One or more links that cannot be updated...

After opening a spreadsheet with DDE links I get the message:

This workbook contains one or more links that cannot be updated.

To change the source of links, or attempt to update values again, click Edit
Links.
To open the workbook as is, click Continue.


Problem is that all the links appear to be working perfectly and I can't for
the life of me track down the supposedly broken link.

Ideas...?

Guy wrote:
Problem is that all the links appear to be working perfectly and I can't for
the life of me track down the supposedly broken link.


It may be taking time to establish the link.
By not automatically updating the links at startup (see other message) you
could avoid the message perhaps. You could then set Update Remote References =
True, e.g. by a macro after opening the workbook.

Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup

I have a similar problem. I get the message that links cannot be updated, but
when I go to edit the links, the Status of my source file is "OK". I used the
Findlink addin and did not find any bad links. I cleaned out the NAMES list.
I moved both the source and linked excel files to my desktop (from a network
drive) in case a slow network was the problem as you had suggested.

I thought having the source file password protected (to modify) might be the
problem, but I tried it without protection, and I still get errors.

Even though I get the error message, the linked data does change to reflect
changes in the master. I would just ignore the error message, but other
coworkers will need to use these files as well.

I will try writing a macro to do the updating instead of using the auto
update, and I hope that it works.

BTW, I also selected the "Don't display alert and update links..." option
and the alert displays anyway. To troubleshoot my link problem, I deleted all
links but one cell so I have only one excel file cell linked to a cell in a
second excel file.

I use Excel 2003 on Windows 2000 Pro.

Mary

"Bill Manville" wrote:

Guy wrote:
Problem is that all the links appear to be working perfectly and I can't for
the life of me track down the supposedly broken link.


It may be taking time to establish the link.
By not automatically updating the links at startup (see other message) you
could avoid the message perhaps. You could then set Update Remote References =
True, e.g. by a macro after opening the workbook.

Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup

I have the same problem. I have an Excel file linked to a master excel file.
When I update the links, I get the error message. When I choose Edit Links,
the Status is "OK". I used Findlink addin but did not find any bad links. I
cleared out the Names list. I moved the files to my hard drive (from a
network) in case the slow network was the problem.

The linked cell (I deleted all but one link to do the troubleshooting)
updates even though I get the error message. I would just ignore the
messages, but this file needs to be used by other coworkers.

BTW, I also set the "Don't display alert and update links..." option, but I
get the alert anyway. There are no references except from one Excel cell to
the cell of another excel file.

I guess I will have to try writing a macro instead of using the automatic
updates. I hope that works.

I am using Excel 2003 (office 2003 pro) with Windows 2000Pro.

Mary

"Bill Manville" wrote:

Guy wrote:
Problem is that all the links appear to be working perfectly and I can't for
the life of me track down the supposedly broken link.


It may be taking time to establish the link.
By not automatically updating the links at startup (see other message) you
could avoid the message perhaps. You could then set Update Remote References =
True, e.g. by a macro after opening the workbook.

Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup

Hi Mary,

I'm still trying to get rid of this problem. I must admit that it's an
annoyance and doesn't stop me working just slows me down by having to wait
and click and I know that investigating it will take longer than it takes to
use it in this crippled fashion.

To tell the truth I think that it's a bug in Excel.


"Mary" wrote in message
...
I have a similar problem. I get the message that links cannot be updated,
but
when I go to edit the links, the Status of my source file is "OK". I used
the
Findlink addin and did not find any bad links. I cleaned out the NAMES
list.
I moved both the source and linked excel files to my desktop (from a
network
drive) in case a slow network was the problem as you had suggested.

I thought having the source file password protected (to modify) might be
the
problem, but I tried it without protection, and I still get errors.

Even though I get the error message, the linked data does change to
reflect
changes in the master. I would just ignore the error message, but other
coworkers will need to use these files as well.

I will try writing a macro to do the updating instead of using the auto
update, and I hope that it works.

BTW, I also selected the "Don't display alert and update links..." option
and the alert displays anyway. To troubleshoot my link problem, I deleted
all
links but one cell so I have only one excel file cell linked to a cell in
a
second excel file.

I use Excel 2003 on Windows 2000 Pro.

Mary

"Bill Manville" wrote:

Guy wrote:
Problem is that all the links appear to be working perfectly and I
can't for
the life of me track down the supposedly broken link.


It may be taking time to establish the link.
By not automatically updating the links at startup (see other message)
you
could avoid the message perhaps. You could then set Update Remote
References =
True, e.g. by a macro after opening the workbook.

Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup

Mary wrote:
The linked cell (I deleted all but one link to do the troubleshooting)
updates even though I get the error message. I would just ignore the
messages, but this file needs to be used by other coworkers.


If you would care to send me this file, I would be very interested to
look at it and see if I can understand the cause.

Please email it to Bill_Manville @ compuserve.com (without the spaces)
Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup

Bill - I have sent you the files as you requested.

I also tried creating a new file this morning in case a recent Office
upgrade (2003 from 2000) was the source of the glitch. Also, I was not the
original author of the Formula Card file, and I do not know exactly what
software my coworker was using. (Variety is the spice of life here.)

Anyway, I created a new Excel file and copied the cells from the old version
to the new workbook. On a new sheet I created a new link to the source file
(with that file open). The new file updates without any error. I selected
“Don’t show alert and Update links�, but the alert still shows up. I can live
with that.

Good luck unlocking the mystery of why the original file produces an error.
Thanks for trying.

Mary



"Bill Manville" wrote:

Mary wrote:
The linked cell (I deleted all but one link to do the troubleshooting)
updates even though I get the error message. I would just ignore the
messages, but this file needs to be used by other coworkers.


If you would care to send me this file, I would be very interested to
look at it and see if I can understand the cause.

Please email it to Bill_Manville @ compuserve.com (without the spaces)
Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup

Received the files.
Slight holdup due to pressure of client work, but will look at them
soon.

Bill Manville
MVP - Microsoft Excel, Oxford, England
No email replies please - respond to newsgroup