VBA: Acrobat Run time error 429; ActiveX component can't create object
excel, pdf, vba
Solution
From the very first result in Google for the search query:
createobject acroexch.app error 429
You cannot do this with Adobe Reader, you need Adobe Acrobat:
This OLE interface is available with Adobe Acrobat, not Adobe Reader.
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/657262
Problem
I have the following codes to read in contents from a PDF file in Excel VBA: ``` 'Note: A Reference to the Adobe Library must be set in Tools|References! Dim AcroApp As CAcroApp, AcroAVDoc As CAcroAVDoc, AcroPDDoc As CAcroPDDoc Dim AcroHiliteList As CAcroHiliteList, AcroTextSelect As CAcroPDTextSelect Dim PageNumber, PageContent, Content, i, j Set AcroApp = CreateObject("AcroExch.App") Set AcroAVDoc = CreateObject("AcroExch.AVDoc") If AcroAVDoc.Open(strFileName, vbNull) <> True Then Exit Function ' The following While-Wend loop shouldn't be necessary but timing issues may occur. While AcroAVDoc Is Nothing Set AcroAVDoc = AcroApp.GetActiveDoc Wend Set AcroPDDoc = AcroAVDoc.GetPDDoc For i = 0 To AcroPDDoc.GetNumPages - 1 Set PageNumber = AcroPDDoc.AcquirePage(i) Set PageContent = CreateObject("AcroExch.HiliteList") If PageContent.Add(0, 9000) <> True Then Exit Function Set AcroTextSelect = PageNumber.CreatePageHilite(PageContent) ' The next line is needed to avoid errors with protected PDFs that can't be read On Error Resume Next For j = 0 To AcroTextSelect.GetNumText - 1 Content = Content & AcroTextSelect.GetText(j) Next j Next i ReadAcrobatDocument = Content AcroAVDoc.Close True AcroApp.Exit Set AcroAVDoc = Nothing: Set AcroApp = Nothing End Function Sub demo() Dim str As String str = ReadAcrobatDocument("C:\Desktop\asdf.pdf") End Sub ``` However, I am getting the runtime 429 error at ``` Set AcroApp = CreateObject("AcroExch.App") ``` What is wrong? I have Adobe Reader X and the references I've checked are: Acrobat Access 3.0 Type Library AcroBrokerLib AcroIEHelper 1.0 Type Library AcroIEHelperShim 1.0 Type Library Adobe Acrobat Browser Control Type Library 1.0 Adobe Acrobat 10.0 Type Library Adobe Reader File Preview Type Library