external file links in EMPTY workbook?

[rbyteme]

I have a large project that involves reading data from multiple workbooks
into a single source, then generating multiple workbooks filled with similar
charts based on data from each original source.

had good, clean chart template file set up. At some point a revision
received back from client had external links...the kind excel wants to update
every time file opened. thought it was copy/paste error problem linking back
to original combined data file, but i find NO linsk whatsoever, not in
formulas nor charts. Even when i delete EVERY worksheet in file, leaving only
a *new* blank sheet, it STILL thinks it has links. Is there another source
for external data links I am not aware of besides formula refs and charts?
(no pivot tables, databases, etc., involved here, just cell formulas and
chart data sources.) excel refuses to allow me to change the linked file to
the charts file itself, tells me my "formula" -- in empty file! -- has
invalid references.

Since the client has gone ahead and run project, creating multiple chart
files from template, is there any way to get rid of this "ghost" link without
recreating all files from scratch?

Thank you for any help.

 

[rbyteme]

never mind i figured it out. fyi anyone who is interested... even though the
links were "ghosts," the reason it was not breaking them when i tried to link
the file to itself was that the worksheet names were different in the source
file. copying a set of blank worksheets with the same names as those in the
source file into the "bad link" file allows the links to be changed to the
"bad link" file.

all in all, annoying given that there WERE NO REAL LINKS!!!! (hard to have
links in a totally empty worksheet, eh?). still interested if anyone has any
useful thoughts on that aspect...