🐛 #NAME error stuck in the file when I allowed the add-in installation from the store

[wh1t3cAt1k]

Your Environment

• Platform [PC desktop, Mac, iOS, Office on the web]: PC desktop
• Host [Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.]: Excel
• Office version number: 2401 (Build 17231.20008)
• Operating System: Windows 11

Expected behavior

The #NAME error should not be stuck and should resolve itself at least after reloading Microsoft Excel or the side panel.

Current behavior

Sporadically when I install the add-in from the prompt in the file:

• All custom functions will get stuck in the #NAME state.
• No custom functions show up in the IntelliSense
• Nothing helps to remediate the issue - not restarting Excel, not refreshing the task pane.

See this video for the demonstration:

https://www.loom.com/share/ebbcc65db6ef4e69aae7f1f8be29ea57

Steps to reproduce

I downloaded a file that contained Velixo functions on Windows 11.

Project Reports Sample Pack (Acumatica) (9).xlsx

Before opening the file, I made sure that the add-in was not yet installed in my account. But it may be important that prior to opening the file:

• I had the add-in installed, but I uninstalled it and relaunched Excel for a clean experiment.
• I also had a trusted add-in file share location, which contained a sideloading dev manifest for the same add-in (you can see it in the video's Trust Centre stage). However, it was definitely not inserted into document/account at the time when I opened the file.

When I opened the file, I got a prompt: "this add-in comes from the office store", which I allowed.

Then, all functions turned into #NAME and the add-in got stuck in the state shown in the video.

Context

This issue affects us very frequently and results in unhappy customers. We have regular support escalations about the problem.

They don't understand what's happening, get scared, and think that the issue is with our product when in fact our custom functions didn't even get registered.

As the only workaround is to:

• clear the add-in cache
• or to reinstall the add-in from the store completely

The error is scary, and it is not intuitive that something this radical is required for troubleshooting. Furthermore, in both cases the add-in loses all its local persisted state including user's preferences, so it is annoying for customers.

[wh1t3cAt1k]

@zhenhuangMSFT to give you more context, this problem has impacted us multiple times and ruined a few demos and support calls, negatively affecting our ability to sell the product.

The symptom is always the same - quite randomly the add-in custom functions stop getting displayed in the IntelliSense and being recognized by Excel. Everything displays as #NAME.

As I mentioned, reloading Excel or the task pane frame doesn't help, only reinstalling the add-in or clearing the add-in cache in Trust Centre, both of which are quite the sales demo-breakers.

(Just curious, do you have any timeouts / expected time frames when you expect that the add-in registers its custom functions in a shared runtime? If it doesn't register in time, could that fact become cached by the host app?)

[zhenhuangMSFT]

@wh1t3cAt1k thanks for providing more context and sorry for the delay. We will try to get back to you ASAP. Thanks!

[ruijiaMS]

@wh1t3cAt1k
Thanks for letting us know this issue! we have raise a new internal bug 8759623 to track the progress of this issue, any update will post here.

[davidelsey]

Hi there @wh1t3cAt1k - can you please provide an update on this issue?

[demyte]

@zhenhuangMSFT Where is this issue at?

We are seeing a similar issue which severly impacts the confidence of users in our product for somethign we seemingly have no control over...

This can start from either of the two scenarios noted below and the only resolution is to:

• uninstall the addin
• close excel
• start excel
• open blank workbook (if a user opens a workbook here that has our functions, things stay broken when the addin is auto-installed because of workbook association)
• install addin
• create a test of our formula in the blank workbook to ensure its working
• Load the workbook with our formula in it.

Scenario 1

• User already has a workbook open with out functions loaded and working
• User opens (via Windows File Explorer or via File > Open) another workbook with our functions in it
• All functions show as #NAME with the xldudf_ syntax
• Our local logging shows that the calls to CustomFunctions.associate(<name>, <callback>) have been made

Scenario 2

• User does not have Excel open and there are no rogue Excel processes
• All functions show as #NAME with the xldudf_ syntax
• Our local logging shows that the calls to CustomFunctions.associate(<name>, <callback>) have been made

Notes:

• Our addin is a sharedruntime addin
• We load and register the functions as early as possible in our addin
• We have tried waiting for an Office.onReady(...) and not waiting - it doesn't seem to matter.

[penglongzhaochina]

Hi @demyte , Could you please open a new github issue separately so that we can follow up it accordingly? Thank you so much!

[demyte]

@penglongzhaochina done > #4487

[penglongzhaochina]

@demyte ,
Thank you, this issue will be handled by our normal process.