When trying to open an Excel file from the host Mac system, the Excel application opens and then displays the message "There was a problem sending the command to the program." This was resolved by opening Excel, clicking the "Office Button" in the top left corner, and selecting "Excel options". Select "Advanced" and then under the "General" section uncheck "Ignore other programs the use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)". Hope this helps someone else.
Perfect! Thans for the quick resolution. It fixed similar error in all the other Office programs as well: Word, Powerpoint, Access
Perfect LewP, Thank you for sharing the troubleshooting steps to fix the error message in MS Excel "There was a problem sending the command to the program." Really helpful!