XL97: Charts.Delete Command in Macro May Delete Worksheets

ID: Q168364

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 97, if you run a Visual Basic macro that uses a line of code similar to the following to delete all of the chart sheets in a workbook 

   ActiveWorkbook.Charts.Delete
Microsoft Excel may delete one or more worksheets, including the active worksheet.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the workbook does not contain any chart sheets.

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 prevent this problem from occurring, modify the macro so that it checks for the existence of chart sheets in the workbook before it removes all of the chart sheets. For example, use the following code: 

   If ActiveWorkbook.Charts.Count > 0 Then
       ActiveWorkbook.Charts.Delete
   End If
If there are one or more chart sheets in the workbook, they are deleted. If there are no chart sheets in the workbook, the command to delete the chart sheets is not executed. This prevents the macro from deleting any of the worksheets.

STATUS

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

MORE INFORMATION

Note that this problem does not occur in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel. In earlier versions of Microsoft Excel, if the workbook does not contain any chart sheets, you receive the following error message: 

   Run-time error '1004':
   Delete method of Sheets class failed
Also, note that charts that are embedded in worksheets do not count as chart sheets. If the workbook contains embedded charts but not chart sheets, the Charts.Delete command removes one or more worksheets from the workbook.

Additional query words: XL97 xlvbmigrate 

Keywords          : kbprg kbdta KbVBA 
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: June 30, 1999