hi, brent !

AFAIK....
1) a closed file is not -yet- a workbook, until it is opened in excel, so...
2) a closed file CAN'T DO calculations to "feed-back" from/to another OPEN workbook
3) an open workbook MUST provide the password to get data from a protected and closed (*.xls) FILE

hth,
hector.

__ OP __
I have created two workspaces.
One workspace is for the user to enter data.
The other workspace contains sensitive data and also calculates data
that is transfered back to the "user" workspace.
The two files will be located on the users' notebook computer (offline).

I was hoping to password protect the "master" workspace and have it hidden on the notebooks.
However I can't seem to get any data transfer unless both files are open........
is there a way to do what I want and keep the master workspace closed?