Having multiple Excel instances launched, how can I get the Application Object for all of them?
To list the running instances of Excel:
#If VBA7 Then
Private Declare PtrSafe Function AccessibleObjectFromWindow Lib "oleacc" ( _
ByVal hwnd As LongPtr, ByVal dwId As Long, riid As Any, ppvObject As Object) As Long
Private Declare PtrSafe Function FindWindowExA Lib "user32" ( _
ByVal hwndParent As LongPtr, ByVal hwndChildAfter As LongPtr, _
ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As LongPtr
#Else
Private Declare Function AccessibleObjectFromWindow Lib "oleacc" ( _
ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal dwId As Long, riid As Any, ppvObject As Object) As Long
Private Declare Function FindWindowExA Lib "user32" ( _
ByVal hwndParent As Long, ByVal hwndChildAfter As Long, _
ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As Long
#End If
Sub Test()
Dim xl As Application
For Each xl In GetExcelInstances()
Debug.Print "Handle: " & xl.ActiveWorkbook.FullName
Next
End Sub
Public Function GetExcelInstances() As Collection
Dim guid&(0 To 3), acc As Object, hwnd, hwnd2, hwnd3
guid(0) = &H20400
guid(1) = &H0
guid(2) = &HC0
guid(3) = &H46000000
Set GetExcelInstances = New Collection
Do
hwnd = FindWindowExA(0, hwnd, "XLMAIN", vbNullString)
If hwnd = 0 Then Exit Do
hwnd2 = FindWindowExA(hwnd, 0, "XLDESK", vbNullString)
hwnd3 = FindWindowExA(hwnd2, 0, "EXCEL7", vbNullString)
If AccessibleObjectFromWindow(hwnd3, &HFFFFFFF0, guid(0), acc) = 0 Then
GetExcelInstances.Add acc.Application
End If
Loop
End Function
This would be best as a comment on Florent B.'s very useful function that returns a collection of the open Excel instances, but I don't have sufficient reputation to add comments. In my tests, the collection contained "repeats" of the same Excel instances i.e. GetExcelInstances().Count
was larger than it should have been. A fix for that is the use of the AlreadyThere
variable in the version below.
Private Function GetExcelInstances() As Collection
Dim guid&(0 To 3), acc As Object, hwnd, hwnd2, hwnd3
guid(0) = &H20400
guid(1) = &H0
guid(2) = &HC0
guid(3) = &H46000000
Dim AlreadyThere As Boolean
Dim xl As Application
Set GetExcelInstances = New Collection
Do
hwnd = FindWindowExA(0, hwnd, "XLMAIN", vbNullString)
If hwnd = 0 Then Exit Do
hwnd2 = FindWindowExA(hwnd, 0, "XLDESK", vbNullString)
hwnd3 = FindWindowExA(hwnd2, 0, "EXCEL7", vbNullString)
If AccessibleObjectFromWindow(hwnd3, &HFFFFFFF0, guid(0), acc) = 0 Then
AlreadyThere = False
For Each xl In GetExcelInstances
If xl Is acc.Application Then
AlreadyThere = True
Exit For
End If
Next
If Not AlreadyThere Then
GetExcelInstances.Add acc.Application
End If
End If
Loop
End Function
@PGS62/@Philip Swannell has the correct answer for returning a Collection; I can iterate all instances; and it is brilliant, as @M1chael comment.
Let's not confuse Application objects with Workbook objects... ...Of course it would be possible to write a nested loop that loops over the workbooks collection of each application object
This is the nested loop implemented and fully functional:
Sub Test2XL()
Dim xl As Excel.Application
Dim i As Integer
For Each xl In GetExcelInstances()
Debug.Print "Handle: " & xl.Application.hwnd
Debug.Print "# workbooks: " & xl.Application.Workbooks.Count
For i = 1 To xl.Application.Workbooks.Count
Debug.Print "Workbook: " & xl.Application.Workbooks(i).Name
Debug.Print "Workbook path: " & xl.Application.Workbooks(i).path
Next i
Next
Set xl = Nothing
End Sub
And, for Word instances, the nested loop:
Sub Test2Wd()
Dim wd As Word.Application
Dim i As Integer
For Each wd In GetWordInstancesCol()
Debug.Print "Version: " & wd.System.Version
Debug.Print "# Documents: " & wd.Application.Documents.Count
For i = 1 To wd.Application.Documents.Count
Debug.Print "Document: " & wd.Application.Documents(i).Name
Debug.Print "Document path: " & wd.Application.Documents(i).path
Next i
Next
Set wd = Nothing
End Sub
For Word you have to use what is explained in the end of this thread