Excel crashes dragging a chart

[Guest]

Hi all,

I have a problem that I can reproduce on Excel 2000 and Excel 2003 (but not
in Excel 2007). Excel crashes when I try to re-position a chart in a
worksheet with (at least) a cell using data validation.

If I select a cell with Data->Validation a little triangle appears close to
the cell to indicate it has a pull-down menu associated. If a chart is
present on the spreadsheet and I click on it the "little triangle" disappears
as soon as focus is taken by the chart.

In some of my spreadsheet there is a delay before the triangle disappears
and if a chart is dragged at this time Excel crashes. This makes me think
that there is a problem with the sequence of events that happen within Excel
when the window is re-drawn when cells have some form of validation.

The following sequence reproduce the problem:
1. Open Excel
2. Move cursor to cell A1 if not there already
3. Menu->Data->Validation->Settings. And select: Allow: "List",
Source: "AAA,BBB"
4. Move cursor to cell A2
5. Press on the toolbar button for "Chart Wizard" and press Finish
(this will select an empty graph of type: Column)
6. Move cursor to cell A1 (the little triangle showing the pull-down menu
should appear)
7. With the "little triangle" visible, click on the graph and drag it
(possibly as a single action).

At step (7) Excel crashes.

Does anyone know if this problem has been fixed with SP3? (my company hasn't
rolled it out yet and there are no plans to, so I cannot check this, but if
it was fixed I would have a valid reason to require the service pack to be
rolled out).

Or has it been fixed in any hotfix?

thanks
gc

 

[Jon Peltier]

Hmmm, I can reproduce this in Excel 2003. I'll forward it to the experts.

- Jon

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jon for trying...

I can reproduce the problem on Excel 2000 and Excel 2003 with SP2 (I emailed
the "recipe" to a friend before posting it and he could also reproduce it on
SP2).
If you are on SP3 the fact that you cannot see the problem could be an
answer in itself that maybe the issue has already been fixed (in which case I
would be very happy!).

In the short version I posted, I found that the two points are important
(2): selecting an empty cell guarantees that the chart window hasn't got any
series in it (it only looks like a grey rectangle), and step (6): selecting
the cell with validation makes the "little triangle" visible just before
moving the graph.

Thanks

 

[Jon Peltier]

I haven't installed SP3 yet, but I got a message after the crash that I
should update Office. This tells me there is a new SP (if I didn't already
know), but doesn't assure me that the new SP fixes the problem that led to a
crash. I wouldn't count on it being fixed.

- Jon

 

[Jon Peltier]

I find that if the chart references data on the active sheet, there is no
error. Perhaps highlighting the data range removes the data validation arrow
sooner.

If the chart is blank or references hard-coded arrays:

=SERIES("Chart",{"a","b","c"},{1,2,3},1)

then it is likely to crash.

- Jon

 

[Jon Peltier]

I also find that if the cell has never had a value assigned via data
validation, then it is likely to crash. If DV has been used in the cell (or
perhaps just in the worksheet), even if the cell is currently blank, it
doesn't seem to crash.

- Jon

 

[Guest]

I find that if the chart references data on the active sheet, there is no
error. Perhaps highlighting the data range removes the data validation arrow
sooner.

Very good point... I discovered the error on a number of complex
spreadsheets we wrote where the graphs have proper data series, but they
refer to data in temporary worksheets generated on the go. To attenuate the
problem I select as active the graph as soon as possible (so that the little
triangle disappears from the validation cell, but if the user decided to
reselect the area the problem comes again).

I'll try to select the data on the temporary worksheet before plotting the
graph and see if this allows me to hide the problem behind the carpet.

thanks

 

[Guest]

I find that if the chart references data on the active sheet, there is no
error. Perhaps highlighting the data range removes the data validation arrow
sooner.

Following your observation, I tried 2 slightly different experiment

Experiment A:
1. Set data validation on A1
2. Put some data on the spreadsheet (e.g. 1,2,3 in E3:E5 and 2,6,7 in F3:F5)
3. Graph it as XY (Scatter)
4. Click on A1 (little triangle is visible)
5. Move graph

In experiment A I cannot crash excel

Experiment B
Same as A, but put the data in Sheet2

I can crash Excel!!! (and this is very similar to what happens on my real
spreadsheets... unfortunately I cannot guarantee that the user won't position
the cursor anywhere in the spreadsheet after the graph is displyed... )