Microsoft KB Archive/177527

= XL97: Error Changing Application Object from ActiveX Control =

Article ID: 177527

Article Last Modified on 10/11/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q177527



SYMPTOMS
If you have a Visual Basic for Applications macro attached to an ActiveX control on a Microsoft Excel worksheet, you may receive an error message similar to the following:

Run-time error '1004': Unable to set the _Default property of the PivotItem class

-or-

Run-time error '1004': Method ' ' of object '_Application' failed

where is the name of the Visual Basic method in your code that fails.



CAUSE
This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:
 * You have attached a Visual Basic macro to an event of an ActiveX control.

-and-
 * The macro attempts to modify a property of the Application object.

-or-
 * The macro attempts to modify a PivotTable.

-or-
 * You are trying to set a variable equal to a field in a Pivot Table that is sorted.



WORKAROUND
Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. To work around the problem, use either of the following methods:

Method 1
Insert the following line of code into your macro before the line of code that fails: ActiveCell.Activate

Method 2
If the macro is attached to an event of the Command Button ActiveX control, you can work around the error by setting the TakeFocusOnClick property to False. To set the TakeFocusOnClick property to False, follow these steps:
 * 1) Display the Control Toolbox toolbar. To do this, point to Toolbars on the View menu, then click Control Toolbox.
 * 2) Click Design Mode on the Control Toolbox toolbar.
 * 3) Click Properties on the Control Toolbox toolbar.
 * 4) Select the CommandButton that runs your macro code.
 * 5) Change the value of the TakeFocusOnClick property to False.
 * 6) Click Exit Design Mode on the Control Toolbox toolbar.

Method 3
Set the Auto Sort option in the specified field on the Pivot Table to Manual.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem no longer occurs in Microsoft Excel 2000.

