XL97: Cannot Run Macro from Macros Dialog Box

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

You cannot run a Visual Basic for Applications macro from the Macros dialog box in the versions of Microsoft Excel listed above.

The macro is listed in the Macros dialog box; however, when you select the macro, the Run button is not available.

CAUSE

This problem may occur if the following conditions are true:

• You originally created the workbook in Microsoft Excel 5.0 or 7.0.

  -and-

• There is another Visual Basic module in the workbook that contains a macro with the same name.

  -and-

• The module name contains one or more invalid characters.

   Character     Name
   --------------------------------------
                 Space
   $             Dollar Sign
   ~             Tilde
   !             Exclamation Point
   %             Percent
   &             Ampersand
   -             Hyphen
   {             Left brace
   }             Right brace
   (             Left parenthesis
   )             Right parenthesis
   `             Accent grave
   @             At sign
   '             Apostrophe
   +             Plus
   =             Equal sign
   ^             Accent circumflex, carat

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, change the name for the module to a valid module name. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Open the workbook.

2. Press ALT+F11 to activate the Visual Basic Editor.

3. On the View menu, click Project Explorer to view the Project Explorer.

4. Double-click the Modules folder for the workbook.

5. Select the module and press F4 to display the properties for the module.

6. Change the (Name) property of the module to a valid module name.

7. Press ALT+Q to switch to Microsoft Excel.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.