Opening Excel file with PowerPoint VBA, Inconsistent Results

Question

I have a PowerPoint macro that should open an Excel file.

Public Sub SortList()

Dim MyFile as String
Dim xlApp as Object
Dim xlWorkBook as Object
Set xlApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")

With Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogOpen)
    .AllowMultiSelect = False
    .Show
    MyFile = SelectedItems(1)
End With

xlApp.Visible = True
xlApp.Workbooks.Open MyFile
Set xlWorkBook = xlApp.Workbooks.Open(MyFile)

This code was previously working with no errors. However, I have started receiving the error message

"Run-time error '-2147467259 (80004005)': Method 'Open' of object 'Workbooks' failed."

The error occurs when trying to run the "Set" line of code.

The issue is that I can see that the code is successfully opening the Excel file: Things I have tried (in about every possible combination):

-Changing the code to this (I thought maybe the program was trying to open the file twice):

xlApp.Visible = True
Set xlWorkBook = xlApp.Workbooks.Open(MyFile)

-Adding ReadOnly:= True to both or either.Open command, at one point this gave me an "Automation error- unspecified error" message which I have never seen before...

-Changing the Set line to this (and variations thereof):

xlApp.Workbooks.Open MyFile
Set xlWorkBook = xlApp.Workbooks(Dir(MyFile))

-Ensuring Excel is completely closed prior to running the code

The frustrating aspect is that this code worked perfectly last week, so I'm also at a loss as to why it would suddenly stop working. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Workbooks.Open can cause issues if you call it on an already open workbook.

So, don't open twice. Remove the following line:

xlApp.Workbooks.Open MyFile