Introduction

In version 6.7, Sisense introduced support for exporting pivot table widgets to Microsoft Excel. For general information about the feature and how to use it, please review https://documentation.sisense.com/exporting-pivot-tables-excel/.

We strongly recommend using version 6.7.1.15016 or later to successfully export widgets to Excel. Please see our release notes for more information about issues on earlier versions.

Issues and Troubleshooting

Issue: Export fails with the error "The file could not be generated"

Root Cause: Multiple

Resolution:

• For customers using a reverse proxy, load balancer, or bound host name in IIS, please follow Step 6 on in our SSL documentation page (https://documentation.sisense.com/setting-up-ssl/) and try again
• In your web browserNavigate to http{s}://{host:port}/engine/test and confirm the Excel engine is working. Expected result: {"test":"engine works properly"}
• Review for operating system processes that occupy the same port as your Sisense site by running "netsh http show urlacl" in the Command Prompt (cmd.exe). If a conflict is identified, run "netsh http delete urlacl url=http://*:{port}/". For example, "netsh http delete urlacl url=http://*:{8081}/". Afterwards, restart IIS by running 'iisreset' in the Command Prompt as an administrator.
• For further assistance, please contact Sisense support and include your logs (see information below)

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Issue: Excel export is generated but content contains garbled HTML

Root Cause: Multiple

Resolution: Same steps as above

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Issue: Excel exports are generally successful but fail on widgets that utilize the metadata plugin (https://documentation.sisense.com/translating-sisense-metadata/)

Root cause: Conflicts between the Metadata plugin and Sisense's Excel export generation

Resolution: Please contact Sisense Support

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Issue: Excel export is successful but contains incorrect formatting or styling

Root cause: Limitation in Sisense version 6.7-7.0

Resolution: Upgrade to Sisense 7.0.1 or later

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Issue: Export export is successful but column sorting is incorrect

Root cause: Limitation in Sisense version 6.7-7.0

Resolution: When available, upgrade to Sisense 7.1 or later

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Issue: Excel export contents do not match the pivot table contents

Root cause: Issues with Sisense's Excel export engine

Resolution: Our developers are aware and currently working to resolve these uncommon issues. For more information, please contact Sisense Support.

Exporting Programmatically

(including embedded analytics/OEM scenarios)

For customers embedding Sisense who want to replicate the export to Excel functionality, please see the information available in the 1.0 version of our REST API documentation for a sample script: https://developer.sisense.com/display/API2/REST+API+Reference+-+v1.0.

To generally export widgets to Excel via the REST API, use the api/v1/engine/excelExport endpoint. The response is binary content; catch and write it to a .xlsx file in your script.

Export Logs

Excel export logs are located by default at C:\ProgramData\Sisense\PrismWeb\Logs\engineLogs.log.

Disabling Exports

Customers who wish to disable Excel exports can disable CSV and Excel exports through the Sisense REST API. The endpoint is api/roles. For more information, see https://documentation.sisense.com/customizing-user-roles/. Run a PUT call to set the value for the export_csv property under Widgets to false. This change will need to be run for each role you want to affect.

For more granular exporting control, use this plugin: https://support.sisense.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115007852813-Hide-Export-Options-Plugin-Excel-PDF-and-more-.