X L C O N N E C T 9 . 0 5 S P 5

Troubleshooting Common XL Connect Errors

There are several errors that you may run into when installing or using XL Connect. This is a list of the

most common errors with information about the error, what is causing it and steps to resolve. All error

messages in this document are searchable.

When an error occurs in XL Connect, the primary error message is usually very generic. For example:

Be sure to click on the Details button to view the error message specifics which will give you a better

idea of the actual problem. For example:

Table of Contents

The current identity does not have write access to…. .............................................................................. 4

The permissions granted user ‘domain\username’ are insufficient for performing this operation ........ 6

Cannot open database ‘dbname’ requested by the login. ....................................................................... 8

The specified reportserver URL http://servename/Reports could not be found ................................... 12

Your current license restricts you to X Designer users (or Power users) ............................................... 14

Cannot import Excelxxxx_register_OnDemand.reg. Error opening the file. ......................................... 15

‘C:\Users\username\Documents\BizContent\EPIC905GL.xll”, is in a different format than specified by

the file extension. ................................................................................................................................... 16

There was a problem locating a valid .biz file ......................................................................................... 17

Unable to expand top node of the Navigation Pane .............................................................................. 18

Function arguments dialog contains no parameters and functions return #NAME? ............................. 19

Cells update with #VALUE ....................................................................................................................... 22

The Request Failed with HTTP status 404: Not Found." ......................................................................... 24

Cannot run the macro ‘BizData. The macro may not be available in this workbook or all macros may

be disabled .............................................................................................................................................. 25

"The specified DSN contains an architecture mismatch" creating linked server ................................... 26

XL Connect is not loaded ......................................................................................................................... 27

HTTP status 400 bad request .................................................................................................................. 28

Error: Connection was closed. Could not establish trust relationship for the SSL/TSL secure channel . 29

The remote name could not be resolved ‘servername’ ......................................................................... 30

Error generating DrillDown menus: Object reference not set to an instance of an object ................... 31

Error using Refresh Pivot Cache right-click option ................................................................................. 32

Scan For Content Button Missing from Ribbon ...................................................................................... 33

C:\Users\username\Documents\BizContent\xxx .xll could not be found .............................................. 34

Attempted to read or write protected memory ..................................................................................... 38

Method not found: 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1<System.String>

BizSSRS.MISReportingService.GetReportParmsArray(System.String, System.String ByRef, System.String

ByRef, System.String)'. ............................................................................................................................ 40

Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Epicor XL

Connect\bin5\x64\Microsoft.ReportingServices.Interfaces.dll' or one of its dependencies. An attempt

was made to load a program with an incorrect format. ......................................................................... 41

The current identity does not have write access to…. This error commonly occurs when testing access to a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services site.

Steps to Resolve

Open the folder indicated in the error message.

Right-click the folder and click Sharing and Security.

Click the Security tab and click Add.

In the Enter the object names to select box, type the name of the account indicated in the error

message, and then click OK.

Under Allow, ensure that the Read & Execute, List Folder Contents, Read and Write check boxes

are selected.

Click OK.

When the warning message is displayed, click Yes.

The permissions granted user ‘domain\username’ are insufficient for

performing this operation This error indicates that the user does not have sufficient rights to access the reporting services site.

This error can also occur when trying to deploy the Reporting Services reports from a Windows Server

2008 server with User Account Control enabled. The steps to resolve this error are different than for

when the end user encounters this error. Both resolutions are described below.

Steps to Resolve

To resolve this error for the end user:

You must grant your XL Connect users permissions to the Reporting Services site. The Reporting Service

Security is accessed by browsing to the Reporting Services Report Manager URL (ex.

http://servername/reports):

SQL Server Reporting Services 2005 and 2008, go to the Properties tab:

SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 R2, click on the Folder Settings button.

The following screenshot shows an example of a Reporting Service site with user security configured.

The user named “linda” has been given Content Manager permissions.

To resolve this error when deploying Reporting Services report:s

Run Business Intelligence Development Studio as administrator by locating the program in the Programs

menu, holding down Ctrl + Shift and then right-clicking on the program and choosing Run as

Administrator. This will elevate your privileges so that you can deploy the reports.

Cannot open database ‘dbname’ requested by the login. This error indicates that the user does not have rights in SQL Server to the accounting system database.

Or, if using SQL authentication, the user mistyped their login id or password.

Figure 1 – Error message with XMLFast enabled

Figure 2 - Error message without XMLFast enabled

Steps to Resolve

1. Click on Start >Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2005(or 2008/2008 R2) > SQL Server Management Studio.

