Detect if an Excel file is open

3 Nov 2006 9:18 AM

Jakob Lithner

How can I detect if an Excel file is open?

Is it possible to use the Excel "Open Exclusive mechanism"?
Would it help if I can assume they are running on the same machine and only
opened by Excel Application?

6 Nov 2006 2:46 AM

Linda Liu [MSFT]

Hi Jakob,

Yes, you're right. When we open a file with Excel, the file is opened
exclusively and we could make use of this feature to check if the file has
been opened already. What we need to do is to try to open the specified
file. If an exception occurs, it means that the file has been opened.
Otherwise, the file hasn't been opened.

The following is the sample code.

Private Function IsOpen(ByVal filename As String) As Boolean
        Try
            Dim fs As System.IO.FileStream =
System.IO.File.OpenWrite(filename)
            fs.Close()
            Return False
        Catch ex As Exception
            Return True
        End Try
End Function

Hope this helps.
If you have anyting unclear, please feel free to let me know.

Sincerely,
Linda Liu
Microsoft Online Community Support

==================================================
Get notification to my posts through email? Please refer to
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/managednewsgroups/default.aspx#notif
ications.

Note: The MSDN Managed Newsgroup support offering is for non-urgent issues
where an initial response from the community or a Microsoft Support
Engineer within 1 business day is acceptable. Please note that each follow
up response may take approximately 2 business days as the support
professional working with you may need further investigation to reach the
most efficient resolution. The offering is not appropriate for situations
that require urgent, real-time or phone-based interactions or complex
project analysis and dump analysis issues. Issues of this nature are best
handled working with a dedicated Microsoft Support Engineer by contacting
Microsoft Customer Support Services (CSS) at
http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/support/default.aspx.
==================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

6 Nov 2006 7:26 AM

Jakob Lithner

Thanks Linda!