This article discusses the solution to the error message "Runtime error "429": ActiveX component can't create object" which may occur when launching the 64-bit versions of SAP2000/ETABS/CSiBridge from 32-bit COM clients (e.g. Excel). This issue affects SAP2000 v18.0.0 to v18.1.1, CSiBridge 2016 v18.0.0 to v18.1.1, and all versions of ETABS 2015. The instructions below assume an Excel client, but can be generalized to any COM client.

SAP2000 v18.0.0 to v18.1.1

To resolve the issue for SAP2000 v18.0.0 to v18.1.1, please update the registration tools as follows:

The updated registration tools for SAP2000 v18 can be found at the following links. The tools will work with any of the SAP2000 v18 releases.

SAP2000v18 32-bit: ftp://ftp.csiamerica.com/pubdocs/Registeration%20Tools/For%20Use%20With%20SAP2000%20v18.1.1%2032-bit.zip

SAP2000v18 64-bit: ftp://ftp.csiamerica.com/pubdocs/Registeration%20Tools/For%20Use%20With%20SAP2000%20v18.1.1%2064-bit.zip

Please follow the steps below to resolve the issue:

1. Remove all references to SAP2000v18.TLB from your Excel project.

2. Close all instances of Excel, and all instances of SAP2000.

3. Open an administrative command prompt (open Command Prompt using right-click, “Run as administrator”)

4. Within the administrative command prompt, navigate to the installed SAP2000 64bit directory. This will probably be similar to “C:\Program Files\Computers and Structures\SAP2000 18”

5. Within the administrative command prompt, run “UnregisterSAP2000.exe”

6. Copy the new registration files into SAP2000 18 64bit directory, overwriting the existing files. You may need administrative rights to do this.

7. Within the administrative command prompt, run “UnregisterSAP2000.exe”, again. This is one of the new EXEs.

8. Within the administrative command prompt, run “RegisterSAP2000.exe”. This is the other new EXE.

9. Add a reference to the newly created SAP2000v18.TLB to your Excel project.

10. You should now be able to launch or attach to SAP2000 18 64bit from Excel 32bit, using the Helper as documented in the “CSI_OAPI_Documentation.chm” file.

CSiBridge 2016 v18.0.0 to v18.1.1

To resolve the issue for CSiBridge 2016 v18.0.0 to v18.1.1, please update the registration tools as follows:

The updated registration tools for CSiBridge can be found at the following links. The tools will work with any of the CSiBridge 2016 releases.

CSiBridge v18 32-bit: ftp://ftp.csiamerica.com/pubdocs/Registeration%20Tools/For%20Use%20With%20CSiBridge%202016%20v18.1.1%2032-bit.zip

CSiBridge v18 64-bit: ftp://ftp.csiamerica.com/pubdocs/Registeration%20Tools/For%20Use%20With%20CSiBridge%202016%20v18.1.1%2064-bit.zip

Please follow the steps below to resolve the issue:

1.       Remove all references to CSiBridge18.TLB from your Excel project.

2.       Close all instances of Excel, and all instances of CSiBridge.

3.       Open an administrative command prompt (open Command Prompt using right-click, “Run as administrator”)

4.       Within the administrative command prompt, navigate to the installed CSiBridge 2016 64-bit directory. This will probably be similar to “C:\Program Files\Computers and Structures\CSiBridge 2016”

5.       Within the administrative command prompt, run “UnregisterCSiBridge.exe”

6.       Copy the new registration files into the CSiBridge 2016 64-bit directory, overwriting the existing files. You may need administrative rights to do this.

7.       Within the administrative command prompt, run “UnRegisterCSiBridge.exe”, again. This is one of the new EXEs.

8.       Within the administrative command prompt, run “RegisterCSiBridge.exe”. This is the other new EXE.

9.       Add a reference to the newly created CSiBridge18.TLB to your Excel project.

10.   You should now be able to launch or attach to CSiBridge 2016 64-bit from Excel 32-bit, using the CSiBridge18.cHelper as documented in the “CSI_OAPI_Documentation.chm” file.

ETABS 2015

To resolve the issue for ETABS 2015, please update the registration tools as follows:

The updated registration tools for ETABS 2015 can be found at the following links. The tools will work with any of the ETABS v15 releases.

ETABSv15 32-bit: ftp://ftp.csiamerica.com/pubdocs/Registeration%20Tools/For%20use%20with%20ETABS%2015.2.2%2032bit.zip

ETABSv15 64-bit: ftp://ftp.csiamerica.com/pubdocs/Registeration%20Tools/For%20use%20with%20ETABS%2015.2.2%2064bit.zip

Please follow the steps below to resolve the issue:

1.            Remove all references to ETABS2015.TLB from your Excel project.

2.            Close all instances of Excel, and all instances of ETABS.

3.            Open an administrative command prompt (open Command Prompt using right-click, “Run as administrator”)

4.            Within the administrative command prompt, navigate to the installed ETABS 2015 64bit directory. This will probably be similar to “C:\Program Files\Computers and Structures\ETABS 2015”

5.            Within the administrative command prompt, run “UnregisterETABS.exe”

6.            Copy the new registration files into the ETABS 2015 64bit directory, overwriting the existing files. You may need administrative rights to do this.

7.            Within the administrative command prompt, run “UnregisterETABS.exe”, again. This is one of the new EXEs.

8.            Within the administrative command prompt, run “RegisterETABS.exe”. This is the other new EXE.

9.            Add a reference to the newly created ETABS2015.TLB to your Excel project.

10.          You should now be able to launch or attach to ETABS 2015 64bit from Excel 32bit, using the ETABS2015.cHelper as documented in the “CSi API ETABS 2015.chm” file.

More recent version of the programs

If you are are getting "Runtime error "429": ActiveX component can't create object" for more recent versions of CSI programs than indicated above, it is likely that you are not using correctly the Helper function to connect to the program via API. Please review the example code in the API documentation that illustrates how to use the Helper function to connect to the program via API.