Microsoft KB Archive/162407

= "Cannot Open Add-In" Error When You Run a Macro =

Article ID: 162407

Article Last Modified on 10/11/2006

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q162407





SYMPTOMS
When you run a Visual Basic for Applications macro in Microsoft Excel 7.0 or Microsoft Excel 97, you may receive one of the following error messages:

Run-time error '1004':m

Cannot open Microsoft Excel Add-In for editing. Please edit the source document instead.

-or-

Run-time error '1004':

Cannot open Microsoft Excel 97 Add-In for editing. Please edit the

source document instead.



CAUSE
This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:

 The macro you are running opens a Microsoft Excel add-in file (a .xla file). -and-

 You run the macro using a shortcut key that includes the SHIFT key. For example, you press the following keystroke:

CTRL+SHIFT+T





WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, do not assign a shortcut key that includes the SHIFT key to any macro that opens any type of file.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.



MORE INFORMATION
When you create a Visual Basic macro in Microsoft Excel, you can assign a shortcut key to the macro. When you press the shortcut key, Microsoft Excel runs the macro to which you assigned the shortcut key. To assign a shortcut key to a macro, use the following appropriate steps.

Microsoft Excel 97

 * 1) On the Tools menu, point to Macro, and click Macros.
 * 2) In the list of macros, click the macro to which you want to assign a shortcut key. Then, click Options.
 * 3) Type a single letter in the shortcut key box.
 * 4) Click OK. Then, click Cancel.

NOTE: If you hold down the SHIFT key while you type a letter in the shortcut key box, the label to the left of the box changes from "Ctrl+" to "Ctrl+Shift+." When you do this, you must include the SHIFT key to use the shortcut key to run the macro.

Microsoft Excel 7.0

 * 1) On the Tools menu, click Macro.
 * 2) In the list of macros, click the macro to which you want to assign a shortcut key. Then, click Options.
 * 3) Select (check) the Shortcut Key check box. Then, type a single letter in the shortcut key box.
 * 4) Click OK. Then, click Close.

If the shortcut key for a macro includes the SHIFT key, the macro may not work as expected if it opens any files, particularly a Microsoft Excel add-in file. This occurs because holding down the SHIFT key while a file is opening causes Microsoft Excel to open the file in edit mode, and you cannot open an add-in in this mode. For this reason, Microsoft recommends that you do not assign a shortcut key that includes the SHIFT key to a macro that opens files.

Additional query words: XL97 XL7 XL

Keywords: kberrmsg KB162407

-

[mailto:TECHNET@MICROSOFT.COM Send feedback to Microsoft]

© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.