Question

This continues from a previous question. I tried the suggested fix to check if an Excel file is open locally from an Outlook macro (Office 2010).

Public Sub UpdateFileIndex(ByVal FullFilePath As String, ByVal DocNo As String)
    Dim xlApp As Excel.Application
    Dim xlBook As Excel.Workbook
    Dim xlSheet As Excel.WorkSheet
    
    On Error Resume Next
    Set xlApp = GetObject(FullFilePath).Application
    Debug.Print "Error = " & Err

    If Err.Number = 0 Then ' Workbook is open locally
        ' Do stuff
    ElseIf Err.Number = 429 Then ' Workbook is not open locally
        ' Do different stuff
    End If

    ' Do a bunch of other stuff
End Sub

Now for open or closed files given by FullFilePath (e.g. "C:\Data\Data.xlsx"):

• Set xlApp = GetObject(FullFilePath).Application

gives me 0 error either way. (i.e. it opens the file if it’s not open.)

• Set xlApp = GetObject(Dir(FullFilePath)).Application

gives me -214722120 for both cases. (Automation error)

• Set xlApp = GetObject(, "Excel.Application")

gives me 0 when open and 429 when not open. See below.

• Set xlApp = GetObject(Dir(FullFilePath), "Excel.Application")

gives me 432 for both cases. (File name or class name not found during Automation operation)

• Set xlApp = GetObject(FullFilePath, "Excel.Application")

gives me 432 for both cases.

So the only case that works is the initially suggested fix (see link at top), which cannot find the file unless it’s in the first instance of Excel open locally, which may not always be the case (i.e. it may be open in a second instance).

Ultimately I’d like to check if the file is open on the network, and if it is check if it’s open locally.

Answer 1

If you have multiple Excel instances open then this is what I suggest.

Logic

1. Check if your workbook is open or not. If not open, then open it.
2. If it is open then it could be in any Excel instance.
3. Find the Excel instance and bind with the relevant workbook.

GetObject unfortunately will return the same instance every time unless you close that Excel instance. Also there is no reliable way to get it to loop through all Excel instances. Talking of reliability, I would turn your attention towards APIs. The 3 APIs that we will use is FindWindowEx , GetDesktopWindow and AccessibleObjectFromWindow&

See this example (TRIED AND TESTED in EXCEL 2010)

Option Explicit

Private Declare Function FindWindowEx Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowExA" _
(ByVal hWnd1 As Long, ByVal hWnd2 As Long, ByVal lpsz1 As String, _
ByVal lpsz2 As String) As Long

Private Declare Function GetDesktopWindow Lib "user32" () As Long

Private Declare Function AccessibleObjectFromWindow& Lib "oleacc" _
(ByVal hwnd&, ByVal dwId&, riid As GUID, xlWB As Object)

Private Const OBJID_NATIVEOM = &HFFFFFFF0

Private Type GUID
    lData1 As Long
    iData2 As Integer
    iData3 As Integer
    aBData4(0 To 7) As Byte
End Type

Sub Sample()
    Dim Ret
    Dim oXLApp As Object, wb As Object
    Dim sPath As String, sFileName As String, SFile As String, filewithoutExt As String
    Dim IDispatch As GUID

    sPath = "C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\"
    sFileName = "Data.xlsx": filewithoutExt = "Data"
    SFile = sPath & sFileName

    Ret = IsWorkBookOpen(SFile)

    '~~> If file is open
    If Ret = True Then
        Dim dsktpHwnd As Long, hwnd As Long, mWnd As Long, cWnd As Long

        SetIDispatch IDispatch

        dsktpHwnd = GetDesktopWindow

        hwnd = FindWindowEx(dsktpHwnd, 0&, "XLMAIN", vbNullString)

        mWnd = FindWindowEx(hwnd, 0&, "XLDESK", vbNullString)

        While mWnd <> 0 And cWnd = 0
            cWnd = FindWindowEx(mWnd, 0&, "EXCEL7", filewithoutExt)
            hwnd = FindWindowEx(dsktpHwnd, hwnd, "XLMAIN", vbNullString)
            mWnd = FindWindowEx(hwnd, 0&, "XLDESK", vbNullString)
        Wend

        '~~> We got the handle of the Excel instance which has the file
        If cWnd > 0 Then
            '~~> Bind with the Instance
            Call AccessibleObjectFromWindow(cWnd, OBJID_NATIVEOM, IDispatch, wb)
            '~~> Work with the file
            With wb.Application.Workbooks(sFileName)
                '
                '~~> Rest of the code
                '
            End With
        End If

    '~~> If file is not open
    Else
        On Error Resume Next
        Set oXLApp = GetObject(, "Excel.Application")

        '~~> If not found then create new instance
        If Err.Number <> 0 Then
            Set oXLApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
        End If
        Err.Clear
        On Error GoTo 0

        Set wb = oXLApp.Workbooks.Open(SFile)
        '
        '~~> Rest of the code
        '
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub SetIDispatch(ByRef ID As GUID)
    With ID
        .lData1 = &H20400
        .iData2 = &H0
        .iData3 = &H0
        .aBData4(0) = &HC0
        .aBData4(1) = &H0
        .aBData4(2) = &H0
        .aBData4(3) = &H0
        .aBData4(4) = &H0
        .aBData4(5) = &H0
        .aBData4(6) = &H0
        .aBData4(7) = &H46
    End With
End Sub

'~~> Function to check if file is open
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