Microsoft Knowledge Base

WINDOWS    | MACINTOSH

The information in this article applies to:

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

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel, Visual Basic Help states that the Name statement accepts wildcards. This information is incorrect: Name will not accept wildcards for either the oldpathname or the newpathname arguments.

If you rename a file using the Name statement, and you use the * or ? wildcards in the oldpathname or the newpathname arguments to match filenames, you will receive the following error message:

   Run-Time Error
   '52' Bad Filename or number

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use the Dir function or the Kill statement (you can use wildcards with Dir and Kill) as they are used in the methods below.

Microsoft provides examples of Visual Basic for Applications procedures for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. The Visual Basic procedures in this article are provided 'as is' and Microsoft does not guarantee that they can be used in all situations. While Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular macro, they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality, nor will they help you construct macros to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to consult one of the Microsoft Solution Providers. Solution Providers offer a wide range of fee-based services, including creating custom macros. For more information about Microsoft Solution Providers, call Microsoft Customer Information Service at (800) 426-9400.

Method 1: Use the Dir function to find the files in the appropriate

          directory, and then use the Name command to rename the file.

             Sub FindandRename()

                'Find a matching file in the current directory that begins
                'with "test"
                FindFile = Dir("test*.xls")

                'Rename that found file to "testfile.xls"
                Name FindFile As "testfile.xls"

             End Sub

          example:

             'This procedure deletes the file C:\NEWBK1.XLS
             Sub killtest()
                KILL "C:\newbk?.xls"
             End Sub

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 more information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.