XLS Reports No Longer Opening in Microsoft Excel

[Anonymous]

A recent update (KB3115262) to Microsoft Excel (2013) is preventing me from opening reports that are exported from Fusion in Excel (xls) format.  (I hear this is an issue for xls reports from Salesforce as well.)

I think it's related to the long-standing issue that all Excel reports from Fusion are not properly built for Excel (something about being HTML-based).  The error we always get is that "The file format and extension of 'ABCDE.xls' don't match. The file could be corrupted or unsafe. Unless you trust its source, don't open it. Do you want to open it anyway?"  Of course I always choose Yes!

But now I don't even get that message.  Excel just ignores that I am trying to do anything.  I'm assuming that the Microsoft update is clamping down on these improperly formatted files and not taking the chance that they may be malicious in nature.

So there are workarounds such as to turn off Protected View, or unblock each file through its Properties, or to uninstall the Microsoft update.  I'm thinking that the best idea would be for these reports to be exported properly so that Excel doesn't have any reason to suspect them.

What's the prognosis here?

Thanks.

Joe Hendrickson

[dvirh]

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the report. I am trying to replicate this issue and it seems to work the same as it always did for me. Meaning that after the first discrepancy message things are working fine. However, I am not sure if I have all the Microsoft Office updates and since updates are controlled by our IT department I am not able to simply update my computer. So can you help me with a very simple test? Can you please create a report with just one simple field, preferably a number field or a date field (so it won't have any special characters) and see if the second issue is still reproducing? I just want to eliminate the chance that some special character in the report is causing excel to freeze rather than some new security setting.

BTW, this is not a solution but if you are only trying to view the report and not change it, changing the extension to HTML will allow you to view the file in your web browser. Also, if you change the extension to HTML it seems like you can drag it to Excel and it opens it fine. Also, we are testing new export methods for future releases but it will take a bit of time to switch over.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for looking into this, Hagay.  I currently have the update uninstalled so I'm not able to test for special characters right now, but when I get a moment I'll check that out.

Joe Hendrickson

[Anonymous]

Hagay,

I am still having the issue with a simple one field export and the update installed.  When I try to open the file Excel is activated but then just sits there with a grey screen as if I hadn't done anything.

Interestingly, if I open the xls file in a text editing program (Notepad++) and re-save it, still with the xls suffix, it behaves in Excel as it did before alterting me with an error and allowing me to open it.

I've attached the export that doesn't work (1) and the one that does (2).  The text content is exactly the same, so there's something else about the files that is triggering Excel to reject the first one outright.

Joe Hendrickson

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hello Joe,

Here the Microsoft answer: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-customize/excel-2013-security-pa...

Your assumption is correct, html file with .xls extension are now with kb3115262 prevented from opening in Excel.  

Long story short, there is a small flag in the property of the file that says where it comes from and if it does not come from a trusted site, it will not allow excel to open (for "security" reasons).

As Hagay mentioned, we are working on a new export mechanism that is truly Excel format.

In the mean time I suggest you look at the solutions that the Microsoft answer provides.

Here is an extract of two solutions:

1. You can unblock access for individual files you know are safe. To do this:
   1. Right click on the file and choose Properties
   2. On the General tab, click Unblock
   3. Click OK
2. You can make use of existing Trusted Locations capabilities in Excel 2010, 2013, and 2016 via File -> options -> Trust Center -> Trust Center Settings -> Trusted Locations.
   1. You can save the web html file to a trusted location on the local machine (Excel comes with a set of default trust locations). If you do not see the local folder location you trust for these files, then press “Add new location…” button and add it in the Trusted Location dialog. If the HTML document is in a trusted location the KB fix is not applied (e.g. the unsafe HTML file is not blocked).
   2. This approach may unblock you, but it carries some risk as files of any file type in Trusted Locations are fully trusted. If an attacker can drop files into the trusted location they can easily exploit users who open such documents. Be especially cautious when specifying a custom folder as a trusted location.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, good to see Microsoft is at least aware of it and that Autodesk is working on it.  I think I am going to make a special folder for dropping the downloaded xls file into that's trusted by Excel.

I guess the reason the xls file would open after going through a text editing program is because the new version of the file was created on my computer and did not trigger the security protocol.

FYI, somewhat related, here's a VBA script I use every time I open a Fusion report to clean it up and make it usable in Excel, for whoever is interested.

Sub CleanUpFusionReport()
'
' CleanUpFusionReport Macro
'
' Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+L
'
    Rows("1:3").Select
    Selection.Delete Shift:=xlUp
    Cells.Select
    Selection.Font.Bold = False
    Selection.WrapText = False
    ActiveWindow.DisplayGridlines = False
    With ActiveWindow
        .SplitColumn = 0
        .SplitRow = 1
    End With
    ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True
    ActiveSheet.ListObjects.Add(xlSrcRange, ActiveSheet.UsedRange, , xlYes).Name = _
        "Table1"
    Range("Table1[#All]").Select
    ActiveSheet.ListObjects("Table1").TableStyle = "TableStyleLight9"
    ActiveSheet.ListObjects("Table1").ShowTableStyleColumnStripes = True
    Range("Table1[#Headers]").Select
    With Selection
        .HorizontalAlignment = xlGeneral
        .VerticalAlignment = xlTop
        .WrapText = True
        .Orientation = 0
        .AddIndent = False
        .IndentLevel = 0
        .ShrinkToFit = False
        .ReadingOrder = xlContext
        .MergeCells = False
    End With
    Cells.Select
    Selection.ColumnWidth = 10
    Cells.EntireRow.AutoFit
    Cells.EntireColumn.AutoFit
    Range("A2").Select
End Sub

Joe Hendrickson

[Anonymous]

I think your file must not be from a trusted site

[Anonymous]

It happened with me also last week but following the following steps I am now able to open the XLS reports from Autodes

Open EXCEL

FILE-OPTION-TRUST CENTER->Trust Center Settings->Protected View-> REMOVE any check box if any from the boxes and SAVE and Reopen EXCEL

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

So Microsoft released a fix for this problem under update KB3115455 on Aug 9, 2016.  I can confirm that the problem is fixed.  As the KB note says, "After you install this new update, Excel 2013 will open HTML documents (even if they're renamed as .xls files) in protected view instead of silently failing."

Yay!

Joe Hendrickson