WinBatch Tech Support Home

Database Search

If you can't find the information using the categories below, post a question over in our WinBatch Tech Support Forum.

TechHome

DDE

Can't find the information you are looking for here? Then leave a message over on our WinBatch Tech Support Forum.

DDEInitiate Returns 0 with Excel

Keywords:         DDEInitiate Excel dde

Question:

I am trying to put certain information I extract from a text file in to a Excel Spreadsheet. I am not getting very far as I keep getting NO DDE channel.

I tried:-

	chan=DDEInitiate("EXCEL","SYSTEM")
This always returns zero.

I assume the Word System above means the Spreadsheet name or NOT. I have Office 97 installed on my Windows NT workstation with my winbatch EXE, Spreadsheet in the same directory on the server.

Answer:

  1. Your code should look something like:
    	run("excel.exe", "c:\temp\temp.xls")
    	channel = DDEInitiate("Excel", "Sheet1")
    
    or
    	run("excel.exe", "c:\temp\temp.xls")
    	DDEChan = DDEInitiate("Excel", "System")
    	message("ddechan",ddechan)
    

  2. In Excel 5.0, select "Options | Tools | General", and make sure that "Ignore Other Applications" is NOT checked.

  3. In Excel 4.0, select "Options | Workspace", and make sure that "Ignore Remote Requests" is NOT checked.

DDEInitiate Returns 0 (it's case sensitive)

Question:

I like to make some DDERequest within a .wbt file towards an application supporting DDE. The following instruction returns an 0 error code:
channel = DDEInitiate("fimsdde", "tdfprices")
When I make a DDE-link directly within Excel without using WB (=DDE etc)everything goes well. Now I close Excel and re-run my WBT-file, now suddenly everythings works there as well.

So my WBT-file only works if a previous DDE-conversation by Excel has been made. I experimented with delays with no results.

It's a direct DDE-Link like:

=FIMSDDE|TDFPRICES!'946681,148,22'where:
FIMSDDE is the application
TDFPRICES the topic
'946681,148,22'the requested data item
If I once open an Excel sheet with a link such as mentioned above and than close Excel, I can work all day fine with my WBT-DDE links, but once the machine is rebooted the problem re-appears, so it looks like Excel opens some links neccesary for DDE-conversation which stay open after exciting Excel and which WBT needs to operate properly.

Answer:

Maybe it is case sensitive?

Maybe try...

channel = DDEInitiate("FIMSDDE", "TDFPRICES")
like in the Excel link.

Reply:

I don't believe it, you hit it again ! That would be the last thing I would look for, strange things those computer :-)

Thanks a lot !


Article ID:   W12810
Filename:   DDEInitiate Returns 0 with Excel.txt
File Created: 2001:11:27:14:42:34
Last Updated: 2001:11:27:14:42:34