"Windows cannot find [FileName]. Make sure...."

Just today, when I doubleclick a shortcut that's been working for
a long time, I'm starting to get "Windows cannot find [FileName].
Make sure....".

The shortcut points to a .XLS and Excel opens - just empty, with
no docs open.

But the strange thing is that if I drag/drop the problem icon to
the empty Excel window, it opens up the document just fine.

The diff is that I set Excel | Tools | Options | General | Ignore
other applications = True.

If I back out that setting, the icon opens normally.

Anybody else been here? I'd kind of like to keep the multiple
window option.... but would also like my shortcuts to work the
first time.
--
Pete Cresswell

PeteCresswell wrote:

Just today, when I doubleclick a shortcut that's been working for
a long time, I'm starting to get "Windows cannot find [FileName].
Make sure....".

The shortcut points to a .XLS and Excel opens - just empty, with
no docs open.

But the strange thing is that if I drag/drop the problem icon to
the empty Excel window, it opens up the document just fine.

The diff is that I set Excel | Tools | Options | General | Ignore
other applications = True.

If I back out that setting, the icon opens normally.

Anybody else been here? I'd kind of like to keep the multiple
window option.... but would also like my shortcuts to work the
first time.

To understand what is DDE and how messaging between caller and server
(aka handler) works, read:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_Data_Exchange

You didn't mention WHICH version of Excel you are using. From Excel
2003's own help:

Ignore other applications
Prevents exchange of data with other applications that use Dynamic Data
Exchange (DDE).

This option is normal disabled. For some reason you did not disclose
here but alluded to changing, you chose to enable this option (which
disable DDE messaging to a handler process). Well, that's why the .xls
filetype association stopped working.

In Windows Explorer, go to Tools - Folder Options - Filetypes and
check what handler is specified for the XLS filetype. Look at the
properties for this handler (which should be Excel). Click on the
Advanced button to look at (edit) the "Open" action. This is the action
you are requesting when you double-click on an .xls file in Windows
Explorer or defined a shortcut specifying just the .xls filename
(without a program in the command line to load it).

If the client or caller doesn't use DDE, it has to rely on the command
string listed in the "Application used to perform action" field.
Normally there would be a replaceable shell parameter listed here, like
%1 (which should be enclosed in double-quotes in case the path or
filename contains spaces, NOT within the enclosing double-quotes if
needed for the program or command in case it has spaces, too). %1 gets
replaced by the filename that the caller would specify to load.
However, notice there are no replaceable parameters in the command line
(no shell variables identified by a leading percent sign). That means
the command line is incomplete. Excel relies on using DDE to get the
filename.

You'll notice in the XLS filetype on the Open action that DDE is enabled
and that it specifies an "open(%1)" action that tells the handler to
open the filename passed through the %1 shell variable.

If you disable DDE messaging using the option you mention within Excel
or you disable DDE messaging in the XLS filetype association for the
Open action then you can no longer double-click on an .xls file or use a
shortcut that only specifies the .xls file to load it in Excel. With
DDE disabled (in Excel or in the filetype association), the only
remaining method of passing the filename to the handler is by using the
command specified in "Application used to perform action" field. Yet
the %1 parameter is missing in that command. So Excel gets loaded but
wasn't told what file to open. That's why you see Excel load but with a
blank document.

You could add "%1" (be sure to use the double quotes in case the passed
value contains spaces) at the end of the command field in the filetype
association. That doesn't look to be the normal setup but I don't know
why Microsoft would specify the command to load excel.exe without also
specifying the %1 to tell Excel what file to open when *not* using DDE
and instead using the command line to load Excel (with a file).
Alternatively, you could go back to the Folder Options - Filetypes
dialog, select the XLS file, and click the Change button to reassociate
the .xls filetype with Excel. You will get the same dialog as when you
right-click on an .xls file in Windows Explorer and select Open With -
Choose a Program. You then select the excel.exe program so that becomes
the handler for .xls files. Be sure to select the Remember option
checkbox so your choice is remembered for later reuse.

When you enabled the "Ignore other applications" option in Excel then
you were declaring that something else, even Windows, cannot use DDE to
pass a message with the filename to the handler or server process (which
is Excel). Was there a reason you decided to enable that normally
disabled option in Excel? Are you running inside a sandbox that blocks
messaging between processes? If so, restoring that messaging requires a
configuration change in the sandbox, not in Excel or in the filetype
association definition.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211494
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/101454

I suspect that disabling DDE messaging to Excel (whether because
interprocess messaging is blocked for a sandboxed app, because you
disabled it in Excel, or you disabled it in the filetype association)
also means you disable integration of Excel with other components of
Office.

Were you just putzing around with Excel's options without knowing their
effects or did someone tell you that you should disable interprocess
messaging support in Excel? Disabling DDE meant the filetype
association (as it is normally defined) won't work. You could add the
%1 shell variable to the command line when DDE isn't used but I don't
know the overall effect of modifying the command line that Microsoft
defined for that filetype upon installation of Excel.

http://excel.tips.net/T003046_Ignori...lications.html

With what other processes do you now want them to send data to Excel?
If that's your goal then perhaps you need to investigate into security
software that incorporates HIPS (host intrusion prevention system) where
it provides the granularity to determine which caller processes are
allowed to use interprocess communications with other processes.

Per VanguardLH:
Were you just putzing around with Excel's options without knowing their
effects or did someone tell you

My agenda was to make Excel open each document in a separate
parent window.

Sounds like I chose the wrong method.... -)


--
Pete Cresswell

(PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per VanguardLH:
Were you just putzing around with Excel's options without knowing their
effects or did someone tell you

My agenda was to make Excel open each document in a separate
parent window.

Sounds like I chose the wrong method.... -)

Did you try my suggestion of adding "%1" to the end of the command-line
("Application ..." field) in the filetype association for XLS in the
Open action? Disable DDE messaging either in Excel or in the filetype
association for the Open action, then force the use of the command-line
with the %1 parameter that specifies the file. Since you'll be running
the excel.exe command, you'll be loading another instance of Excel
(along with the additional memory requirements) which has its own
window.

Add "%1" (includes the double-quotes in case the path or filename have
space characters) and disabling DDE (in the filetype association) worked
for me. When I made that change, double-clicking on 2 .xls files
resulted in 2 separate instances of excel.exe getting loaded each with
its own window.

So why do you want to waste more memory loading more instances of
excel.exe? You can have multiple windows visible inside of Excel's own
window. Use the Window - Arrange menu.

Per VanguardLH:

So why do you want to waste more memory loading more instances of
excel.exe? You can have multiple windows visible inside of Excel's own
window. Use the Window - Arrange menu.

Convenience in a multi-monitor environment.

I've tried the multiple child windows, but it's too much trouble
to do on a regular basis.

When I double-click on a .XLS, I want to see the document - and
not have it obscure something else that I maybe have way over
*there* in a little 3x4 window.
--
Pete Cresswell