XL97: HYPERLINK Doesn't Work if Second Argument Returns Error

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you click a hyperlink in a Microsoft Excel worksheet, nothing happens.

CAUSE

This will occur if both of the following conditions are true:

• The hyperlink was created by a formula containing the HYPERLINK worksheet function.

      -and-
  

• The second argument of the HYPERLINK function, friendly_name, equals an error value, such as #DIV/0!, #NAME?, or #VALUE!

WORKAROUND

To prevent this problem from occurring, make sure that your HYPERLINK worksheet function does not contain an error value for the second argument.

For example, if your formula is

   =HYPERLINK("http://msnbc.com",A1/B1)

   =HYPERLINK("http://msnbc.com",IF(B1=0,0,A1/B1))

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.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel 97, the HYPERLINK worksheet function allows you to create a hyperlink within a worksheet cell. The HYPERLINK function accepts two arguments:

   Argument        Description
   -------------------------------------------------------------------

   link_location   the path and file name, or URL, you want to link to
   friendly_name   the text that should appear in the cell

If the value of the friendly_name argument returns an error value, the hyperlink will not work when you click it. Here are some example formulas that demonstrate this problem.

Example 1: #VALUE! error

This hyperlink will fail because the expression 1+"Alpha" returns a #VALUE! error:

   =HYPERLINK("http://msnbc.com",1+"Alpha")

Example 2: #NAME? error

This hyperlink will fail if the defined name "Bravo" doesn't exist, because it results in a #NAME? error:

   =HYPERLINK("http://msnbc.com",Bravo)

Example 3: #DIV/0! error

This hyperlink will fail if the mathematical expression returns any type of error, such as #DIV/0!:

   =HYPERLINK("http://msnbc.com",A1/B1)