Alternative to ActiveX controls for MAC Excel or turning off the ActiveX not sup

Question

Alternative to ActiveX controls for MAC Excel or turning off the ActiveX not support message.

My client has a product based on Excel spreadsheets (2003- compatible) that we are porting to the Mac targeting Office 2011. These files using a significant amount of VBA code to check for valid licenses, perform functions, etc. We have been using .xls files but find that there are a number of problems with compatibility, including .xls files that compile fine on the PC but blow up when transported to the MAC due to subtle differences between the two, that I have been unable to code around (so far).

It was suggested that we using either .xlsm format or .xlsb format rather than .xls to work around these problems and reduce file sizes. This turns out not to work very well as we are using an ActiveX image control to 'veil' sheets in the workbook until the license is verified. This workss fine in the ported .xls file, but immediately causes an error in the .xlsm and .xlsb format with the message that "ActiveX is not supported and the workbook will now be read-only". The VBA code proceeds to happily cheeck the license, hide the ActiveX image 'veil' (that Excel just claimed was not supported) and display the sheet.

The veil is used because MAC users have the option of turning off Macros, which means that any active means of preventing a user from seeing the content won't work. The passive mechanism ensures that they turn on Macros and pass a license check before they see any content.

Is there any other way of putting aan image in front of the content on the spreadsheet that does not involve Macros? Preferably, how do wwe get the ActiveX image, which works fine with .xls format to work with .xlsm or .xlsb and to turn off the bogus Read Only message???

All suggestions welcom.e.

Explanation / Answer

the simple answer is that Active-X is not supported on the Mac. There is no setting you can change to get Active-X to work on the Mac, it just won't. If you want the application to work on both platforms you will have to redesign it so it does not use Active-X.

You can get a "mask" to appear by saving the file with a "mask" worksheet visible. When the macro begins it can remove or hide the sheet.

If you use Active-X elsewhere, like in forms controls you will have to remove all of that also and use forms controls instead.

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