Microsoft KB Archive/160648

= XL97: Error Using ActiveX Control on Web Form =

Article ID: 160648

Article Last Modified on 10/22/2000

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q160648





SYMPTOMS
When you use the Web Form Wizard to create a form for your Web, and you view the form in a Web browser and click a control on the form, the following error message may appear:

That control can only be used while the worksheet is displayed in a separate window. Do you want to open a window for the worksheet?

Click Yes to open a separate window in which you can edit the worksheet and use the control. When you are finished, click Save and then click Exit on the File menu to return to the original window.

To continue working in the current window without using the control, click No.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs when you click an ActiveX control on the form. This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel.



WORKAROUND
If you create a form using the Web Form Wizard, use only the non-ActiveX controls on the Forms toolbar.

If you want to use an ActiveX control that is already on the form, follow these steps:
 * 1) After you first click the ActiveX control, click Yes in the message that appears.

This step opens the form in a separate window. In this window, you can use the ActiveX control and submit data to the database.
 * 1) On the form, click Submit.
 * 2) When the confirmation Web page appears, click Back on the toolbar.

This step closes the window and allows you to see your form in the Web browser. Note that if you click the ActiveX control, the error message appears again.



MORE INFORMATION
Requesting and gathering information over the Internet requires the use of forms. In addition, you must have some knowledge of the server, database storage, and computer programming.

Because you can use a Microsoft Excel worksheet to simulate a form, you can use Microsoft Excel 97 as an engine to generate a form for the Web.

When others visit your Web site and make a request for the Microsoft Excel 97 form, the form is downloaded to the client, and Microsoft Excel 97 is started. When the user completes the form and clicks Submit, Microsoft Excel submits the data on the form to the database on your Web server. Then, Microsoft Excel closes the form and quits.

On the server, the data is parsed according to the method you specify when you create the form using the Web Form Wizard. The methods you can specify are Microsoft Internet Information Server, or Common Gateway Interface (CGI). If you use Internet Information Server, the data is saved in the Microsoft Access database (.mdb) that is created by the wizard. If you use CGI, the data is processed by a PERL script and is saved in a .csv text file.

