I believe that CreateObject("Excel.Application") will always create a new
instance of the application (while Word will reuse an existing one if it
can).  This means that the new application object has no workbooks open,
which explains why the code is not getting into your loop.

You can test whether a file is open by trying to open it for exclusive
access:

Public Function IsFileOpen(sFileName As String) As Variant
Dim hFile As Long
On Error GoTo ProcErr
  hFile = FreeFile
  Open sFileName For Input Lock Read Write As #hFile
  IsFileOpen = False
  Close #hFile
ProcEnd:
  Exit Function
ProcErr:
  With Err
    If .Number = 70 Or .Number = 55 Then
      IsFileOpen = True
    Else
      .Raise .Number, .Source, .Description, .HelpFile, .HelpContext
    End If
  End With
  Resume ProcEnd
End Function

You can use GetObject to obtain a reference to an already running instance
of Excel, but if there is more than one active then it may be tricky to get
the right one.

--
Good Luck!
Graham Mandeno [Access MVP]
Auckland, New Zealand

Return mail address is invalid in a vain attempt to reduce spam.

Please post new questions or followups to newsgroup.

Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias _
"SendMessageA" (ByVal hwnd As Long, ByVal wMsg As Long, _
ByVal wParam As Long, lParam As Any) As Long

Sub GetExcel()
    Dim MyXL As Object  ' Variable to hold reference
    ' to Microsoft Excel.
    Dim ExcelWasNotRunning As Boolean   ' Flag for final release.

' Test to see if there is a copy of Microsoft Excel already running.
    On Error Resume Next    ' Defer error trapping.
' Getobject function called without the first argument returns a
' reference to an instance of the application. If the application isn't
' running, an error occurs.
    Set MyXL = GetObject(, "Excel.Application")
    If Err.Number <> 0 Then ExcelWasNotRunning = True
    Err.Clear   ' Clear Err object in case error occurred.

' Check for Microsoft Excel. If Microsoft Excel is running,
' enter it into the Running Object table.
    DetectExcel

'Set the object variable to reference the file you want to see.
    Set MyXL = GetObject("c:\vb4\MYTEST.XLS")
    Set MyXL = GetObject("h:\mlindsay\book1.xls")
' Show Microsoft Excel through its Application property. Then
' show the actual window containing the file using the Windows
' collection of the MyXL object reference.
    MyXL.Application.Visible = True
    MyXL.Parent.Windows(1).Visible = True
    ' Do manipulations of your
    ' file here.
    ' ...
' If this copy of Microsoft Excel was not running when you
' started, close it using the Application property's Quit method.
' Note that when you try to quit Microsoft Excel, the
' title bar blinks and a message is displayed asking if you
' want to save any loaded files.
    If ExcelWasNotRunning = True Then
        MyXL.Application.Quit
    End If

    Set MyXL = Nothing  ' Release reference to the
    ' application and spreadsheet.
End Sub

Sub DetectExcel()
' Procedure dectects a running Excel and registers it.
    Const WM_USER = 1024
    Dim hwnd As Long
' If Excel is running this API call returns its handle.
    hwnd = FindWindow("XLMAIN", 0)
    If hwnd = 0 Then    ' 0 means Excel not running.
        Exit Sub
    Else
    ' Excel is running so use the SendMessage API
    ' function to enter it in the Running Object Table.
        SendMessage hwnd, WM_USER + 18, 0, 0
    End If
End Sub
----------------------------------------
The following also seems to work but it may cause
problems that I have not tested for.

Sub sample1()
Dim xlo As Object
Dim xlwb As Workbook

On Error Resume Next

'First test to see if Excel is running
Set xlo = GetObject(, "excel.application")
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
    MsgBox ("No Excel Application Window is currently open")
    Err.Clear
    Exit Sub
End If

'Now test to see if the desired workbook is loaded.
Set xlo = GetObject("c:\book1.xls")    'Full path is required
If Err.Number <> 0 Then
    MsgBox ("Workbook requested is not currently open.")
    Err.Clear
    Exit Sub
End If
Set xlwb = xlo
End Sub

Michael R. Lindsay NCT