XL97: Cannot Stop Macro After Switching to Other Program

ID: Q163497

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you run a Visual Basic for Applications macro in Microsoft Excel 97, the following problems may occur:

You cannot stop the execution of the macro by pressing ESC or CTRL+BREAK.
-and-
The screen in Microsoft Excel 97 is not updated until the macro is finished running. As a result, Microsoft Excel 97 appears to stop responding.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:

The Visual Basic macro requires a long time to finish running.
This may be true if your macro contains loops that iterate many times.
-and-
While the macro is running, you switch to any other program, such as Microsoft Notepad or Microsoft Word 97.
-and-
You then attempt to switch back to Microsoft Excel 97.

WORKAROUND

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft Support professionals 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 needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact the Microsoft fee-based consulting line at (800) 936-5200. For more information about the support options available from Microsoft, please see the following page on the World Wide Web:

   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/

To work around this problem, wait for the macro to finish running. After the macro is finished, Microsoft Excel 97 updates the screen. If you wait for a long time and the macro does not finish running, It may be necessary to end the instance of Microsoft Excel 97 by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL.

Although it is not possible to prevent this problem from ever occurring, you can lessen its affects by adding MsgBox commands to the Visual Basic macro. For example, assume you are running the following Visual Basic macro:

   Sub Test()
       For X = 1 To 4000
           ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1).Cells(1, 1).Value = X
       Next X
       For Y = 1 To 4000
           ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1).Cells(1, 2).Value = Y
       Next Y
       For Z = 1 To 4000
           ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1).Cells(1, 3).Value = Z
       Next Z
   End Sub

When you run this macro, switch to another program, and then switch back to Microsoft Excel 97, you may not be able to halt the macro by pressing ESC. Also, the screen may not be updated properly until the macro is finished. However, you can add message boxes that allow the screen to be updated. For example, type the following subroutine:

   Sub Test()
       For X = 1 To 4000
           ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1).Cells(1, 1).Value = X
       Next X
       MsgBox "Stage one complete!"     'new line of code
       For Y = 1 To 4000
           ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1).Cells(1, 2).Value = Y
       Next Y
       MsgBox "Stage two complete!"     'new line of code
       For Z = 1 To 4000
           ThisWorkbook.Worksheets(1).Cells(1, 3).Value = Z
       Next Z
       MsgBox "Stage three complete!"   'new line of code
   End Sub

When each loop is completed, the macro displays a message box. When you click OK, the screen is updated properly, and you can halt the macro by pressing ESC.

STATUS

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

MORE INFORMATION

This problem occurs even if the Visual Basic macro contains one of the following lines of code:

   Application.EnableCancelKey = xlInterrupt

   -or-

   Application.EnableCancelKey = xlErrorHandler

Additional query words: 97 XL97 hang freeze stop

Keywords          : kbprg kbdta KbVBA 
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: May 17, 1999