2. The Connect to Server dialog will open. Make sure the Servername is correct and click Connect.

3. In the left pane, expand Security, right-click on Logins and click New Login.

4. In the Login – New dialog box, enter the user’s name in the Login name field. Click on Search to browse for an existing Windows login id. Or type in a name to use for a SQL login id.

It is possible to use an Active Directory group that contains all XL Connect users. To add a group, be sure to click on the Object Types button and check the Groups checkbox. This will ensure that your group will be found by your search.

5. Click on User Mapping in the left pane. Check the Map checkbox next to the accounting system database or if this content pack uses a Linked Server, check the Map checkbox next to the master database. Check the db_datareader role membership in the bottom pane. Click OK.

The specified reportserver URL http://servename/Reports could not be

found This error will occur if you have entered the Report Manager URL for the TargetServerURL of the

reporting service solution you are trying to deploy instead of the Web Service URL (ex.

http://servername/ReportServer)

Steps to Resolve

1. Right-click on the project name in the Solution Explorer pane and choose Properties.

2. Change the Target Server URL to the correct path for your report server Web Service URL. Click OK.

IMPORTANT: If your Report Server Web Service URL uses a non-default port, be sure to include that

port number in the TargetServerURL. For example “http://EpicorSvr:8080/ReportServer”.

Your current license restricts you to X Designer users (or Power users) This error will occur when you have entered more names in the referenced user type’s .users file in the

admin shared directory than your license allows. This error can also occur if you have a line return after

the last name in the file.

Steps to Resolve

1. Browse to the Admin shared directory.

2. Open the .lic file with Notepad and verify how many licenses exist for the user type indicated in the

error message.

3. Open the .users file with Notepad that corresponds with the error message.

4. In the .users file, verify that the number of names entered does not exceed the number of licenses

indicated in the license file. Also verify that there are no line returns after the last name entered in

the file.

Cannot import Excelxxxx_register_OnDemand.reg. Error opening the file. This error can occur on Windows 7 workstations with User Account Control enabled. The error occurs

because user account control elevates the user’s permissions and changes what the operating system

considers to be the current location such that the file referenced in the error message is not found.

Steps to Resolve

1. Browse to the reg5 subdirectory of the local XL Connect directory.

2. Open the Register BizInsight for Excelxxxx_register_OnDemand.reg with Notepad.

3. Add the file directory path to each regedit.exe entry in the file. For example:

‘C:\Users\username\Documents\BizContent\EPIC905GL.xll”, is in a different

format than specified by the file extension. This error will occur when the XL Connect Content add-in is 32-bit and the Excel version is 64-bit.

Steps to Resolve

Until 64-bit compatible XL Connect and XL Connect Content versions are available, the only resolution is

to uninstall Excel and install a 32-bit compatible version.

There was a problem locating a valid .biz file This error will occur when the Configuration Path specified in the Application Settings dialog is incorrect

or if the path is correct, that the .biz files have not been copied to the directory.

Steps to Resolve

1. Open the Application Settings dialog and copy the Configuration Path.

2. Open Windows Explorer, paste the path and press Enter.

3. Verify that the directory is accessible and is the directory intended to store the shared content files.

If it is not the right location, correct the Configuration Path in the Application Settings dialog and

test to see if the issue is resolved.

4. Verify that the .biz files exist in the directory that the Configuration Path setting points to and if they

are not there, copy them to that directory and test again. Refer to Step 6: Create and Populate

Shared Directory in the Installation Guide for XL Connect and XL Connect Content 9.05 SP2 for

information on where to find the .biz files.

Unable to expand top node of the Navigation Pane If you are not able to expand the content pack node in the Navigation Pane, your login id has not been

added to one of the .users files in the admin share directory or an XL Broadcast license has been copied

into the admin share directory.

Steps to Resolve

1. Click on the Application Settings dialog and copy the Administration Path. Browse to that directory

and confirm that .users files are present in that directory. If they are not there, refer to Step 6:

Create and Populate Shared Directory of the Installation Guide for XL Connect and XL Connect

Content 9.05 SP2 for steps on adding those files to this directory.

2. In Excel, click on the About button on the XL Connect ribbon or toolbar to check your rights.

3. Verify that the name displayed has been added to one of the .users files (Designer.users,

Power.users or Drilldown.users) in the admin shared directory.

4. Verify that the entry in the .users file exactly matches the username displayed in the About dialog.

5. Verify that there is only one .lic file present in the directory. If an XL Broadcast .lic file is also in that

directory move it to a different location.

Function arguments dialog contains no parameters and functions return

#NAME?

