Error: "Post uses deprecated XML extension" after F360 update v.2.0.18719

[Ethibaudeau]

Our post processor that creates an excel setup sheet has stopped working after updating F360 to v.2.0.18719

When attempting to post, it now produces "Error: Post uses deprecated XML extension and need to be updated."

I've attached the post .cps file here, which is mostly Autodesk's example excel post processor. Any suggestions on what needs to be updated?

[viacheslav.shapilov]

Hello, @Ethibaudeau . Thank you for report.

We have recently updated post processor to newer version of JavaScript engine. And in March release switched it to be default. Unfortunately, new JavaScript engine does not support E4X extension anymore, so all posts, which used it stopped working. Including setup sheets for excel.
To mitigate this issues we added automatic migration for excel setup sheet posts into postprocessor. But your post is heavily modified, and migration failed. I made a manual migration of your post, but without template, I cannot say, if it works correctly.
Also attached new default post version.

Sorry for inconvenience.

[Ethibaudeau]

Viacheslav, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time and effort to migrate our custom post over.

It does work now (it appears that all the information is populated), however there is a warning when excel opens about a problem with the XML content. Though, it doesn't seem to describe what content was removed:

Removed Records: Cell information from /xl/worksheets/sheet2.xml part

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<recoveryLog xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main"><logFileName>error289680_01.xml</logFileName><summary>Errors were detected in file 'C:\Users\ethibaudeau\Downloads\1002.xlsm'</summary><removedRecords><removedRecord>Removed Records: Cell information from /xl/worksheets/sheet2.xml part</removedRecord></removedRecords></recoveryLog>

I have now attached the template file, though if you try it, you will need to rename to ".xlsm", as I could not upload a ".xlsm" extension file here.

[viacheslav.shapilov]

We are aware about this warning, but have not solved it yet. I'll let you know, when we fix it.

[Ethibaudeau]

I pasted the XML text from the problematic sheet into ChatGPT, it mentioned that excel may have an issue with the use of inline strings. Sure enough, if I compare the XML of the original sheet to the repaired sheet, excel has converted all of the inline strings to shared strings. I also noted that from my original to your modified .cps, the call to "saveSharedStrings();" has been commented out. No idea if this is related.

The repair is changing the floating point numbers slightly, adding another digit:

From: "<v>7.023221714290108</v>"

To:      "<v>7.0232217142901083</v>"

The repair is adding the text "spans="1:21" to some of the rows. **Edit: I see now this is an optional optimization.

The repair is removing the empty t parameter entry "t=""".

Finally, the repair is changing the header:
From: "&amp;C&amp;&quot;Arial,Bold&quot;&amp;12TOOLS &amp;&amp; OPERATIONS</oddHeader>"

To:      "&amp;C&amp;"Arial,Bold"&amp;12TOOLS &amp;&amp; OPERATIONS</oddHeader>"

To get an easy comparison, I first ran the XML through a formatter to get more human readable versions. I've attached the unrepaired and repaired versions of the XML.

[jonathanBUCVS]

@Ethibaudeau where can I find the xml document associated with my Excel template? I too am getting a similar error message and will trying making the adjustments you mentioned below. In good news, I was able to update the .cps file for the updated post kernel. 

[Ethibaudeau]

Change the file .xls(x) extension to a .zip, unzip it, and you'll see the structure with various .xml files. Under ...\xl\worksheets you'll find the .xml files for the various worksheets in your file.

[jonathanBUCVS]

Thanks for the prompt reply. I never would have figured that out by trial and error. I dont see the issues that you pointed out in my XML file tho. The <v> values are integers, no blank T="", no stray &quot in the file. 

Ill probably have to wait for @viacheslav.shapilov to publish an update. I am not familiar with XML so I dont know what else I could be looking for, and, as you previously stated the error message and log file do not provide any specifics. 

[viacheslav.shapilov · Accepted solution]

Hello, @Ethibaudeau .
We probably fixed the issue with warnings. Attaching new setup sheet and updated your one.
@jonathanBUCVS You can diff it with previously posted version to see the difference.

[jonathanBUCVS]

I migrated your changes to my version of the post and it works. Thank you!

[Ethibaudeau]

I've tested these changes, and it took care of the Excel error. Thanks for your help!