Microsoft KB Archive/116339

{|
 * width="100%"|

XL5: Remote Data Not Accessible with DDE Channel

 * }

-

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0

-

SYMPTOMS
When you use the Microsoft Excel Visual Basic, Applications Edition, DDEInitiate macro function to initiate a channel with Microsoft Query version 1.0, the following message may appear:

Remote data not accessible.

Start Application 'MSQUERY.EXE'?

The available options are Yes, No, and Help. If you choose Yes, another instance of the application is started. If you choose No, then you may experience problems communicating with the DDE channel.

CAUSE
This error message may occur for the following reasons:

  Communication with Microsoft Query requires that the application is started before the DDEInitiate command is issued. To do this, add the following line above the DDEInitiate command: "Shell 'c:\windows\msapps\msquery\msquery.exe', 1" -or-  If the shell line is already present, ensure that it has the value 1 for the windowstyle parameter (illustrated in step 1 above). This value runs the program in a normal window with focus (as opposed to the default value of 2, which runs the program in a minimized window with focus).