1.6-preview3 compile error: System.InvalidOperationException : !!! error : ExternalLibrary `%OutputFileName%` not found. ABORTING.

[Mathew Burkitt]

I just upgraded from Excel-DNA 1.51 to 1.6-preview3 as part of upgrading a very large C# solution from .NET 4.8 to .NET 6.

The upgrade has worked perfectly with Microsoft's Upgrade Assist tool; only 1 or 2 very small code-changes were needed.  I am very impressed by this.

However the ExcelDNA project in the solution fails to build for some kind of config reason with the following compiler output:

15>ExcelDnaPack: bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\DDD.ExcelAddIn-AddIn.dna -> bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\DDD.ExcelAddIn-AddIn-packed.xll

15>Using base add-in C:\Users\mb\source\repos\DDD\DDD.ExcelAddIn\bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\DDD.ExcelAddIn-AddIn.xll

15>  ->  Updating resource: Type: CONFIG, Name: __MAIN__, Length: 13522

15>  ~~> ExternalLibrary path DDD.ExcelAddIn.dll resolved to C:\Users\mb\source\repos\DDD\DDD.ExcelAddIn\bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\DDD.ExcelAddIn.dll.

15>  ->  Updating resource: Type: DNA, Name: __MAIN__, Length: 554

15>  ->  Updating resource: Type: ASSEMBLY_LZMA, Name: DDD.EXCELADDIN, Length: 36014

15>Completed Packing bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\DDD.ExcelAddIn-AddIn-packed.xll.

15>ExcelDnaPack: bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\DDD.ExcelAddIn-AddIn.xll.config -> bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\DDD.ExcelAddIn-AddIn-packed.xll.config

15>ExcelDnaPack: bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\ExcelDna-Template.dna -> bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\ExcelDna-Template-packed.xll

15>Using base add-in C:\Users\mb\source\repos\DDD\DDD.ExcelAddIn\bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\ExcelDna-Template.xll

15>  ->  Updating resource: Type: CONFIG, Name: __MAIN__, Length: 13522

15>System.InvalidOperationException : !!! error : ExternalLibrary `%OutputFileName%` not found. ABORTING.

15>   at ExcelDnaPack.PackProgram.PackDnaLibrary(Byte[] dnaContent, String dnaDirectory, ResourceUpdater ru, Boolean compress, Boolean multithreading)

15>   at ExcelDnaPack.PackProgram.Pack(String[] args)

15>   at ExcelDnaPack.PackProgram.Main(String[] args)

15>C:\Users\mb\.nuget\packages\exceldna.addin\1.6.0-preview3\build\ExcelDna.AddIn.targets(230,5): error MSB3073: The command ""C:\Users\mb\.nuget\packages\exceldna.addin\1.6.0-preview3\build\..\tools\\net452\ExcelDnaPack.exe" "bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\ExcelDna-Template.dna" /Y  /O "bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\ExcelDna-Template-packed.xll"" exited with code 1.

15>Done building project "DDD.ExcelAddIn.csproj" -- FAILED.

Steps I took to try to fix this:

• Searched the source code for "ExternalLibrary", "%OutputFileName%" and "ABORTING" - found nothing.
• Searched this Google Group and StackExchange - found nothing relevant

The original 1.51 compiles and runs fine.

Where and how should OutputFileName be created?  In what config file, in what section?  I imagine it should be created automatically but apparently not.

If anyone knows what this error means and how to fix it I would be very grateful.

Mathew Burkitt

UK

[Govert van Drimmelen]

Hi Mathew,

 

It looks like, in addition to your add-in’s .dna file, another .dna file (the ‘template’ file) might be found in your project directory.

This is the ‘ExcelDna-Template…’ bit you see.

Inside the template.dna it has the replacement hole `%OutputFileName%` that you see mentioned.

 

It’s not a problem I’ve seen reported before, so it might be a leftover from an earlier installation that was ignored previously, or something is a bit different in your environment.

 

So I suggest just checking for some stray file like that, else write back and we’ll dig further.

 

-Govert

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[Mathew Burkitt]

Hey Govert,

Thanks so much for the helpful and quick reply!

OK you are right - I found four .dna files in the path <SolutionRoot>\DDD.ExcelAddIn\bin\Debug\net6.0-windows\ like this

• DDD.ExcelAddIn-AddIn.dna
• DDD.ExcelAddIn-AddIn64.dna
• ExcelDna-Template.dna
• ExcelDna-Template64.dna

The content of the third one ExcelDna-Template.dna is copied here and yes it does have the %OutputFileName% parameter in it:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<DnaLibrary Name="%ProjectName% Add-In" RuntimeVersion="v4.0" xmlns="http://schemas.excel-dna.net/addin/2020/07/dnalibrary">

  <ExternalLibrary Path="%OutputFileName%" ExplicitExports="false" LoadFromBytes="true" Pack="true" IncludePdb="false" />

  <!--

       The RuntimeVersion attribute above allows only the following setting:

       * RuntimeVersion="v4.0" - for .NET 4.5 or higher

       You can have IntelliSense (autocomplete) and validation for this file.

       See https://github.com/Excel-DNA/ExcelDna/tree/master/Distribution/XmlSchemas/

       Additional referenced assemblies can be specified by adding 'Reference' tags. 

       These libraries will not be examined and registered with Excel as add-in libraries, 

       but will be packed into the -packed.xll file and loaded at runtime as needed.

       For example:

       <Reference Path="Another.Library.dll" Pack="true" />

       Excel-DNA also allows the XML for ribbon UI extensions to be specified in the .dna file.

       See the main Excel-DNA site at https://excel-dna.net for downloads of the full distribution.

  -->

</DnaLibrary>

STEPS TO REPLICATE

• Virgin Windows 11 machine; fresh install of VS2022 and .NET 6 (yesterday)
• Machine is new & used so far only for the .NET6 upgrade task, away from my main development machine
• No special config applied - just defaults
• Clone Git repository and run Microsoft's .NET 6 Upgrade Assist tool in non-interactive mode
• Update solution packages for .NET 6
• Fix two minor lines of code that broke (in 300k!)
• Excel-DNA build error occurs + come here to this forum

Any ideas what I need to do now?

Thanks again,

Mathew

[Mathew Burkitt]

Ha, I found that file in the project directory (assembly, not solution) and deleted it - and now the solution builds absolutely perfectly.

My compliments; I though upgrading to .NET 6 would be a one-month full-time project but it turns out it was just a few hours.

Thanks!