Save as Excel Troubleshooting - Intergraph Smart Instrumentation - Help

Intergraph Smart Instrumentation Help

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Smart Instrumentation Version
13.1

  • Save as Excel functionality is dependent on the correct Microsoft Windows ODBC drivers being installed on your machine. See the Prerequisites section of the topic Create an Import Link for an ODBC Source.

  • Installing Windows updates sometimes causes problems with the Windows ODBC drivers. If Save as Excel fails to work correctly you should re-install the ODBC drivers.

  • The Save-as Excel functionality only works with the 32-bit version of Microsoft Excel. You must also have installed from the Microsoft Download center the following file: Microsoft Access 2013 Runtime.exe.

After saving a specification in Excel format, scan the resulting file for display errors. The following list describes how to troubleshoot some of the possible errors.

Resolve Spec Accessing Problem in a Common Excel File

Use this procedure to be able to access every spec successfully after saving multiple specs in a common Excel file. The procedure deals with changing Excel macro security to Medium. If you are running Excel XP, macro security is set to High by default.

Remove the Protection from a Spec Saved as Excel

Use this procedure to remove the protection from a spec.

Resolve a Data Saving Problem

Use this procedure if you receive an error message stating that you "cannot save data... incorrect syntax" when you try to save specs in Excel format. This problem can occur if your specifications are based on pages arranged with the text headers above the fields, rather than in separate vertical groupings. You can use a headers-above-fields style, and avoid the error message by editing the x-coordinates of either the text headers or the fields to creating microscopic misalignment. This procedure deals with editing the text headers. After editing in InfoMaker, your pages can support specifications that you save in Excel format.

Resolve Grid Line Overlap Problems

This topic provides a solution you need to implement in InfoMaker when labels and values overlap lines above or below.

Correct Undershooting and Overshooting of Grid Lines

Use this procedure to correct grid line display problems caused by correcting imperfect meeting of the outermost grid lines in the source spec page. You can use this procedure to correct undershooting, when the lines do not meet, and overshooting, when at least one of the lines extends beyond the meeting point.

Prevent Truncation of Labels and Values

This topic provides a troubleshooting solution you need to implement in InfoMaker when the right end of labels and values is displayed cut off.

Fix Displaced Labels

When you save specifications in Excel format, you may find displaced labels in the categories column — by default at the left of the page — or in the title block. This problem can be caused by lack of coordination between the Smart Instrumentation spec page upon which the specification is based and the row division in the Excel spreadsheet. You have two options to assign the displaced label to a row: extend an existing horizontal line to pass above or below the displaced label, or normalize label coordinates, which you do by assigning to the displaced label the Y-coordinate of a row that spans the rest of the form.

Fix Text Display in Excel Cells

Use this procedure to fix incomplete display of text in a spec saved as Excel. You can perform this procedure either in Excel or InfoMaker. Cell content can be improperly displayed due to the width of the Excel columns. This can occur in the following situations:

  • If the text string in a cell is longer than the width of the cell, and the cell to the right is empty, the text extends into the adjacent cell.

  • If the text string in a cell is longer than the width of the cell, and the cell to the right is not empty, the overlapping text is cut off.

  • If the cell is very narrow, no data appears in the cell. By inserting the cursor in the cell, you can view the cell contents in the formula bar.

Fix Function Conversion Problems

Use this procedure to convert manually those Smart Instrumentation functions used in the spec into Excel functions if automatic conversion was not successful. When you save a specification in Excel format, Smart Instrumentation converts its functions into Excel functions. Where the conversion does not succeed, Smart Instrumentation enters the calculated result into the relevant cell of the Excel spreadsheet, and does not display a formula in the formula bar. This problem is likely to occur if you created your own specification function in InfoMaker.

Set Value Display Precision

Use this procedure if you encounter problems in process data or calculation value display precision in the Excel cells after saving specs in Excel format. In general, process data and calculation values that Smart Instrumentation stores in the database are of greater precision than the values that Excel displays in the cells of generated specs. The default global Save as Excel precision is two decimal places. Therefore, if you need to display in Excel a precise Smart Instrumentation value, you need to increase the number of decimal digits for Save as Excel. You can either set values display precision globally, or for individual fields.

Fix Display of Vertical Fields

Use this procedure if vertical fields are not displayed correctly the Excel file. If a spec page upon which specifications are based contains vertical fields, it must fulfill one of the following two conditions for correct export to Excel:

  • The X values of the left-hand vertical grid line must be 0.

  • You create an invisible line for which the X values are 0.

If aligning the page grid lines to X = 0 does not solve the problem, you need to trim and center vertical form fields in InfoMaker.

Fix Display of Select Lists

Use this procedure if select lists are not displayed correctly the Excel file.

Prepare Problematic Excel Files for Customer Support

Use this procedure if you encounter problems that you are unable to solve, and then contact Customer Support.