Harlan Grove's Pull function with Closed workbooks

B

bertowall

I am using Harlan Grove's pull function to get past Indirect's
limitation of only working with Open workbooks. The Pull function is
working fine when the workbook that I am referencing is open, but does
not work on closed workbooks.

To test the function, I went back to basics and entered pull as
=pull('C:\Documents and Settings\Roberto\My Documents\My Files\[phone
numbers.xls]Phone Directory'!$A$2) which returns a
#REF error. If I used it on an open workbook
EG =pull([phone numbers.xls]Phone Directory'!$A$2) the function works
well.

Ultimately, I am looking to use the pull in a Vlookup like this
VLOOKUP(value, pull(workbook and range), match,1)

When I looked at the pull code, I found that it is getting tripped up
on the line.
pull = Evaluate(xref)


It appears that the Evaluate function can't evaluate a closed
spreadsheet. Am I using the function incorrectly? Is there a way past
this error that still evaluates the existence of the closed workbook in
question?

If not, is there another function that I can use with Vlookup to
evaluate a dynamic cell reference:
e.g. pull( "C:\" & "variable")


This is the version of pull that I am using.


Function pull(xref As String) As Variant
'inspired by Bob Phillips and Laurent Longre
'but written by Harlan Grove

'-----------------------------­------------------------------­------
'Copyright (c) 2003 Harlan Grove.
'
'This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
'it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
'by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License,
'or (at your option) any later version.

'-----------------------------­------------------------------­------
'2004-05-30
'still more fixes, this time to address apparent differences between
'XL8/97 and later versions. Specifically, fixed the InStrRev call,
'which is fubar in later versions and was using my own hacked version
'under XL8/97 which was using the wrong argument syntax. Also either
'XL8/97 didn't choke on CStr(pull) called when pull referred to an
'array while later versions do, or I never tested the 2004-03-25 fix
'against multiple cell references.


'-----------------------------­------------------------------­------
'2004-05-28
'fixed the previous fix - replaced all instances of 'expr' with
'xref'
'also now checking for initial single quote in xref, and if found
'advancing past it to get the full pathname [dumb, really dumb!]

'-----------------------------­------------------------------­------
'2004-03-25
'revised to check if filename in xref exists - if it does, proceed;
'otherwise, return a #REF! error immediately - this avoids Excel
'displaying dialogs when the referenced file doesn't exist

'-----------------------------­------------------------------­------
Dim xlapp As Object, xlwb As Workbook
Dim b As String, r As Range, C As Range, n As Long
'** begin 2004-05-30 changes **


'** begin 2004-05-28 changes **
'** begin 2004-03-25 changes **
n = InStrRev(xref, "\")
If n > 0 Then
If Mid(xref, n, 2) = "\[" Then
b = Left(xref, n)
n = InStr(n + 2, xref, "]") - n - 2
If n > 0 Then b = b & Mid(xref, Len(b) + 2, n)
Else
n = InStrRev(Len(xref), xref, "!")
If n > 0 Then b = Left(xref, n - 1)
End If
'** key 2004-05-28 addition **
If Left(b, 1) = "'" Then b = Mid(b, 2)
On Error Resume Next
If n > 0 Then If Dir(b) = "" Then n = 0
Err.Clear
On Error GoTo 0
End If
If n <= 0 Then
pull = CVErr(xlErrRef)
Exit Function
End If
'** end 2004-03-25 changes **
'** end 2004-05-28 changes **
pull = Evaluate(xref)

'** key 2004-05-30 addition **
'If IsArray(pull) Then Exit Function
'** end 2004-05-30 changes **


If CStr(pull) = CStr(CVErr(xlErrRef)) Then
On Error GoTo CleanUp 'immediate clean-up at this point
Set xlapp = CreateObject("Excel.Applicatio­n")
Set xlwb = xlapp.Workbooks.Add 'needed by .ExecuteExcel4Macro
On Error Resume Next 'now clean-up can wait
n = InStr(InStr(1, xref, "]") + 1, xref, "!")
b = Mid(xref, 1, n)
Set r = xlwb.Sheets(1).Range(Mid(xref, n + 1))
If r Is Nothing Then
pull = xlapp.ExecuteExcel4Macro(xref)
Else
For Each C In r
C.Value = xlapp.ExecuteExcel4Macro(b & C.Address(1, 1, xlR1C1))
Next C
pull = r.Value
End If
CleanUp:
If Not xlwb Is Nothing Then xlwb.Close 0
If Not xlapp Is Nothing Then xlapp.Quit
Set xlapp = Nothing
End If
End Function
'----- end VBA
 

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