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http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMSFinding Circular References
Precedents are the cells referenced, directly or indirectly, by a formula.
A circular reference occurs whenever the cell containing the circular
reference formula is included in the formula's precedents.
The following sample Visual Basic macro generates a new sheet in a workbook
and lists all circular references found on the active worksheet. The macro
does this by testing each formula in the sheet to see if the cell
containing the formula intersects the precedents of the formula.
NOTE: A limitation of this method is that the
Precedents property in Visual Basic for Applications can only find precedents on the active sheet. The macro will not find a circular reference that is caused by a remote reference.
Sample Visual Basic Procedure
On a module sheet, enter the following Visual Basic code:
Sub FindCircRefs()
' Get source information.
sourcesheet = ActiveSheet.Name
Sheets.Add
' Get destination information.
destsheet = ActiveSheet.Name
destrange = ActiveCell.Address
' Return to source.
Worksheets(sourcesheet).Activate
rowcount = 0
' Trap for error in "result", indicating no circular reference.
On Error GoTo notcircular
' Loop through every used cell in source.
For Each Item In ActiveSheet.UsedRange
' Check to see if cell contains a formula.
If Left(Item.Formula, 1) = "=" Then
' If cell intersects with precedents, cell has circular
' reference.
result = Intersect(ActiveSheet.Range(Item.Address), _
ActiveSheet.Range(Item.Precedents.Address))
Worksheets(destsheet).Range(destrange).Offset(rowcount, _
0).Value = Item.Address(False, False)
Worksheets(destsheet).Range(destrange).Offset(rowcount, _
1).Value = "'" & Item.Formula
rowcount = rowcount + 1
' Skip to here if not circular.
skipitem:
End If
Next
Exit Sub
' If error in "result", go here.
notcircular:
' Skip cells that do not contain circular references.
Resume skipitem
End Sub
To use this macro, run the FindCircRefs macro from the Microsoft Excel
worksheet for which you want to find circular references. A new sheet is
added to the active workbook, listing the cell addresses of circular
references in column A and the formula at that address in column B. If no
circular references are found, the new sheet is empty.