<?php
	#Instantiate Excel
                 $ex = new COM("Excel.sheet") or Die ("Did not instantiate Excel");
	$ex->Application->Visible = 1; #Make Excel visible. 
	$workbook="test.xls";
	$pathin="c:/";
	$sheet="sheet1";	 
 	#Load the workbook
 	$filename= $pathin.$workbook;
 	print $filename;
               	# $file=New Variant($filename,VT_BSTR); #This doesn't work either (replacing $filename by $file)
                	$wkb = $ex->application->Workbooks->Open($filename) or 
                	Die ("Did not open $filename");
	#Activate the sheet
$sheets = $wkb->Worksheets($sheet) or Die ("Unable to activate $sheet");
               		
 ?>
 Produces error message:
 c:/test.xls
Warning: Invoke() failed: Exception occurred. Source: Microsoft Excel Description: 'c:/tes.xls' could not be found. Check the spelling of the file name, and verify that the file location is correct. If you are trying to open the file from your list of most recently used files on the File menu, make sure that the file has not been renamed, moved, or deleted. in c:\geolink\testbad.php on line 12
Did not open c:/test.xls
Note: If $workbook="testxx.xls" it will open test.xls ...
But will produce the error below on the 'activate the sheet' code line, (related or not to the file name error, maybe a second bug?)
Error in php_OLECHAR_to_char() in c:\geolink\testbad.php on line 15 

Setup: win 98 Apache 1.3x as CGI. CVS source compiled at php4win.com on 10-04-2001