Open and edit an excel file from access vba

I need to edit a couple of fields of a record in excel sheet, following certain operations in access.The code I am using follows (VBA access).

    Private Sub AggiornaLibroSoci(NTes As String)
    Dim xlapp As Excel.Application
    Dim xlBook As Excel.Workbook
    Dim xlSheet As Excel.Worksheet
    Dim xldata As Excel.Range
    Dim ExcelPath As String
    Dim rowNo As Long


    ExcelPath = CurrentProject.Path & "\"
    Set xlapp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
    Set xlBook = xlapp.Workbooks.Open(ExcelPath & "LibroSoci.xlsm")
    Set xlSheet = xlBook.Worksheets("LibroSoci")
    
    xlSheet.Select
    xlSheet.Activate
    
   ' With ActiveSheet
        rowNo = xlBook.Worksheets("LibroSoci").Range("C:C").Find(What:=NTes, LookIn:=xlValues).Row
        xlBook.Worksheets("LibroSoci").Cells(rowNo, 12) = Year(Date)
        
        If Me.Nuova_TessElett <> "" Then
            xlBook.Worksheets("LibroSoci").Cells(rowNo, 37) = Me.Nuova_TessElett
                
        End If
   ' End With
    
    xlBook.Save
    xlBook.Close
    
    Set xlSheet = Nothing
    Set xlBook = Nothing
    Set xlapp = Nothing
End Sub

This code does not work: I get a compile error, "variable not defined", pointing to LookIn:=xlValues.
Note that:
1) The excel table is linked to the access app, but I cannot edit the linked file directly: Starting from version 2003, Microsoft removed the possibility of editing linked excel files from access due to "legal reasons". So I have to work on the excel file itself.
2) I could import the file, make the changes and re-export the file: but I cannot re-export to the same file, only to a new one, so the process becomes cumbersome
3) The Microsoft Excel 16.0 Object library is already included

I am using Access and Excel in Office 2016.

What am I missing in trying to operate on excel file from Access VBA? Thank you for any suggestion.

NOTE: this post is also open in ExcelFox.com, http://www.excelfox.com/forum/showth...rom-access-vba

Thanks for your help. What you sugges is exactly what I tried in order to have the code executed and check whether the excel file was actually opened. So I added
const xlValues as integer = -4163
and also xlApp.visible =true
With these additions, and a breakpoint at the instruction rowNo = etc., the code run, and I was able to check that the excel file was indeed opened, but in ReadOnly mode (this seems to go against what I have read, that workbook.open default is not readonly). However, at this point, the obvious correction seems:

Set xlBook = xlapp.Workbooks.Open(ExcelPath & "LibroSoci.xlsm", ReadOnly = False)

Unfortunately, with this correction I get Compile error, variable not defined for ReadOnly keyword. So I am stuck again.

What seems strange to me is that I have another piece of code in this access project that opens a Word application to print something with mailmerge.

Dim filepath, SQLStmt, WorkbookName As String
Dim WordApp As Word.Application
Dim WordDoc As Word.Document
Set WordApp = New Word.Application
filepath = CurrentProject.Path
WorkbookName = CurrentProject.FullName
Debug.Print filepath, NumeroRicevuta
With WordApp
    .Visible = True
    Set WordDoc = .Documents.Open(filepath & "\StamparicevutaperAccess-2.docx")
End With
SQLStmt = "SELECT * FROM [Ricevute] WHERE [Numero] = " & NumeroRicevuta
'MailMerge selected records from table to Word document
With WordDoc
    With .MailMerge
        .MainDocumentType = wdFormLetters
                
        .OpenDataSource Name:=WorkbookName, _
        ConfirmConversions:=False, ReadOnly:=False, LinkToSource:=True, _
        AddToRecentFiles:=False, PasswordDocument:="", PasswordTemplate:="", _
        WritePasswordDocument:="", WritePasswordTemplate:="", Revert:=False, _
        Format:=wdOpenFormatAuto, Connection:="TABLE Ricevute", _
        SQLStatement:=SQLStmt, SQLStatement1:="", _
        SubType:=wdMergeSubTypeAccess
   
        .SuppressBlankLines = True
                      
        With .DataSource
            .FirstRecord = wdDefaultFirstRecord
            .LastRecord = wdDefaultLastRecord
        End With
..................................

and this code works fine, so access knows perfectly keywords and enumeration values of the word application.Why not for excel?

Just for your information, even declaring ReadOnly as boolean and setting it to false, first an empty excel screen appears (no sheet, just empty) and then the correct workbook and sheet appears, but still in readonly mode.
Thanks for your attention

Set xlBook = xlapp.Workbooks.Open(ExcelPath & "LibroSoci.xlsm", ReadOnly:=False)


You are right, missing colon. Code corrected, declaration of ReadOnly not needed any more, but no change in behavior:

first, excel opens without anything (empty screen, no workbook name)
then, requested sheet appears in read only mode
rowNo gets correct value, so FIND works; cells are modified as requested
"save" results in message : there is already a file with same name in location, do you want to replace it?
Answering yes causes code to finish without other messages and the workbook closes, but the empty excel screen remains there and must be closed manually. The workbook is NOT updated, so has not been replaced.

Definitely NO, the file opens without restrictions. The security properties, by the way, are set to Full control by Everyone.

I found the solution to the problem. rt was obvious, as are many solutions AFTER you have found them. It was also written in my first post: the table is linked to the access app, therefore the workbook is to be considered open. When I try to open it again with workbooks.open, excel can only open it in read-only mode. One may complain "why didn't excel say so, that the file was already open"? This I don't know, and would like to know.
Anyhow, I replaced

DoCmd.TransferSpreadsheet acLink,...
with
DoCmd.TransferSpreadsheet acImport, ...

and now the .xlsm file opens correctly in read/write. Thank you everybody for your attention and interest. Now, if I or you could find the reason why xlValues is not recognized by the compiler...