Can excel run in background on server and use addins?

[Guest]

We're trying to automate generation of reports using excel with an addin to
retrieve data from an external data historian. We have the workbooks
functioning, in fact we've been running them from and old desktop for months.
However the desktop is becoming increasingly unsortable (and unstable) so
we're trying to move this function to a server. Our server ops folks won't
allow the sever to sit with a user logged into it so we need to find a way to
run excel in the backgound and still use the addin.

I've had some limited success with running excel in the background but to
the best that I can determine the addin doesn't load. Tried explicitly
loading it from vba inside the autoload subroutine but still doesn't seem to
work.

Anyone out there have any experience with this scenario?

 

[Jim Rech]

Running Excel as a server application is a dicey proposition that MS warns
you against because Excel was never designed to be used this way. However
if you can start Excel on the server and load your report workbook and run
its macros, there should be no problem with these macros opening the XLA
(Workbooks.Open "path\AddIn.XLA"). I have an app that's used this way
unfortunately and it opens other workbooks and addins. So I think you
should investigate why that's not working for you.

--
Jim Rech
Excel MVP
| We're trying to automate generation of reports using excel with an addin
to
| retrieve data from an external data historian. We have the workbooks
| functioning, in fact we've been running them from and old desktop for
months.
| However the desktop is becoming increasingly unsortable (and unstable) so
| we're trying to move this function to a server. Our server ops folks won't
| allow the sever to sit with a user logged into it so we need to find a way
to
| run excel in the backgound and still use the addin.
|
| I've had some limited success with running excel in the background but to
| the best that I can determine the addin doesn't load. Tried explicitly
| loading it from vba inside the autoload subroutine but still doesn't seem
to
| work.
|
| Anyone out there have any experience with this scenario?