Folks, I ran an experiment to see if a Silverlight 5 app could "indirectly" automate Excel. We know that SL apps can't make COM calls in their normal sandboxed life in the browser. However, we know that JavaScript can automate Excel as described at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/234774, and I've confirmed this works (after you accept the security warnings).
In the SL app I did a Window.Invoke call to run the same JavaScript function, but I get an InvalidOperationException "Error: Automation server can't create object" with no hints of what's really wrong. I presume there is some invisible security context that blocks the script from an SL Invoke but lets it pass for a browser button click. Can anyone confirm this behaviour? Is there any chance of a grubby workaround to let SL automate Excel (I doubt it)? Greg K
