RPC Server Unavailable

[Mark Hammond]

Matthew Turk wrote:

> For instance - I call a Word Dispatch.  I open a document, then make
> it visible.  The user does whatever, then closes either the document
> or the application - either way, it returns to the python app.  At
> that point, how can I tell if the user minimized, closed, or what, the
> application?  I'll be doing the same thign with Excel, and up until
> now I've had good luck with a DispatchDict I experimented with, but
> Word seems to complicate the matter, as does closing an Excel

> document.


You could try hooking the Excel and Word events.  Check out the examples 
in the win32com\test directory - Word and Excel are specifically tested 
in testMSOfficeEvents.py.  You will probably want to consult the Office 
docs or peruse the makepy generated file to see what events are available.

> Anyway, the error I get is "RPC Server Unavailable."  And a summary of
> my question - how can I tell if a dispatch, stuck in a variable, is
> still active?


In the general case tho, you really have no alternative other than to 
catch the exception.  Try doing something free from side-effects - such 
as querying the current value of the "visible" property.

You probably should do this even if you can hook the events you are 
after - Word or Excel could simply die with an Access Violation, and in 
that case there is almost certainly no event that will tell you that...

Mark.