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XL2000: Cannot Programmatically Close Referenced Workbook

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This article was previously published under Q213547

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Symptoms

When you run a macro that attempts to close a workbook, you may receive the following error message:
Run-time error '1004': This workbook is currently referenced by another workbook and cannot be closed.

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Cause

This problem occurs when you set an object variable to a workbook that references another workbook, and then attempt to close the referenced workbook.

You cannot close a workbook while that workbook is referenced by another open workbook or by an object variable that is set to the referenced workbook.

For example, if Book2.xls contains a reference to Book1.xls, then the following macro produces the error when the macro attempts to close Book1.xls: 

   Sub OpenClose()
       Dim wb1, wb2
       'Open the workbooks and set the object variables
       Set wb1 = Workbooks.Open("Book1.xls")
       Set wb2 = Workbooks.Open("Book2.xls")
       'Close both workbooks
       wb2.close
       wb1.close      ' ---- This line produces the error
   End Sub

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Resolution

To correct this problem, set the object variable for the workbook that contains the reference to Nothing prior to closing the referenced workbook. By setting the object variable to Nothing, it no longer refers to the workbook. The macro below demonstrates how to set the object variable to Nothing so that the referenced workbook can be closed programmatically: 
   Sub OpenClose()
       Dim wb1, wb2
       'Open the workbooks and set the object variables
       Set wb1 = Workbooks.Open("Book1.xls")
       Set wb2 = Workbooks.Open("Book2.xls")
       'Close book2
       wb2.close
       'Set the object variable wb2 to Nothing
       Set wb2 = Nothing
       'Close book1
       wb1.close
   End Sub

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Keywords: KB213547, kbprogramming, kbprb, kberrmsg, kbdtacode

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Article Info
Article ID : 213547
Revision : 6
Created on : 10/10/2006
Published on : 10/10/2006
Exists online : False
Views : 229