Function Pull(xref As String) As Variant
'inspired by Bob Phillips and Laurent Longre
'but written by Harlan Grove
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
'Copyright (c) 2003 Harlan Grove.
'
'This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
'it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
'by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License,
'or (at your option) any later version.
'-----------------------------------------------------------------
Dim xlapp As Object, xlwb As Workbook
Dim b As String, r As Range, C As Range, n As Long
n = InStrRev(xref, "\")
If n > 0 Then
If Mid(xref, n, 2) = "\[" Then
b = Left(xref, n)
n = InStr(n + 2, xref, "]") - n - 2
If n > 0 Then b = b & Mid(xref, Len(b) + 2, n)
Else
n = InStrRev(Len(xref), xref, "!")
If n > 0 Then b = Left(xref, n - 1)
End If
If Left(b, 1) = "'" Then b = Mid(b, 2)
On Error Resume Next
If n > 0 Then If Dir(b) = "" Then n = 0
Err.Clear
On Error GoTo 0
End If
If n <= 0 Then
Pull = CVErr(xlErrRef)
Exit Function
End If
Pull = Evaluate(xref)
If IsArray(Pull) Then Exit Function
If CStr(Pull) = CStr(CVErr(xlErrRef)) Then
On Error GoTo CleanUp
Set xlapp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
Set xlwb = xlapp.Workbooks.Add 'needed by .ExecuteExcel4Macro
On Error Resume Next
n = InStr(InStr(1, xref, "]") + 1, xref, "!")
b = Mid(xref, 1, n)
Set r = xlwb.Sheets(1).Range(Mid(xref, n + 1))
If r Is Nothing Then
Pull = xlapp.ExecuteExcel4Macro(xref)
Else
For Each C In r
C.Value = xlapp.ExecuteExcel4Macro(b & C.Address(1, 1, xlR1C1))
Next C
Pull = r.Value
End If
CleanUp:
If Not xlwb Is Nothing Then xlwb.Close 0
If Not xlapp Is Nothing Then xlapp.Quit
Set xlapp = Nothing
End If
End Function