» Determine if an application is available using VBA in Microsoft Excel

VBA macro tip contributed by Erlandsen Data Consulting offering Microsoft Excel Application development, template customization, support and training solutions You can use the two functions below to determine if an application is already running or
if it is available on the host computer:

Function ApplicationIsRunning(ApplicationClassName As String) As Boolean
' returns True if the application is running
' example: If Not ApplicationIsRunning("Outlook.Application") Then Exit Sub
Dim AnyApp As Object
  On Error Resume Next
  Set AnyApp = GetObject(, ApplicationClassName)
  ApplicationIsRunning = Not AnyApp Is Nothing
  Set AnyApp = Nothing
  On Error GoTo 0
End Function

Function ApplicationIsAvailable(ApplicationClassName As String) As Boolean
' returns True if the application is available
' example: If Not ApplicationIsAvailable("Outlook.Application") Then Exit Sub
Dim AnyApp As Object
  On Error Resume Next
  Set AnyApp = CreateObject(ApplicationClassName)
  ApplicationIsAvailable = Not AnyApp Is Nothing
  Set AnyApp = Nothing
  On Error GoTo 0
End Function