Showstopping bug in Excel Online that breaks all add-ins - excel-online

Also submitted here: https://github.com/OfficeDev/office-js/issues/2940
Starting October 31st, 2022 (Halloween Special):
Any Excel spreadsheet open in Excel Online gets stripped of settings saved in it before. This renders useless all plug-ins that use Office.context.document.settings.set(key, value).
Expected Behavior
Settings saved by Excel add-ins in the property bag of an Excel spreadsheet should be retained on reopening the spreadsheet in Excel Online.
Current Behavior
Any settings saved by an Excel add-in when open in Excel Online get deleted the next time the document is opened.
This functionality works correctly in Excel for Mac and Excel for Windows (all desktop versions of Excel).
Steps to Reproduce, or Live Example
Side-load the following add-in to Excel Online: https://github.com/OfficeDev/Office-Add-in-samples/tree/main/Samples/office-add-in-save-custom-settings
Use 'create setting' button to create a setting in the Property Bag.
Read it back using the 'Get setting' button to make sure it was stored:
Reload the browser page
Use 'Get setting' button to retieve the saved property by name.
It returns null:
Additional details
For all spreadsheets containing add-in settings, if you open a spreadsheet in Excel Online, it automatically removes the 'webextensions' folder from the file deleting all the settings saved there.
Before opening the spreadsheet in Excel Online:
After opening the spreadsheet in Excel Online:
Your Environment
Platform [PC desktop, Mac, iOS, Office Online]: Office Online
Host [Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.]: Excel
Office version number: current
Operating System: MacOS
Browser (if using Office Online): Chrome

Looks like as of November 3rd, 2022 the bug has been fixed and properties are retained in Excel Online.

Related

Recover code modules from corrupt vba pptm file

I opened my .pptm ppt vba macro source file for editing, it showed this dialog a few times.
once I open alt+F11 to VBA editor, it has all the forms but the underlying code is not opening, also the modules are unresponsive.
Can anybody suggest a way to recover code/modules from this corrupt file. I have the latest .ppam addin output, I can share the corrupted .pptm file if there is way to attach here. Thanks for the help folks!
Tossing this in as an answer as well as the comment. Better formatting!
Make sure PowerPoint is NOT running, then open REGEDIT.
Go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\PowerPoint\Options
Replace xx.0 with your PPT version: 16.0 for 2016/2019/365, 15.0 for 2013, 14.0 for 2010 etc.
12.0 is 2007. There's no 13.0; MS is apparently superstitious.
Rightclick Options and choose New, DWORD Value
Name it: DebugAddins
Doubleclick it and change its value to 1
Close Regedit.
Start PowerPoint and open the VBA IDE.
All of your installed VBA addins will appear as projects that you can open and edit, so long as they're not password protected (and if you know the password, you're good to go).
Note that you cannot SAVE your edited code. You'll need to copy/paste it back into a PPT/PPTM file and save that, or export the modules you've edited and import them into the original PPT/PPTM.
You can generally have both the source PPT/PPTM and the addin code loaded in the IDE; just be sure you stay aware of which is which.

"VBAProject" name conflict

My issue involves PowerPoint Add-Ins all being named VBAProject.
Microsoft Office Pro Plus 2010 - PowerPoint 2010 32 bit
Running Windows 7 Pro SP1 64 bit
I have several add-ins for PowerPoint saved as .PPAM files. In any PowerPoint file I can (or should be able to) link add-ins to extend that presentation's functionality. Each .PPAM file is named differently. In the VBA IDE however, in the list of references, each add-in is called 'VBAProject'. There are multiple entries of 'VBAProject' each one showing a path to a different .PPAM file. The problem is that I cannot add a reference to more than one add-in because the same name assigned to each of these; VBAProject. This results in a name conflict. Using the add-in manager from PowerPoint design view I can see all the selected add-ins as being 'active'. The Add-in manager for the VBA IDE shows no Add-ins.
Questions:
Is the naming of PowerPoint Add-ins as 'VBAProject' expected for every add-in?
Is there a way of change the name 'VBAProject' to something unique and hence avoid the name conflicts?
So it seems as if I have found the solution to my problem and would like to share it with the community. It involved a small change to the registry. [Be careful when dealing w/ the registry and make a back-up prior to any changes.]
From Regedit.exe -> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\PowerPoint\Options. Change value of DebugAddins from 0x00000000 (0) to 0x00000001 (1).
With this done you will be able to see all the add-ins in the VBA IDE and from there you can change the name 'VBAProject' to something unique.

