>>>the task manager shows that Excel is still active! And the only way I can get rid of it is by cancelling the program and then it miraculously disappears!
>>>
>>>(I confirmed with the debugger that the catch is NOT activated after I _screen.oStuff.oExcel.QUIT(), so I assume that the statement executes)
>>>
>>>???
>>
>>That's why I don't like automation of Office. Try to work things out with excel visible first.It's possible that there's still some dialog it's trying to show - perhaps a "are you sure". Try with .oExcel.quit(0) - the parameter, IIRC, would tell it not to ask any questions.
>
>PMFJI, regarding your saying "I don't like automation of Office", how else would you go about creating a program to convert an excel spreadsheet to a .DBF? Do you know of a reliable method of "opening" an Excel spreadsheet and getting value from a cell, e.g. A-1?

Well, if a xls is what you start from, you don't have much choice :).

My preferred method would be to use Excel to export to a csv, and then import that. Also, not using .value of a cell, but rather .text in some cases, because of Excel trying to be smart and interpret .text into .value for you, when it can surprise you badly.