Visual Basic for Applications Help not working right.

OS = WinXP Home and Pro with SP2.

Under Office 2003 Professional Edition with SP1, if I open the VBA
Editor and search for a function (say Msgbox) I get a whole list of
things that can be displayed. All selections respond to a mouse click
and provide a wealth of information except for those noted as (Visual
Basic for Applications.) For those, nothing happens -- the system just
sits there with the mouse cursor changed to a hand.

I have gone to Control Panel/Add Remove Programs and followed the
instructions that appear in several places on the web for adding the
VBA help files. The system reports the update was successful but still
no response to clicking on those items noted as (Visual Basic for
Applications). This happens on my Desktop as well as my Laptop.

Does anyone know what else I might need to do to see the VBA designated
items?

Thank you very much.

in xl2002>in vbe>f1>index>msgbox worked just fine.

--
Don Guillett
SalesAid Software
don...@281.com
"Jack Gillis" <XXXX...@widomaker.com> wrote in message
news:11a2ubl...@corp.supernews.com...

Well, that worked here on 2003 also. I am still left wondering why when
I click on Help in VBE and search for msgbox or any other function,
those items identified as Visual Basic for Applications just don't seem
to produce anything? As I said, the mouse cursor turns to a hand and
just sits there.

Any ideas on that.
"Don Guillett" <don...@281.com> wrote in message
news:%23bH7eWQ...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

Are you sure you were in the vbe? Or, were you trying from regular help? alt
f11 to access vbe then f1 or click help. Should read Visual Basic Help on
the title bar

news:11a3nn0...@corp.supernews.com...

Hi Jack

You must install the VBA help, run the setup again and install it
I believe a normal install will not install the VBA help files

--
Regards Ron de Bruin
http://www.rondebruin.nl

"Jack Gillis" <XXXX...@widomaker.com> wrote in message news:11a3nn0...@corp.supernews.com...

Thank you.

Yes, I'm sure I am in the Visual Basic Editor. If I open Excel to a
new, blank workbook, open Microsoft Excel Objects- Sheet 1 and press F1
I get a window whose title bar says Microsoft Visual Basic Help. The
window says the following:

Ambiguous Selection

Either you have not selected a keyword or you have requested Help on a
component of the integrated development environment (IDE). If you were
trying to select a keyword, try reselecting a single keyword. If you
were trying to get information on the IDE, click one of the following:

Code or Module Window
Immediate Window or Pane
Locals Window or Pane
Object Browser
Watch Window or Pane

If I click on the Help menu item, I get these choices:

Microsoft Visual Basic Help F1
MSDN on the Web
About Microsoft Visual Basic

If I choose the first, I get the pane to the right entitled Visual Basic
Help with a search box and a table of contents. Using Search produces
the condition I first described. If I bore down through the Table of
Contents to any item including Functions, the same non- response occurs.

I can't imagine what the problem is.

Thanks again.

news:eHIG$xSaFH...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

Yes, I did that when I first noticed the problem.

Please see my response to Don Guillett for some further information.

Thank you.

"Ron de Bruin" <ronde...@kabelfoon.nl> wrote in message
news:uQtw3$SaFHA...@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...

Hi Jack

Try to uninstall the help and install it again
You are not the only one that have problems with the 2003 help.

I uninstall my system a few weeks back because I always get debug errors when I use the Help

"Jack Gillis" <XXXX...@widomaker.com> wrote in message news:11a43ef...@corp.supernews.com...

Good suggestion. I will do that this afternoon or evening. Now that
you mentioned it, I have been getting a few debug errors but blamed
them on my inexperience.

Thank you.

news:%23uVNUpd...@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...

i just wish that they would take the help for products and make it a
seperate download.. just like books online for sql server.

because i have a dozen problems with their help system per week.

and i work for a company where i cant get an office disk

-aaron

aaron...@gmail.com wrote...

We agree on something! Office's help system SUCKS!

As for online access, you're assuming it'd be an improvement on the
help system that comes on the Office CD. Not a safe bet. As for it
being a separate download, if your company won't give you an Office CD,
what makes you think they'd allow you to download and install anything
that preempts the standard software install?

well i technically have local admin priveleges; but i work for a
company that is kinda hardcore.. i think that it's ridiculous.. we run
Office _2000_ i mean-- who makes these decisions?

partying like its' 1999 lol

A solution to the problem

Thank you all for your help on this.

As it turns out, I finally found a KB article on the exact subject.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;[LN];887706

A solution I found to the problem - for some unknown reason certain help
files are installed in a location that help doesnt expect them to be, so
hence the links won't work. To solve the issue:

Search the entire hard drive for vb*.chm (in the case of visual basic).
There will be two main file locations. one in the office/1033 directory, and
another in one of the common files directories. Copy all those from the
common files area into the office/1033 directory the search results display,
and the problem should be solved. The main issue I had was with those linsk
entitled visual basic for applications, methods such as the fileexists...