Truncated Argument Names of Function - ERROR

[blkwebman]

I have a number users who report receiving the following startup error trying to start my company's main software application which utilizes Excel DNA:

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Registration [Warning] Truncated argument names of function 'SS_ValueListFromRange'

Registration [Warning] Truncated argument names of function 'GXE'

Initialization [Warning] Assembly SSSERVER.XMLSERIALIZERS could not be loaded from resources.

Initialization [Warning] Assembly SSSERVER.XMLSERIALIZERS could not be loaded from resources.

Initialization [Warning] Assembly SSSERVER.XMLSERIALIZERS could not be loaded from resources.

Initialization [Warning] Assembly SSSERVER.XMLSERIALIZERS could not be loaded from resources.

Initialization [Warning] Assembly SSSERVER.XMLSERIALIZERS could not be loaded from resources.

Initialization [Warning] Assembly SSSERVER.XMLSERIALIZERS could not be loaded from resources.

Initialization [Warning] Assembly SSSERVER.XMLSERIALIZERS could not be loaded from resources.

Initialization [Warning] Assembly SSSERVER.XMLSERIALIZERS could not be loaded from resources.

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The SS_ValueListFromRange function looks as shown in the attached screenshot.   

I know that some of the online suggest shortening the parameter names to address the pxArgumentText limit.  However, we are finding that this exception/error does not occur across the board.  In other words, the error is the exception, not the rule (no pun intended).

Since the error is occurring on only a few machines, I don't think the parameter limit is the reason in this scenario.  Any suggestions on what the actual cause might be?

Chris Fleetwood

Global Software Incorporated

[Govert van Drimmelen]

Hi Chris,

 

The way I understand it, the list of Warnings you show would not normally cause the Excel-DNA message dialog to pop up.

The default behaviour for Excel-DNA is to log these warnings, but not display the LogDisplay window unless there is an error. You can explicitly display the LogDisplay window from your add-in by calling LogDisplay.Show()

 

So I’m guessing there is an additional “Error” entry at the end (or beginning) of the list of messages in the dialog when it pops up. That Error only occurs for some people and might give you an additional clue.

 

-Govert

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[blkwebman]

Hey Govert,

I have reviewed this issue with the user in question.  There are no other errors being displayed in the LogDisplay dialog, aside from the registration warnings I listed earlier.

I have reviewed our application logs and found nothing there as well.

The machine on which the error is occurring is using Win7 / Office 2010 / 32-bit (I don't know that this is relevant, since the user mentioned that they have another instance/setup with the same configuration where the error is not occurring).

We're really perplexed at this time since we are unable to even figure out a way to determine what the issue/error is.

Chris Fleetwood

Global Software Incorporated

[Govert van Drimmelen]

Hi Chris,

Perhaps there is some way that the trace logging configuration is no longer the default, or being overridden by something else on the system.

You can try to play around with the Excel-DNA logging configuration - see https://github.com/Excel-DNA/ExcelDna/wiki/Diagnostic-Logging

For example, disabling all logging should prevent the Log Display from popping up.

If you can make a reproducible case where the Log Display pops up without any errors, I'm happy to have a look.

The 'Truncated argument names' message can be avoided by making your argument names shorter.

However, the serializer assembly load failure message is more difficult to avoid.

-Govert

[blkwebman]

Hey Govert,

I wish that there is a way we could reproduce the error (short of boxing and shipping the specific machine to you).  It is happening on machines with different Windows/Office configurations, and is not happening consistently.  Most users are not encountering this issue.

We are already trying to manipulate the diagnostic error logging.  We are seeing the verbose error text (as much as an additional 1200 lines), but so far it is not telling us much.

We do know that some type of error condition is occuring, because once users encounter the error, either (1) the application ribbon is completely locked or (2) the ribbon is locked, but none of its menu options/functions work.

I have directed one of my users to turn off the diagnostic error logging in the xll.config file so that the log display does not appear.  I have not heard back from them at this time, but I am expecting that they will then encounter the ribbon issues described above.

One thing that appears to be a common characteristic for all the users having encountering the issue/error, is that it occurs on 32-bit machines.  Any chance that this might have something to do with the issue?

I am going to attempt an install with a 32-bit VM in-house and see if the error can be reproduced.

Regards,

Chris

[Govert van Drimmelen]

Hi Chris,

You might also try to make the simplest add-in the shows unexpected behaviour on a problem machine.

E.g. if you make a new add-in with a single function that has long argument names, does that already pop up the dialog?

I guess your 32-bit machines might have settings or other software that affect the .NET tracing behaviour.

The problem you report is not one that I recall having heard of before.

-Govert

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From: exce...@googlegroups.com [exce...@googlegroups.com] on behalf of blkwebman [christopher....@gmail.com]
Sent: 10 January 2018 10:49 PM
To: Excel-DNA
Subject: Re: [ExcelDna] Truncated Argument Names of Function - ERROR

[blkwebman]

Hey Govert,

Good News!  While conferring with several of the users/companies experiencing the Excel-DNA issue, I found out that one of the users inadvertently resolved their instance of the issue while running a repair on their Office install to fix another (unrelated) problem.

Subsequently, we decided to have all of the users repair the Office install on their machines, which resulted in the same outcome.

So, it appears (at least in this case) that repairing Office somehow fixed the Excel-DNA issue (maybe fixed some registry entry?).

Since we encountered this issue for users from different companies, and in every case, repairing Office fixed the problem, it follows that there may be something of value in this approach.

At any rate, problem solved.  Thanks for your time and assistance!

Regards,

Chris

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[Govert van Drimmelen]

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for letting me know.

 

My only other guess would then be that there is some other error during the add-in loading which causes the LogDisplay to pop up, but fails to successfully write to the LogDisplay.

Good to know that you’ve found a way to fix whatever went wrong. Let me know if it recurs often and we need to take a closer look.

[blkwebman]

Hey Govert,

I just heard from one of our support analysts and they have reported a client who has encountered this error.  They tried the MS Office repair but it did not resolve the issue.

What's odd is that every other of our clients who encountered the error was able to resolve it by repairing MS Office.

Have you heard from anyone else reporting this issue with an alternate solution?  At this point, we don't have many more ideas on where to go next.   

We did tell the support analyst to ask the client if they could try uninstalling and reinstalling Office instead.  We'll see how that goes.

Regards,

Chris Fleetwood

[blkwebman]

Hey Govert,

As it turns out, in this particular instance, the Office uninstall and reinstall produced the same error/issue as the Office repair.

Have you all encountered the occasional "odd man out" with this type of error?

We're basically fresh out of ideas at this point with no direction of investigation suggesting itself at this time.

Regards,

Chris

[Govert van Drimmelen]

Hi Chris,

* Switch off logging in the .xll.config file
* Make the reasons for the log entries go away - e.g. Shorten arguments yourself so that Excel-DNA does not have to
* Test the .NET trace calls from your add-in to see whether you can figure out why it behaves differently
* Look for other software or an excel.exe.config file or a machine.config file that could interfere with the .NET tracing

-Govert