ActiveX Command Button Changes to Picture

I had a strange issue with an excel file that was saved on Sharepoint 2010. The file is a macro enabled workbook that users download and save locally. The user enters their data then pushes and ActiveX command button on the cover sheet to launch background vba code.
The problem is that now when I download the file the ActiveX button is saved as an image. I checked the versions that I added to sharepoint and the last version I added had a working ActiveX button.
Has anyone seen this behavior before?
Thank you

No Add-In Tab Though Add-In is Loaded and Working

I wrote an Excel VBA add-in over ten years ago, which uses the old Commandbars to put a menu in Excel's Tools menu (in Excel 2003 and earlier) or in Excel's Add-Ins tab (in Excel 2007 and later). I've never had a problem with the menu appearing, in all versions of Excel from 97 through 2013.
But now a user says Excel Add-Ins menu not appearing for him in Excel 2013. Normally that means the add-in isn't loaded, but in his case the add-in is loaded and working. We know the add-in is loaded and working because the add-in adds user-defined worksheet functions, and those UDFs are working fine for him. But he wants to get to the add-in's menu and can't.
My googling showed that some people are having trouble with the Add-Ins menu in 2013, but I didn't find anything specific to this problem.
Yes, he's tried enabling the Add-Ins tab in Excel Options > Customize the Ribbon.
BTW this is an .xla add-in, not a COM add-in.
Any suggestions?
I have Excel 2010 and had the add-in tab disappear for MrExcel HTML add-in. I tried all types of suggestions - and finally found one that worked for me!
Go to the add-ins folder where you have your add in saved. Right click on the file, and select Properties. At the bottom of the General tab - if it says "Security" - check on the "Unblock" option.
Voila! My add-ins never disappear anymore!
Solved:
Solved this now but really weird solution if you enabled the Add-in whilst the Analysis ToolPaks were enabled it'd have the issue you above, but if you enabled the Add-in whilst the Analysis ToolPaks weren't ticked then went back in to it and re-ticked the Analysis ToolPaks it'd be fine and wouldn't disappear!
Was an extremely strange issue!
See Spiceworks
As far as I understood this is a problem with Excel 2013 (another attempt of the guys at Redmond to make our lives miserable with every update of their products). The workaround I've found is to include the following code into the ThisWorkbook module of the Addin:
Private Sub Workbook_Open()
Workbook_AddinUninstall
Workbook_AddinInstall
End Sub
Cheers!
I had similar issue with excel 2013. Add-in tab was missing. I went to Developer>>>Add-Ins and deselected the add-in I wanted. Click OK then repeat the process and select the same add-in. Click OK. The Add-In tab should appear.
See also https://www.excelcampus.com/vba/add-in-ribbon-disappears/
As of july 2016 the security settings in Excel disable the add-ins in the old default location. THe website shows how to set the directory to trusted status
I had a similar problem where two .xlam files that loaded and appeared in custom ribbon tabs in Excel 2010 didn't show up in the ribbon in Excel 2013 even though they were loading each time a workbook was opened. I tried all sorts of solutions - disabling the Analysis Toolpack, disabling and enabling the .xlam files, making sure the .xlam's attached XML file was up to date (I was thinking an MSO image I had in the XML code was no longer available in Excel 2013), but nothing worked. I eventually tried copying and renaming the .xlam file and enabled it in Excel and, strangely, it appeared in the ribbon.
I have no idea why it needed to be copied and renamed - it's almost like Excel 2013 needed a fresh copy of the .xlam file before it could show up. Very weird!
I've been looking for this answer for a LONG time and the previous code worked, but, for me, only with Workbook_Open() instead of Thisworkbook_Open()
Private Sub Workbook_Open()
Workbook_AddinUninstall
Workbook_AddinInstall
End Sub
Thanks for finding this!
I disabled the add-ins via the Developer tab, and then enabled them via File>Options>Add-Ins>Manage Add-Ins.
Voila!
You can Try by disabling macros with notification. (tried on 2016)
File->options->trust center->macro settings-> tick disable all macros with notification
It worked for me .
If I disabled and enabled, I could get the Add-Ins tab to appear, but every time I opened a document I had to repeat. This seemed to fix it for me:
File > Options > AddIns > Choose "XML Expansion Packs" > Go > Select "Microsoft Action Pane 3" > Attach > Ok
I have had similar problems with Excel 2016 (not with 2010 and 2017), and very strangely it was solved this way :
1) Desactivating the add-in
2) Quitting Excel
3) Activating the add-in
4) Going to File > Close (in French version : Fichier > Fermer)
And when I click "Close" the "Components" menu suddenly appear in Excel 2016 !
Good luck !
Had a similar problem in Excel 2010. Tried all the suggestions above, but to no avail. In the end it turned out that even though it was an .xll add-in, it somehow also was listed as a COM add-in. So going to File > Options > Add-In, then selecting Disabled Items from the list at the bottom of that window and enabling the add-in, worked for me. Now in the list of Active Application Add-ins it shows both the original Excel Add-in, and the unexpected COM add-in without location. Oh, and the tab is back of course. Go figure.

Listview on worksheet generates cannot insert object error Excel 2010

Hi I have an Excel 2003 application which has a listview embedded in the worksheet. It no longer works on Excel 2010.
I re-registered the ocx using regsvr32 C:\Windows\System32\MSCOMCTL.OCX as per advice.
This works for listviews on forms, but not for the worksheet.
Microsoft advises that Cannot insert object can be generated if the control is form specific and an attempt is made to add to the worksheet.
Can the listview be used in Excel 2010 on a worksheet
If so how?
Otherwise a rewrite will be required.
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Opening each of the projects (Excel with macros)
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Open VBA Code (Alt-F11) to edit any module and press from the main menu > Debug > Compile VBAProject
Switch back to Run Mode
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