Using xla's on a shared drive

[K_Macd]

I came across a post in 2005 (Thomlinson/RB Smissaert) that suggested have a
loader add-in on the workstation that opened the add-in on a shared drive not
as add-in but as a normal but hidden xls file. There was some suggestion that
excel couldn't handle add-ins remote from the host but I have not tested this.

My question though is if a pseudo xla or a genuine referenced xla on the
shared drive is already open will a second user be greeted by the 'File is in
use/Read only/Cancel/Notify' dialog?

 

[Charles Williams]

No, it works fine: see my auto-reversioning add-in loader. download from
http://www.decisionmodels.com/downloads.htm

The Add-In Loader is designed to solve some of the problems of maintaining
and loading Add-Ins on a network:

Dynamic reversioning of add-ins with automatic link updating.

Control from a central point which add-ins will be automatically loaded
when Excel starts.

Control from a central point which add-ins will be available for
on-demand loading.

Enable updated versions of an add-in to be placed on a server at the
same time as previous versions are in use.

Optionally specify and/or change the network path for each add-in.

No Registry changes for load and unload.

The Add-In Loader helps the User:

Improve Excel start-up time by bypassing the loading of add-ins that are
only needed intermittently.

Minimize memory use by loading add-ins when needed and easily unloading
them when not needed.

Dynamically load the latest version of an add-in, whilst unloading any
version which is currently loaded.

Dynamically update any links that point to old versions of loaded
add-ins when a workbook is opened or an add-in is loaded.