This situation indicates that the XL Connect Content add-in that supplies that particular function is not

registered in Excel. If this is occurring for a non-XL Connect user, refer to the section titled

“Distributing Reports to non-XL Connect Users” in the document Guide to Using XL Connect 9.05 SP2.

Steps to Resolve

1. Click on the Application Settings dialog and copy the Configuration Path. Browse to that directory

and confirm that the three XL Connect Content add-in files for the module are present in the

content share directory. If they are not there, refer to “Step 6: Create and Populate Shared

Directory” of the Installation Guide for XL Connect and XL Connect Content 9.05 SP2 for steps on

adding those files to this directory.

2. In Excel, click on the Scan for Content button to re-scan for content. Restart Excel and check to see

if that resolved the issue.

3. If the issue is still not resolved, check to see if the add-in is disabled. To do this, open the add-ins

dialog for the Excel version on the client workstation:

Excel 2010 - Click on File > Options

Excel 2007 - Click on the Office button and then click on the Excel Options button.

In the right pane, scroll to the bottom of the add-ins and check the section named Disabled Items for

the missing XL Connect Content add-in.

If the add-in is shown as disabled, click on the Manage drop down list and choose Disabled Items

and then click Go. Select the add-in and click the Enable button.

Excel 2003

a. Click on Help > About Microsoft Office Excel

b. Click on the Disabled Items button.

c. Select the add-in and click the Enable button.

Cells update with #VALUE The #VALUE error can have several underlying problems.

Steps to Troubleshoot

The following steps will help you identify the underlying problem and hopefully that issue is

documented elsewhere in this document with steps to resolve.

1. Check one function that is returning a #VALUE. If you are changing the sign of the data returned by

the function with a *-1, remove that temporarily to see whether a more informative error is

displayed. If this is a Power user, try temporarily making them a Designer user so they can edit the

function to reveal the true error.

2. Open the BizNet Software event viewer log and check for errors. As you look at the event viewer

log, if you see entries about the data set being empty, look for errors just before that error for the

error that is causing the data set to be empty. To get to the Event Viewer log, go to Start > Control

Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer.

If the BizNet Software event viewer log is not present and the client workstation is running Windows

7, turn off User Account Control (‘UAC’), reboot the computer and start Excel once to trigger the

creation of the event viewer log. Reproduce the issue and check the log. Be sure to set UAC back to

its original setting.

3. Go into the Add-ins dialog and check that the XL Connect Content add-ins are enabled and located in

a local directory location and not a network location. Steps to open the add-ins dialog:

Excel 2010 - Click on File > Options

Excel 2007 - Click on the Office button and then click on the Excel Options button.

Excel 2003 – Click on Tools > Add-ins.

If the add-ins are in a network location, you need to remove them from Excel and then change the

local content path for the user to a local directory and re-scan for content. See “Step 9: Configure XL

Connect” of the Installation Guide for XL Connect and XL Connect Content 9.05 SP2 for steps on

changing the local content path.

4. Make sure XL Connect is loaded before trying to refresh the report or change input parameters. See

“3.1. Starting XL Connect” in Guide to Using XL Connect 9.05 SP2 for information on starting XL

Connect properly.

5. Implement the most current content pack available for the module you are trying to use. Refer to

the document named Applying XL Connect and XL Connect Content Updates for steps on how to

implement content pack updates.

6. On the XL Connect ribbon tab or toolbar, make sure that XL Connect is not Offline.

7. Re-register XL Connect and then re-scan for content. To re-register XL Connect:

a. Click on Start > Programs > BizNet Software > Re-Register XL Connect for Excel xxxx On

Demand.bat. If you do not see this option on the Programs menu, browse to the reg5

subdirectory of the XL Connect installation directory on the workstation to locate the Re-register

XL Connect for Excel xxxx On Demand.bat file.

b. Open Excel and click on Scan for Content to re-scan for content.

1. If the Excel version is 2013, verify that the Excel Start window is enabled. To do this, open Excel and

confirm that the Open Other Workbooks option is shown.

If you do not have the Open Other Workbooks option, go to File > Options > General and check the

Show the Start screen when this application starts checkbox.

The Request Failed with HTTP status 404: Not Found." This error will occur if the Report Manager URL was entered for the Default Reporting Services Server

during installation instead of the Web Service URL.

Steps to Resolve

1. Open Excel and click on the Application Settings button on the XL Connect ribbon or toolbar.

2. Check the Default Reporting Services Server parameter and if it has a URL similar to

http://servername/Reports, change the “Reports” portion to “ReportServer”.

Cannot run the macro ‘BizData. The macro may not be available in this

workbook or all macros may be disabled This error usually indicates that one of the product components is not registered in Excel. This can often

occur after a new installation.

