When you are working with macros in Excel, you may sometimes need to find other instances of Excel. For example, if you have a macro that opens up a new workbook, you may want to find out if there are any other instances of Excel running so that you can close them before running the macro. Here are some ways to do this:
The first way to check if there are any other instances of Excel running is to open the Task Manager. To do this, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. Then, click on the "Processes" tab. You should see a list of all the processes that are running on your computer. Look through the list and see if there are any other instances of "EXCEL.EXE" running. If there are, then you know that there are other instances of Excel open.
Another way to check if there are any other instances of Excel running is to use the VBA Shell function. This function will return the PID (process ID) of any process that is running on your computer. To use it, open the Visual Basic Editor (press Alt+F11) and insert the following code:
Dim PID As Long
PID = Shell("EXCEL.EXE", vbNormalFocus)
If PID <> 0 Then
MsgBox "Excel is already running!"
End If
This code will check to see if there is an instance of Excel running and, if there is, it will display a message box saying "Excel is already running!". You can then modify this code to take whatever action you want (e.g. close all other instances of Excel).
GetObject( ) is a function in VBA that allows you to get a reference to an object that is already running in another program. For example, you can use it to get a reference to an instance of Excel that is already open. To use it, insert the following code into the Visual Basic Editor:
Dim objExcel As Object
Set objExcel = GetObject(,"Excel.Application")
If Not objExcel Is Nothing Then
MsgBox "Excel is already running!"
'Do something here...
Set objExcel = Nothing
End If
(This code was adapted from this page)
This code will try to get a reference to an instance of Excel and, if it succeeds, it will display a message box saying "Excel is already running!". You can then modify this code to take whatever action you want (e.g., close all other instances of Excel).
FindWindow() is a Windows API function that allows you to find a window by its name or class name . For example , you can use it to find an instance of Excel that is already open . To use it , insert the following code into the Visual Basic Editor : p >
Dim hWnd As Long hWnd = FindWindow("XLMAIN", 0&) If hWnd <> 0 Then MsgBox "Excel is already running!" 'Do something here... End If