Help with locking a file after 365 day the a code to reinstate it...

[walleyd]

I need some advice. I have a customer that uses an excel spreadsheet
to figure wealth and other money related items. Anyhow it is a large
formula that he wants to lease out to companies with a year lease.

After a year he wants it to expire and then the company would have to
contact and pay for another year subscription. Is there a way to lock
an xls to 365 days then have some sort of code / password to give them
for another years use?


Email me at (e-mail address removed)

Thanks All

 

[JLGWhiz]

The short answer is "no". You might be able to use an OnTime macro to self
destruct the file, but I think I would just send them a bill for renewal and
see if they pay it. If they don't then go there and personally supervise the
deletion of the files.

If the companies continue to use the file without paying, then sue them.

 

[JLGWhiz]

P.S. My reason for saying the answer is no is that VBA code can be defeated
pretty easily for password protection. You can write code to do what you
described but it is of limited value in protecting against illegal useage if
the companies staff are not reputable. If they are reputable, then the
billing procedure would work just as well.

 

[Chip Pearson]

There is no really good way to do this. Any protection scheme can be
defeated by a user with an intermediate level of competence in Excel. That
said, you might find the code on
http://www.cpearson.com/Excel/WorkbookTimeBomb.aspx useful.


--
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft MVP - Excel, 10 Years
Pearson Software Consulting
www.cpearson.com
(email on the web site)