Steps to Resolve

1. Re-register XL Connect and then re-scan for content. To re-register XL Connect:

a. Click on Start > Programs > XL Connect > Re-Register XL Connect for Excel xxxx On Demand.bat.

If you do not see this option on the Programs menu, browse to the reg5 subdirectory of the XL

Connect installation directory on the workstation to locate the Re-register BizInsight for Excel

xxxx On Demand.bat file.

b. Open Excel and click on Scan for Content to re-scan for content.

"The specified DSN contains an architecture mismatch" creating linked server This error will occur for implementations that use linked servers and the ODBC data source driver is 32-bit but the SQL Server installation in which the linked server is being created is 64-bit. Steps to Resolve Uninstall the 64-bit SQL Server or install a 32-bit bit version side-by-side with the existing 64-bit SQL Server installation.

XL Connect is not loaded By default, XL Connect is designed to load On Demand which means that if you want to work with XL

Connect, you have to start it up within Excel prior to doing anything else in Excel. This error can also

occur if you double-click on a XL Connect report to open it and Excel starts re-calculating before you

have had a chance to load XL Connect.

Steps to Resolve

To resolve this issue, you must load XL Connect in Excel before accessing a XL Connect report. If you

have been working in Excel already with non-XL Connect reports, you must either close and reopen Excel

or start a new Excel session that XL Connect can be loaded before anything is done in Excel. To load XL

Connect, click on the Epicor XL Connect button on the XL Connect ribbon or toolbar.

HTTP status 400 bad request This error usually indicates a problem with the URL entered for the Default Reporting Services server in the Application Settings dialog. Steps to Resolve 1. Click on the Application Settings button on the XL Connect ribbon or toolbar.

2. Check the Default Reporting Services Server parameter for trailing spaces.

3. Open an internet browser dialog and paste the URL in the address field. If the page is not found,

check for typographical errors in the URL.

Error: Connection was closed. Could not establish trust relationship for the

SSL/TSL secure channel This error will occur when Reporting Services is configured to use SSL when it shouldn’t be or SSL is

incorrectly configured or there is a problem with the security certificate.

Steps to Resolve

If SSL is not required:

1. Open the Reporting Service Configuration Manager and remove all SSL entries.

2. Check the SecureConnectionLevel parameter of the rsreportserver.config file to make sure it is

correctly configured to 0. The steps for performing this step are documented in this Microsoft bug

posting: http://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/686214/removing-ssl-cert-in-

config-manager-doesnt-properly-modify-rsreportserver-config

If SSL is required:

Epicor Software Support will not assist with issues configuring SSL for Reporting Services. Microsoft has

articles describing how to properly configure Reporting Services for SSL. Refer to the appropriate

Microsoft article for steps on how to configure SSL:

SQL Server 2005 - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345223(v=SQL.90).aspx

SQL Server 2008 - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345223(v=sql.100).aspx

SQL Server 2008 R2 - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345223(v=sql.105).aspx

The remote name could not be resolved ‘servername’

This error occurs when there is a problem occurring during the data retrieval from the Reporting Services server. This could be caused by an incorrect Reporting Services URL in the Application Settings dialog or the Reporting Services service is stopped.

Steps to Resolve

To troubleshoot this issue, do the following:

1. On the server, go to Start > Programs > Microsoft SQL Server xxxx > Configuration Tools > Reporting Services Configuration Manager.

2. Check that the Reporting Services service is running. If it is not, start it and then test whether this resolves the issue. Be sure to close and reopen Excel for the test.

3. If the service is started and the SQL version is 2008 or 2008 R2, go to the Web Service URL page of the Reporting Services Configuration Manager tool and note the URL.

4. In Excel, open the XL Connect Application Settings dialog. Copy the URL provided for the Default Reporting Services Server parameter and paste it into a Browser dialog. If it does not take you to the site, verify that the URL matches what you wrote down in Step 3. OR, type the URL that you noted into the browser dialog and see if you can get to the site. Be sure to include the port number if a different port than port 80 is being used. If the URL provided in the Application Setting dialog is wrong, correct it and test again.

5. On the server, confirm that the firewall is not blocking the reporting services port, usually port 80. To quickly test whether it is a firewall issue, temporarily turn off the firewall and try accessing the reporting services site from the client again. If the server can be accessed, the problem is caused by the firewall and an exception needs to be made for accessing Reporting Services.

Error generating DrillDown menus: Object reference not set to an instance of

an object

This error occurs when the Navigation Pane is collapsed. The Navigation Pane must be visible/expanded when working with XL Connect.

