excel vba sort error 1004

Question

i'm using this code for sorting (checked for Excel 2010/2013):

    Worksheets("Tabelle4(1)").Activate
ActiveSheet.Sort.SortFields.Add Key:=Range( _
        "W2:W51"), SortOn:=xlSortOnValues, Order:=xlDescending, DataOption:= _
        xlSortNormal

I loop over a sheet 70 times with different values and sort and export them as a pdf. Everything works fine, but after approximately 30 times I get an error 1004. If I start the loop at this point 30 again it works fine. The problem doesn't seem to do with the values. Is there a buffer inside of excel, which I've to clear from time to time?

Answer 1

You should clear your Sort fields from time to time indeed, because they just accumulate and it'll be harder for you to prioritize them.

And just don't use Activate , nor Select which is even worse, so just combine Sheets().Activate and ActiveSheet.Sort to Sheets().Sort , your code will be much more efficient.

This should help you :

With Worksheets("Tabelle4(1)")
        .Sort.SortFields.Add _
            Key:=Range("W2:W51"), _
            SortOn:=xlSortOnValues, _
            Order:=xlDescending, _
            DataOption:=xlSortNormal

        .Sort.Orientation = xlTopToBottom
        .Sort.Apply
        'here is your export

        .Sort.SortFields.Clear
End With

Answer 2

    Set ws = Worksheets("Sheet1")
    Set rng = ws.Range(Cells(startRow, 1), Cells(endRow, 3))
        'startRow=2, endRow=18
        'Sort Table Date Decending Order
    ws.Sort.SortFields.Clear
    With ws
        .Sort.SortFields.Add Key:=rng, SortOn:=xlSortOnValues, Order:=xlDescending, DataOption:=xlSortNormal
        .Sort.Orientation = xlTopToBottom
        .Sort.SortMethod = xlPinYin
        .Sort.Apply
    End With

'This works but does not sort the data descending.