Microsoft Knowledge Base

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 5.0, 5.0a

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, when you open a Microsoft Excel version 4.0 file that contains a chart with references to a bound worksheet, one of the following occurs if the worksheet name contains a bracket character ([]):

• If the file is a workbook, and the sheet that contains the chart is the first sheet in the workbook, you receive the following error message:

        Cannot load an empty Microsoft Excel 4.0 workbook
  

  -or-

• If the file is a workbook, and the sheet that contains the chart is NOT the first sheet in the workbook, you do not receive an error message, but the workbook does not open.

  -or-

• If the file is a worksheet or a chart, you do not receive an error message, but the worksheet or chart file does not open.

CAUSE

This problem only occurs if the chart contained in the Microsoft Excel version 4.0 file references a worksheet with a bracket in the worksheet name, such as THIS[FILE, THIS]FILE or THIS[FILE]. The problem occurs because the bracket is a reserved character, used to refer to a workbook in a reference, such as [BOOK1.XLS]Sheet1!$A1.

Note that you can only give a worksheet a name that contains a bracket if the worksheet is contained in a workbook. In this case, in Microsoft Excel version 4.0, you can use the Options button in the Workbook Contents window to rename the worksheet.

WORKAROUND

In order to open a Microsoft Excel version 4.0 file that contains a chart, when the chart refers to a worksheet with a name that contains a bracket, you must open the workbook that contains the referenced worksheet in Microsoft Excel version 4.0 and rename the worksheet so that the name does not contain a bracket.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.