Open an Excel file from SharePoint site

Question

I'm trying to open an Excel file from SharePoint using VBA. Because the file I'm looking for might be different each time I run the macro, I want to be able to view the SharePoint folder and select the file I need.

The code below works fine when I want to look for a file on a network drive, however when I replace that with a SharePoint address I get "run-time error 76: Path not found".

Sub Update_monthly_summary()

Dim SummaryWB As Workbook
Dim SummaryFileName As Variant

ChDir  "http://sharepoint/my/file/path"
SummaryFileName = Application.GetOpenFilename("Excel-files,*.xls", _
1, "Select monthly summary file", , False)
If SummaryFileName = False Then Exit Sub

Set SummaryWB = Workbooks.Open(SummaryFileName)

End Sub

When I paste this address into Windows Explorer I have no problems accessing the SharePoint folder, so I know the path is correct.

Why doesn't VBA like it?

Answer 1

Try this code to pick a file from a SharePoint site:

Dim SummaryWB As Workbook
Dim vrtSelectedItem As Variant

With Application.FileDialog(msoFileDialogOpen)
    .InitialFileName = "https://sharepoint.com/team/folder" & "\"
    .AllowMultiSelect = False
    .Show
    For Each vrtSelectedItem In .SelectedItems
        Set SummaryWB = Workbooks.Open(vrtSelectedItem)
    Next
End With

If SummaryWB Is Nothing then Exit Sub

If I remember correctly, the Microsoft Scripting Runtime reference must be enabled. Also, your site may use backslashes, mine uses forward slashes.

Answer 2

I transform the URL into a WebDAV address using the following function I created. This function also returns regular system paths and UNC paths unscathed.

Call this function by adding it into a module in your VBA project and entering MyNewPathString = Parse_Resource(myFileDialogStringVariable) just after your file dialog command and before using the path selected by the file dialog. Then reference "MyNewPathString" when using the target file location.

 Public Function Parse_Resource(URL As String)
 'Uncomment the below line to test locally without calling the function & remove argument above
 'Dim URL As String
 Dim SplitURL() As String
 Dim i As Integer
 Dim WebDAVURI As String


 'Check for a double forward slash in the resource path. This will indicate a URL
 If Not InStr(1, URL, "//", vbBinaryCompare) = 0 Then

     'Split the URL into an array so it can be analyzed & reused
     SplitURL = Split(URL, "/", , vbBinaryCompare)

     'URL has been found so prep the WebDAVURI string
     WebDAVURI = "\\"

     'Check if the URL is secure
     If SplitURL(0) = "https:" Then
         'The code iterates through the array excluding unneeded components of the URL
         For i = 0 To UBound(SplitURL)
             If Not SplitURL(i) = "" Then
                 Select Case i
                     Case 0
                         'Do nothing because we do not need the HTTPS element
                     Case 1
                         'Do nothing because this array slot is empty
                     Case 2
                     'This should be the root URL of the site. Add @ssl to the WebDAVURI
                         WebDAVURI = WebDAVURI & SplitURL(i) & "@ssl"
                     Case Else
                         'Append URI components and build string
                         WebDAVURI = WebDAVURI & "\" & SplitURL(i)
                 End Select
             End If
         Next i

     Else
     'URL is not secure
         For i = 0 To UBound(SplitURL)

            'The code iterates through the array excluding unneeded components of the URL
             If Not SplitURL(i) = "" Then
                 Select Case i
                     Case 0
                         'Do nothing because we do not need the HTTPS element
                     Case 1
                         'Do nothing because this array slot is empty
                         Case 2
                     'This should be the root URL of the site. Does not require an additional slash
                         WebDAVURI = WebDAVURI & SplitURL(i)
                     Case Else
                         'Append URI components and build string
                         WebDAVURI = WebDAVURI & "\" & SplitURL(i)
                 End Select
             End If
         Next i
     End If
  'Set the Parse_Resource value to WebDAVURI
  Parse_Resource = WebDAVURI
 Else
 'There was no double forward slash so return system path as is
     Parse_Resource = URL
 End If


 End Function

This function will check if your file path is a URL and if it is secure (HTTPS) or not secure (HTTP). If it is a URL then it will build the appropriate WebDAV string so that you can link directly to the target file in SharePoint.

The user will likely be prompted for credentials each time the file is opened especially if they are not sitting on the same domain as your SharePoint farm.

PLEASE NOTE: I have not tested this with an http site, however I am confident that it will work.

Answer 3

From you script do not use http://sharepoint/my/file as path but rather \\sharepoint\my\file and then is should work. It works fo my programs done in C#.