Hello all,

my current focus is extending Excel with an own ActiveX control. this
control will be used on worksheets and will visualize data just like a
chart object. I've run into some problems.

1. storing the references

the control will store some references to the worksheet (obvious:
location to the data to show). currently, these are string properties,
and the control resolves them to get the ranges themselves. however,
it is limited, because I cannot use names, or references to other
workbooks. of course I can write a smarter parser, but it seems to be
redundant, since excel already have this functionality. so the
reference should be resolved just like as we typed it into the formula
of a cell, thus, understanding workbook and sheet prefixes, handle
multiple area ranges, entire columns, etc, whatever excel understands.

2. updating of references

when a new row or column is added, excel updates all references to the
moved area, so the calculations and charts remain intact. however, my
control will not get any notifications nor everybody will change it's
properties, so the reference strings will point to the old, incorrect
location. what can I do?

3. reference editor

i would like to implement property pages to provide easy editing. it
would be very nice to allow the user to select ranges instead of
typing their addresses. however, I have no clue where should I start.
there is a control named RefEdit that are for selecting ranges, but I
was not able to use these controls. when I press the button, nothing
happensm and no help is available. what is the right way to use this
control, or is there any other way to make excel to go into range
select mode during showing the property page of the control?


further to the above, i would be very pleased to get any references to
some similar projects, like map, 3rd party charts, decomposition
trees, anything.

thanks
Krisztian