Question

Who is using my File

Asked by: PeterWhitts

I am using Excel 97

I need to open an excel file G:\MyFiles\Info.xls using a button on my top toolbar.

If the file is already open I need to know through a msgbox that it is open and who on my network is using it.
Everybody has a logon username.

Can any of our experts please suggest codiing behind the button to achieve this.

Many thanks

Peter Whitts

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Asked On
2005-06-28 at 08:57:39ID21473528
Tags

my

,

network

,

using

Topic

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
12

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Answers

 

by: vhpcompPosted on 2005-06-28 at 10:43:15ID: 14320963

There doesn't seem to be a way to do this using VBA within the workbook, however some tips are here:

http://exceltips.vitalnews.com/Pages/T0510_Who_Has_the_File_Open.html

I'm not familar with the .net, so I'll take a stab at VBA using an additional tracker workbook.

As suggested in the article, you could use another workbook "user_tracker.xls" that has two columns, the file name and "current user"
like this
A1                           B1
myworkbook.xls       JoeUser
myworkbook2.xls     SallyUser

The username in column b is overwritten each time the file is open

'First,  in the workbook you are tracking you need code to get the user name.
'It is better to use Windows API than application.username, since that won't necessarily match
'network login.  These two functions must go in the same module of that workbook:

Private Declare Function GetUserName Lib "advapi32.dll" _
Alias "GetUserNameA" (ByVal lpBuffer As String, nSize As Long) _
  As Long


Function SystemUserName() As String
'   Returns the name of the logged-in user
    Dim Buffer As String * 100
    Dim BuffLen As Long
    BuffLen = 100
    GetUserName Buffer, BuffLen
    SystemUserName = Left(Buffer, BuffLen - 1)
End Function



'This sub goes in the Open event of the workbook you are tracking:

Private Sub Workbook_Open()
WriteUserName
End Sub

'this goes in another module
Sub WriteUserName()

dim sUser as string
Workbooks("user_tracker.xls").open
With activeworkbook
         .Range("b1").value =SystemUserName 'this calls function and returns string
 End With
Activeworkbook.close

End sub


'This code goes in the button click event:

Dim sCurUser as string
Workbooks("myworkbook.xls").open

    If activework.readonly = true 'then someone has it open, so check to see who
      'close it here if you don't want it to remain open
         Workbooks("user_tracker.xls").open  readonly :=true 'open read only in case someone is trying to write to it
        sCurUser = activeworkbook.range("B1"). value
        ActiveWorkbook.close 'close the tracker workbook
        msgbox("Workbook is currently opened by " & sCurUser")
End If


You may have to experiment to make sure the timing doesn't cause a problem if the files are being opened and closed very frequently.



 

by: vhpcompPosted on 2005-06-28 at 10:55:31ID: 14321076

whoops, the last line of code should be:
 msgbox("Workbook is currently opened by " & sCurUser)

Also, when you open the file with code if it is on a network, it is better
to use UNC path rather than mapped drive letter:
"\\myserver\mysharename\myfiles\myfile.xls" rather than "g:\myfiles..."

 

by: patrickabPosted on 2005-06-28 at 11:21:17ID: 14321349

PeterWhitts,

There is no need to write code to achieve what you require.

In Tools/Options/General make sure you enter a User Name in the box. I suggest you put a full name and a telephone extension No. in the box. If the file is in use and some one else attemps to opens it, a dialogue box will pop up telling you who is using it. This will only work if the file is NOT a 'shared file'. By the way I strongly recommend you not to 'share' files and instead keep them as one user at a time. You will avoid file corruptions that way.

Patrick

 

by: vhpcompPosted on 2005-06-28 at 13:24:26ID: 14322536

Patrickab is correct, and his method is much easier :-)
One thing -If you are opening the file via code,  be sure that application.displayalerts is not set to false, otherwise the user would not see the dialog box.  Instead a read-only copy of the requested file would open.  

 

by: PeterWhittsPosted on 2005-06-28 at 13:37:10ID: 14322722

All the above information is very interesting and I need a little time to test it but...

When you say NOT a 'shared file' do you mean not shared as in colaboration to track changes if not how do I make sure that the file is NOT a 'shared file'

 

by: PeterWhittsPosted on 2005-06-28 at 13:50:37ID: 14322863

Ok found that answer in a previous question
tools>>share workbook make sure shared box is not ticked.

 

by: PeterWhittsPosted on 2005-06-28 at 13:56:24ID: 14322930

If I get a system message box telling me that the file i want to open is being used by someone else what is the best way to trap this in order to stop my procedure from trying to open it and write some information to some of the cells...is there an error number attached to this system message.

Thanks for you help so far.

 

by: vhpcompPosted on 2005-06-28 at 15:10:59ID: 14323628

I don't believe that an error is raised.  But you can turn off display alerts and check for the read-only property which indicates that someone else has the workbook open. You might want to make sure the user that clicked the button doesn't already have it open:

Sub IfOpenProcess ()

Dim sFile as string
Dim sPath as string

sFile = "myworkbook.xls"
sPath = "\\myshare\myfolder\"

If WorkbookisOpen(sFile) then
    'already open, so activate it instead  
     Workbooks(sFile).Activate
Else
      Application.displayalerts = false
      Application.screenupdating = false
       Workbooks.open (sPath & sFile)
         If ActiveWorkbook.readonly = true then 'then someone else has it open
                Application.displayalerts = true
               Application.screenupdating =true
                Activeworkbook.close
                exit sub
         End If
         
  End If
'now you can perform operations on the workbook here

Application.displayalerts = true
Application.screenupdating=true

End Sub


Private Function WorkbookIsOpen(sFile) As Boolean

'   Returns TRUE if the workbook is open
    Dim X As Workbook
    On Error Resume Next
    Set X = Workbooks(sFile)
    If Err = 0 Then WorkbookIsOpen = True _
        Else WorkbookIsOpen = False
End Function

 

by: patrickabPosted on 2005-06-28 at 15:40:49ID: 14323811

PeterWhitts - Only just picked up on this again just now. You've found the right answer already. - Patrick

 

by: PeterWhittsPosted on 2005-07-01 at 11:42:31ID: 14350321

Thanks for both of your help. I have increased the points to 500 and split them between you but have taken vhpcomp as the accepted answer because the change of methodology best fits want I want.

 

by: patrickabPosted on 2005-07-01 at 15:12:16ID: 14351585

PeterWhitts - Thanks for the 'assisted' points - Patrick

 

by: vhpcompPosted on 2005-07-01 at 17:57:34ID: 14352195

PeterWhitts - Thanks for the points.
Vince

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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