow + 1
Set wq = ws.QueryTables.Add(Connection:="URL;" & wqURL, Destination:=ws.Range("A" & lastrow))
errno = 1
loopcnt = 0
Do While Not (errno = 0 And loopcnt < 10)
On Error Resume Next
With wq
.FieldNames = True
.WebFormatting = xlWebFormattingNone
.WebSelectionType = xlAllTables
.Refresh BackgroundQuery:=False
.Name = "WQ_" & wqName
' .Delete
End With
loopcnt = loopcnt + 1
errno = Err.Number
If loopcnt = 10 Then HashtagFail wqName
On Error GoTo 0
ws.QueryTables("WQ_" & wqName).Delete
Loop
If lastrow > 1 Then
ws.Rows(lastrow - 1 & ":" & lastrow).Delete
End If
Set wq = Nothing
Application.StatusBar = "Downloaded " & wqName & " in " & Round(Timer - refreshTime, 0) & " seconds"
End Sub