FAQ : Excel Add-in

This section below gives some hits, tips and answers to common issues with the Promenta  Excel Add-in

FAQ : INSTALLER_1 : Excel is not found

You are running the Add-in installer but get an error message that Excel could not be found.

Windows office applications can be installed with a “Click to run” methodology whereby Excel (and other apps) are not  fully activated until they are launched at least once.

If you are on a new system or you have just launched a new VDI then Excel may not be fully active.

Solution : Launch Excel and then close it. Retry the installation.

FAQ : INSTALLER_2 : Windows Components / Admin access

You are running the installer and are being asked :

Install Windows component (.Net 8.0.10 Desktop)

Requesting Administrator access

Promenta required some windows components that may already be installed (Windows 11) but may need to be installed if not present. Installation of these windows components requires administrator access

See the Requirements section of this link

If you already have the components installed then  administrator access is not normally needed.

FAQ : ADDIN_1 : No documents found

You receive a message that there are no documents found in the file.

This is caused by using an incorrect format of spreadsheet used OR you are using a supported format (such as the GLSU format) that is not active for your installation.

FAQ : ADDIN_2 : Permission Denied/ Runtime error 70

You run an operation in the add-in such as Validate, Template manager etc and receive a message in excel “Run-Time error “70”: Permission Denied”

The operation requires access to an external resource or windows component that is not allowed or does not exist.

Please check the following items

1] Does your user id (windows) match your “appdata” directory.

For example you login to windows with user id asmith but your appdata directory is C:\Users\ajones\AppData.  This can happen when you had a name change and the IT team has mapped your new name to the old name (ie asmith —> ajones). In this case the add-in may not be able to find the correct files [V3.2 and below only. V4 is fixed]

2] Do you have your data on the D: E: (or other) drive

If your “appdata” directory is on a drive other than C: there may be errors [V3.2 and below only. V4 is fixed]

For example your data is D:\Users\your name\AppData

The Add-in may need to be manually configure in the ini file to read from the D: drive

3] You cannot run netstat command

The Netstat command is part of Windows and allows the Add-in to check for available connection ports. For VDI using Share-session (scenario B) this is required.

Execute the command below as the actual user with the problem. Do not switch to Administrator mode.

• Open command prompt (Start –> CMD]
• execute command :     netstat -anpo TCP

If you receive any error messages including permission-denied or “command not found” this needs to be checked by your desktop support team.

Note : For individuals [not VDI] this check can be switched off although it makes the add-in connection to SAP run slower.

4] You cannot start the PCA app

Your security may have locked down executable programs such as the promentCA app (PromentaCA.exe)

To check this, attempt to execute the program directly. Note the the paths below are the common paths but your may be different.

Normal users path : C:\Users\your user\AppData\Local\Programs\PromentaCA\PromentaCA.exe

VDI (shared session) : C:\Program Files\PromentaCA\PromentaCA.exe

If the PCA app does not start please contact your IT department

 

5] You have a “threat-blocking” security program

Some organizations implement threat-blocking programs (such as ThreatLocker) and these programs can block access to executable files from Excel VBA applications. 

An exception must be implemented in that software to allow the PromentaCA executable to be started from Excel VBA

 

FAQ : ADDIN_3 : Message export not working

You receive messages in the popup after validation of a journal.

You press the “export” button to export the messages to a separate spreadsheet

The new spreadsheet is blank

Please update Excel Add-in to version 4.0.1.003 or later

FAQ : ADDIN_4 : Manual calculations

You receive a message similar to the one below . 

You have Manual calculation switched off in Excel.

Background : It is common to have formulas to calculate posting values and other items in a journal file. If manual calculation is active (automatic calculation is switch off) then you may post without recalculating the value and result in an incorrect posting

Promenta expects automatic calculation to be switched ON

Action 

Switch ON automatic calculation as below