Add-In File Size Growing Inexplicably

[Guest]

I've noticed that the size of my add-in (.xla) has been steadily growing,
although the amount of code and number objects contained within the add-in
has not.

I believe that what is happening is that objects that I create and then
delete are not really getting removed from the file. In particular, I create
a temporary worksheet in the add-to store data which I bind to a ListBox
control. I delete this worksheet after the ListBox control is closed.

This reminds me of something that happens to Outlook Personal Folders files
(.pst). When you delete something from a .pst file, such as old emails, they
don't actually get removed from the .pst file unto you compact it. Compacting
occurs automatically under certain circumstances, but there is a way to do it
manually.

Does anyone happen to know if there is a way to "compact" an add-in file? Or
is there some other explanation?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Jon Peltier]

You should probably not allow changes to the add-in. Otherwise it will be
difficult to track versions, and this kind of problem may keep happening.
Add a workbook, hide it, use it for any scratch data you need, and delete
it.

If you need to persist information from one session to the next, use a
workbook or text file in the same directory as the add-in, or use the
registry. This separates user data and settings from the code, so you can
change one without destroying the other.

- Jon

 

[Guest]

The best way to "compact" a workbook is to use Tools/Share to share it
without keeping change history (on the Advanced tab), then un-share it again.
If there's VBA in there, you won't be able to get to it until you un-share
it. You might also start Excel empty and go into Design mode before you do
this to prevent any auto-macros.