>>>>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?
>
>http://www.sweetpotatosoftware.com/spsblog/2008/09/30/UsingExcel2007FileFormatsInVFP90.aspx

Thanks for bringing this jewel to light. I remember trying something of the kind back in 1996, before I even knew what I was doing (actually trying to have an updatable cursor with a source table being an excel sheet - couldn't specify PK, didn't work), and eventually parked a blind spot over the Excel odbc/oledb drivers. I'd never remember to look into that direction. This is just great.