vba Open excel when File is used by another user - excel

Question

This is my current code
Public Sub OpenFiles()
'Set LiveDealSheet file path
'Check if LiveDealSheet is already open
LDSP = "C:\Users\DCHEUNG\Desktop\Programing\LiveDealSheet.xlsm"
IsOTF = IsWorkBookOpen(LDSP)
'Set quick workbook shortcut
Set TWB = ThisWorkbook
If IsOTF = False Then
Set LDS = Workbooks.Open(LDSP)
Else
Workbooks("LiveDealSheet.xlsm").Activate
Set LDS = ActiveWorkbook
End If
End Sub
Function IsWorkBookOpen(FileName As String)
Dim ff As Long, ErrNo As Long
On Error Resume Next
ff = FreeFile()
'i was just browsing through the online library and I found that "Open FileName For..."
'have a lot of keywords. If I only want to open the file and copy stuff out to
'another workbook do I use "Open FileName for Input Read As #ff"?
'Then when I actually open the file in OpenFiles() I change
'"Set LDS = Workbooks.Open(LDSP)" to "Set LDS = Workbooks.Open(LDSP) (ReadOnly)"
Open FileName For Input Lock Read As #ff
Close ff
ErrNo = Err
On Error GoTo 0
Select Case ErrNo
Case 0: IsWorkBookOpen = False
Case 70: IsWorkBookOpen = True
Case Else: Error ErrNo
End Select
End Function
The file I am trying to open is a shared file. When no is it using, or when I already opened the file, this code works fine. But whenever another user already open a file, this code stops.
I know for a fact that even if another use is using the file, I can still open it in Read-Only mode. So my question is how to include that code in here, and hopefully without the pop-up asking if you want to open in Read-Only mode.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I am totally new to coding.

Answer 1

First of all thanks for you input. I have solve the problem on my own with some trial and error.
changed the code to the following
Public Sub OpenFiles()
'Set LiveDealSheet file path
'Check if LiveDealSheet is already open
LDSP = "Z:\LiveDealSheet.xlsm"
IsOTF = IsWorkBookOpen(LDSP)
'Set quick workbook shortcut
Set TWB = ThisWorkbook
If IsOTF = False Then
Set LDS = Workbooks.Open(LDSP)
Debug.Print "Stage 1 Success"
changed everything in this else statement
Else
On Error Resume Next
Set LDS = Workbooks("LiveDealSheet.xlsm")
If LDS Is Nothing Then Workbooks.Open FileName:=LDSP, ReadOnly:=True, IgnoreReadOnlyRecommended:=True
End If
End Sub
Function IsWorkBookOpen(FileName As String)
Dim ff As Long, ErrNo As Long
On Error Resume Next
ff = FreeFile()
Open FileName For Input Lock Read As #ff
Close ff
ErrNo = Err
On Error GoTo 0
Select Case ErrNo
Case 0: IsWorkBookOpen = False
Case 70: IsWorkBookOpen = True
Case Else: Error ErrNo
End Select
End Function

Answer 2

I would replace all the scripted above with this:
Public Sub OpenFiles()
On Error GoTo not_open
Workbooks("C:\Users\DCHEUNG\Desktop\Programing\LiveDealSheet.xlsm").Activate
Exit Sub
not_open:
Workbooks.Open FileName:="C:\Users\DCHEUNG\Desktop\Programing\LiveDealSheet.xlsm", ReadOnly:=True
Err.Clear
Resume Next
End Sub

Answer 3

I had the same issue and was helped somewhat by the existing posts, here. However, there was still a gap between the recommendations and reality. So, I'll try to share my lessons learned.
In my case, I needed Workbooks.Open to open the most recent file in a shared folder. This file is often referenced by other users and is therefore frequently open by other users. Below is my first pass to give the VBA code "permission" to open the file as "read only."
' OPEN SOURCE-FILE IN READ-ONLY MODE (argument key below)
Workbooks.Open _
Filename:=strFilename, _
UpdateLinks:=0, _
ReadOnly:=True, _
IgnoreReadOnlyRecommended:=True, _
Notify:=True
This actually works EXCEPT for when excel creates a temporary file in the source folder (the temp file will, therefore, always be the newest file in the folder). To handle that exception, I needed to truncate the temp characters: "~$". I have done that with
Right([your_string], integer_length_of_string)
See in context below.
For Each objFile In myFolder.Files
If InStr(1, objFile.Name, ".xlsm") And objFile.DateLastModified > dateFile Then
dateFile = objFile.DateLastModified
windowName = objFile.Name
If InStr(1, windowName, "~$") Then
fileNameLen = Len(objFile.Name) - 2
windowName = Right(objFile.Name, fileNameLen)
strFilename = myDir & "\" & windowName
End If
strFilename = myDir & "\" & windowName
End If
Next objFile