Steps to Resolve

The Navigation Pane contains buttons that allow you to easily access the different functional elements

of the product. The Navigation Pane can be collapsed by clicking on the vertical dots in the middle of

the right edge or re-sized by clicking on the right edge and dragging to the left. To re-display the

Navigation Pane after collapsing it, click on the vertical dots again.

Error using Refresh Pivot Cache right-click option When right-clicking on a pivot table and choosing the Refresh Pivot Cache option, the following error

can occur:

Exception Source: Exception Type: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException Exception Message: Exception from HRESULT: 0x800A03EC Exception Target Site: ForwardCallToInvokeMember This error will occur if the pivot table selected was created by XL Connect. This option can only be used on an Excel pivot table that you created using Excel’s Insert Pivot Table option.

Scan For Content Button Missing from Ribbon On some workstations, the Scan for Content button may not show up on the XL Connect ribbon in Excel

after installation. Take the following steps to resolve this issue:

1. Close Excel.

2. Open Windows Explorer and browse to the Microsoft Office user directory.

a. Windows 7 C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office

b. Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application

Data\Microsoft\Office

3. Rename the Excelxx.CustomUI file in that directory.

a. Excel 2007 this file will be named “Excel12.CustomUI”

b. Excel 2010 this file will be named “Excel14.CustomUI”

4. Browse to the reg5 subdirectory of the XL Connect local installation directory and run the file named

Register BizInsight for Excel xxxx OnDemand.bat, where xxxx is the Excel version.

5. Close and reopen Excel and check the ribbon for the Scan for Content button.

C:\Users\username\Documents\BizContent\xxx .xll could not be found This error can occur upon the start of Excel when the filename for a content add-in file has been changed. Scan for Content will identify and remove old content add-in files but is not able to update the registry entries that still point to those old files. To resolve this issue, do the following: 3. Go to the Excel add-ins dialog. The steps for each Office version are as follows:

Excel 2010

a. Click on File > Options.

b. Click on Add-ins in the left pane and then click on Go at the bottom on the right pane.

Excel 2007

a. Click on the Office button and then click on the Excel Options button.

b. Click on Add-ins in the left pane and then click on Go at the bottom on the right pane.

Excel 2003

a. Click on Tools > Add-Ins

4. In the Add-ins dialog, click on the Browse button.

5. Once in the add-ins dialog, uncheck the content add-in. You will get the following message. Click

Yes.

Close and reopen Excel.

Attempted to read or write protected memory The following exception can occur and cause Excel to crash when XL Connect is installed:

This error is commonly caused by a conflict with another add-in that is installed within Excel. The most

common one that causes this issue is the Microsoft Analysis Toolpak VBA add-in. Application conflicts

are a fact of life, and Excel is no different. Since our application is hosted by EXCEL.EXE, other add-ins

may conflict or causes issues with XL Connect.

At this time, the only option to resolve this issue is to disable the conflicting add-in. To determine what

other add-ins might be installed and active in Excel, open the add-ins dialog using the appropriate

method for the Excel version installed:

Excel 2010 - Click on File > Options Excel 2007 - Click on the Office button and then click on the Excel Options button. Excel 2003 – Click on Tools > Add-ins. In the add-ins dialog, look at the Active Add-ins section to identify add-ins that are not XL Connect or XL ConnectContent related (Examples of XL Connect/XL ConnectContent add-ins are highlighted):

To determine whether other add-ins listed are causing the problem, look at the Type of the add-in in the far right column and then go to the bottom of the dialog and change the Manage drop down list to the appropriate Add-in type and click Go.

Uncheck the add-in in the Add-ins dialog then close and reopen Excel and see if the error still occurs. Repeat this action for each active add-in to see which one, if any, are the culprit.

Method not found: 'System.Collections.Generic.List`1<System.String>

BizSSRS.MISReportingService.GetReportParmsArray(System.String,

System.String ByRef, System.String ByRef, System.String)'.

This error message will occur when the previous XL Connect version was not uninstalled from the

workstation before installing the current XL Connect version.

To resolve this issue, uninstall and reinstall the current XL Connect version.

Could not load file or assembly 'file:///C:\Epicor XL

Connect\bin5\x64\Microsoft.ReportingServices.Interfaces.dll' or one of its

dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect

format.

This issue will occur with XL Connect Content for iScala implementations where the server operating

system is 64-bit and the Excel on the client workstation is 32-bit. To resolve this issue, do the following:

1. Locate the XL Connect installation folder. Open the bin5 folder.

2. Locate the 32-bit files in the x86 folder

3. In the x86 folder, copy all the content files.

4. Locate the x64 folder

5. Step5: Copy and replace all files in the folder. (32-bit and 64-bit files contain the same file names)