VB Forum / COM / November 2004

[snip]

That happens quite frequently when dlls are replaced by incompatible
versions. Let me do a quick walkthrough:

(working)

1) call CoCreateObject({word.application clsid}) (which is "New
Word.Application")

2) COM: Calls CoGetClassObject
3) CoGetClassObject
   looks up HKCR\CLSID\{word.application clsid}\LocalServer32
     Which points to C:\ProgramFiles\MS\Office\Winword.exe

4) CoGetClassObject: starts Winword.exe with "/EMBEDDING"

5) WinWord: calls CoRegisterClassObject(...) to anounce
       it classfactory

6) CoCreateObject: gets hold of the classfactory for
   {word.application clsid}

7) Then it calls
   IClassFactory::CreateInstance({word.application clsid})

8) Now the ClassFactory in  WINWORD.EXE returns a new
   Word.Application object

(not working)
Now imagine the user had installed a new version of word and
uninstalled it (but left the registry keys). The he installed an
older version of word.

Now the registry keys point to a valid exe and the steps 1-5 will
work. In step 6 the old word version doesn't know anything about the
CLSID of the next version and so it won't be registered and the call
will fail.

(hopefully I didn't mess things up, but the general concept should
be clear. Please correct me if I made an error)

Jens

(see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/com/htm/comext_
4otw.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/com/htm/cmf_a2c
_6yb8.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/com/htm/cmf_a2c
_6kz8.asp
)

I got the same error as follows:
Using either of the subs below, I am unable to create a Word object and get
the same error message in both cases.

I know that I ran analogous code successfully on 22 July 2004, with NAV
2003.

As far as I know, the only software installed since then was NAV 2004 on 24
August 2004.

Does anybody with Office 2003 and NAV 2004 see the same error?
Problem does not occur, on another systetm, with Office 2002 and NAV 2003.

Option Explicit

Private Sub CreateWordObjectUsingNew()
   Dim appWord As Word.Application

   On Error Resume Next
   Set appWord = New Word.Application
   If Err.Number <> 0 Then
       Debug.Print Err.Number, Err.Description
       Exit Sub
'-2147221231   Automation error
'ClassFactory cannot supply requested class
   End If
   appWord.Quit
   Set appWord = Nothing
End Sub

Private Sub CreateWordObjectUsingCreateObject()
   Dim appWord As Word.Application

   On Error Resume Next
   Set appWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")
   If Err.Number <> 0 Then
       Debug.Print Err.Number, Err.Description
       Exit Sub
'-2147221231   Automation error
'ClassFactory cannot supply requested class
   End If
   appWord.Quit
   Set appWord = Nothing
End Sub

I have more info.

I uninstalled NAV 2004.
Then instead of the ClassFactory error, I got:

-2147024770 Automation error
The specified module could not be found

I reinstalled NAV.

So, I then ran a detect and repair of Office.
Still got error.
Ran a Reinstall of Office.
Still got error.
Uninstalled, then re-installed Office.
No more error.

So, something clobbered something in Office between 22 July 2004 and 31 Aug
2004.
Only software installed in that time frame was NAV 2004.
One theory is that NAV changed something that Office detect and repair or
reinstall could not fix.
I could (dis)prove this theory by uninstalling and re-installing NAV, but as
things are now working, I cannot justify the time.
If theory proved correct, then I'd have to again uninstall and re-install
Office, too time consuming.

get

24

at

I had this exact scenario.  VB6 w/ Word 2003.  XP Pro SP2.
Worked on laptop with exact setup, failed on desktop.
I really can't say whether I have hit that code in my app since installing
sp2 on XP, but, I had to remove Office and reinstall it.  All is well, now.
I also have Norton AV 2004.