Macros In This Project Are Disabled

[Lem]

Really, the question is, what is "Auto_Close"?

I just installed Word 2003, and was poking around with macros. I
clicked on Tools > Macros and saw 4 items in the list of macros. The
first is called Auto_Close, and was supposedly created by me on the day
Word 2003 was installed. The other 3 are related to a Palm desktop
application.

If any of these are selected, the Edit button is grayed out, and if I
select Step Into or Run, I get the VBA error "Macros In This Project Are
Disabled." Help is not too helpful.

VBA Help says "You opened the document with Macros Disabled. Close the
document, and then reopen it with Enable Macros." I have no clue how to
"reopen with Enable Macros".

Word Help is not much better. It says to make sure that VBA is
installed (it is).

I did an Office repair install to no avail. I set the macro security
level to low, also no help. The box to "Trust all installed add-ins and
templates" is checked. I checked the box to "Trust access to Visual
Basic Project", also no help. (I've since reset the macro security level
to high and unchecked the "Trust access .." box).

Finally, out of frustration, I created a macro (I copied the code to
display installed fonts from KB 209205). This works fine. I can Run
it, Edit it, or Step Into it.

So, there seems to be nothing wrong with my installation. But what is
"Auto_Close", and why can't I edit it or otherwise see what it is? And
why can't I edit or otherwise view those Palm macros?

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Lem,

There are a number of interlocking factors in your problems.

- At least the Palm macros, and possibly the Auto_Close macro, are
stored in a template called PalmApp.dot which is loaded as an add-in
each time Word starts. In order to view the code of those macros, the
PalmApp.dot file must be opened directly, through the File > Open
dialog. Even then, the module might be password-protected to prevent
viewing.

- If Auto_Close isn't in PalmApp.dot or Normal.dot, then it must be in
another add-in. See
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011514521033.aspx for
the definitive list of how to find add-ins. Any macro named Auto_Close
runs automatically whenever you close a document; however, that
doesn't tell you anything about what the macro does.

- In the Security dialog, the "Trust all installed add-ins and
templates" box should be checked. You can leave the level set to High
if you never store macros in documents, only in templates stored in
your User Templates folder. The effect of the "Trust all" option is to
allow macros in templates in that specific folder (and the Workgroup
Templates folder, if you specify one) to run without intervention.

- As explained in the footnote of the article at
http://www.word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/WhatTemplatesStore.htm,
there's a Startup folder in the Program Files path that can be used to
store add-ins, but it isn't trusted. The PalmApp.dot file is probably
there, which accounts for the "disabled macros" message. Move the file
to the real Startup folder. Together with checking the "Trust all"
option, that will stop the messages (unless Auto_Close is still
somewhere else).

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
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[Lem]

Jay,
Thanks for the comprehensive answer. PalmApp.dot is, in fact, in the
Startup folder. Opening it directly allows all 4 macros to be accessed.
It turns out Auto_Close also has something to do with Palm. I haven't
read through the Palm macros, but one (or all) of them must run
automatically when Word is started, and must then create Auto_Close.

For now, I'm going to leave things as is, and files where they are. I
only got the error message when I tried to look at these macros, and
that was out of curiosity rather than real need.

 

[Tony Jollans]

Can I just add a little to this. I know nothing about PalmApp.dot and it may
do its own thing in its own way but in Word, Auto_Close is *not* a special
macro. In Word, a macro called AutoClose (without the underscore) will run
automatically at close. In Excel, a macro called Auto_Close will run at
close (but one named AutoClose won't). Just please don't ask why!