Problems with Excel Connection

Problem Description

Windows updates or Microsoft Office updates can potentially cause the COM registration that Emission Master and Emissions Accountant need to connect to MS Excel to become damaged. You may receive an error message: “MS Excel is either not installed or damaged. Please repair the MS Office installation to enable the COM interface.”

Add-ons installed in Excel can also cause problems if they have a mandatory user input prompt or block COM automation either intentionally or incidentally.

Steps to Resolve

  1. Make Sure Excel is Installed
    • First establish whether MS Excel is installed and activated on the computer by running it from the Start Menu. If Microsoft Excel is not installed please install it. A default printer must be selected (a PDF printer is fine). In some virtualization environments Emission Master and Emissions Accountant may be running in a virtual machine on a server. In that case MS Excel will need to be installed and activated on the virtual machine server. IT may need to assist.
  2. Show Excel UI before Automation
    • This feature resolves the situation where an Excel add-on requires user interaction before the report can be run.
    • Run Emission Master or Emissions Accountant (this change will need to be made separately for each program). Use the Options \ General Options menu command to open the General Options dialog.
    • Press the [Edit INI File] button (in the lower right of the Database tab).
    • Add the following as a new line in the INI file: ShowExcelUIBeforeReportingForSeconds = 30
    • Us the File \ Save menu command to save the INI file. Then close the window.
    • Try running a report. The Excel UI should appear and allow user interaction before the report starts.
    • If this resolved the problem then the time delay in the INI file can be edited to allow sufficient time for interaction while minimizing report delays.
  3. Repair Office
  4. Uninstall and Reinstall Office
    • Follow these instructions from Microsoft describing how to uninstall Office. Note that this approach uses a program from Microsoft to remove Office more completely than the normal Add or Remove Programs feature. We have found that this can fix the Excel connectivity issue in some cases where a normal uninstall and reinstall did not. IT may need to assist. Reboot to ensure changes have been made before Office is reinstalled.
  5. Enable Dynamic Excel COM
    • If you are unable to uninstall and reinstall Office then this workaround may allow to you connect with Excel from Emission Master and Emissions Accountant in a more dynamic way that needs less type registration information. This approach will be slower but can be implemented more easily by the user as an added INI file line.
    • Run Emission Master or Emissions Accountant (this change will need to be made separately for each program). Use the Options \ General Options menu command to open the General Options dialog.
    • Press the [Edit INI File] button (in the lower right of the Database tab).
    • Add the following as a new line in the INI file: ShouldUseExcelDynamicCOM = true
    • Us the File \ Save menu command to save the INI file. Then close the window.
    • Try running a report. If you encounter a different error please report that to us with enough information so we can reproduce the problem.

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