XL2000: Referenced Workbooks and Add-Ins Are Automatically Opened

In Microsoft Excel 2000, when you create a reference from a workbook to another workbook or to an add-in, the referenced workbook or add-in is automatically opened. This is different from behavior in versions of Microsoft Excel prior to Excel 97. In versions prior to Excel 97, the referenced workbook or add-in is not automatically opened.

This article explains the problems that you may encounter when you reference other workbooks and add-ins in Microsoft Excel 2000.

To create a reference from one workbook to another workbook or to an add-in, follow these steps:

1. Switch to the workbook from which you want to create the reference.
2. On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and then click Visual Basic Editor.
3. On the Tools menu, click References.
4. In the References-VBAProject dialog box, click to select the check box to the left of the file for which you want to create the reference. If the file is not listed, click Browse, select the file in the Add Reference dialog box, and then click Open.
5. Click OK.

A workbook that contains a reference to another workbook or to an add-in is a "referencing" workbook. A workbook or add-in that is referred to by another workbook is a "referenced" workbook.

Errors Opening Referenced Workbooks or Add-Ins with Visual Basic Macros

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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 If you attempt to use a Visual Basic for Applications macro to open a workbook or add-in that is already referenced by another open workbook, you may receive the following error message: For example, if Book1.xls references Book2.xls, you receive the error message if a Visual Basic macro executes the following line of code: To prevent the error message from appearing, modify the Visual Basic code to the following:

Errors Closing Referenced Workbooks or Add-ins

In Microsoft Excel 2000, you cannot close a referenced workbook or add-in if the referencing workbook is open. If you attempt to do so, you receive one of the following error messages: For additional information this problem, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Errors When Multiple Users Reference the Same Workbook or Add-In

Because Microsoft Excel 2000 automatically opens referenced workbooks and add-ins, you may experience problems if multiple users reference the same copy of a workbook or an add-in. This problem may occur if you create a reference to a workbook or to an add-in stored on a network server, or if you open a workbook that contains this kind of reference.

The first user who creates the reference does not receive an error message. However, all users who subsequently create a reference or open a workbook that contains this kind of reference may receive the following error message: If you click Cancel in the File Reservation dialog box, you may also receive the following error message: If you use a Visual Basic macro to open the referencing workbook, the previous error message may not appear immediately, and the workbook is opened without any problems. When the error message does appear, click Read-Only or Notify.

If multiple users share the same copy of an add-in, you may want to give each user a copy of the add-in, and then ask each user to change the reference to refer to his or her respective copy of the add-in. By doing this, you can prevent this problem from occurring.