Object reference not set to an instance of an object when exporting excel files

Question

Dear all, 
 
 I am using a Pro license of Studio and all of a sudden, I can no longer export target files when the working format is Excel. 
 I have Windows 10 and the Office 2016 - Studio 2015. It was working fine for the last year and a half but now I am getting this error. When I received the update message, I thought it would solve the problem but it didn't. 
 Regarding the file type settings, I tried everything: moving settings up and down, ticking/unticking. 
 Only saving in xls does work SOMETIMES. Still, this is not an option for me as I use Studio as a PM and cannot waste all this time saving files in a different format. 
 Can someone please advise? 
 Ps. I am not sure this can be related but I first experienced the issue after I installed the Plug in "xliff convert". I deactivated it though. 
 Best regards, 
 Sandra

Lydia Simplicio · Answer

Hello Sandra, 
 I think the updates you are referring to are quite possibly one of the multitude of Windows 10 updates in the last couple of weeks. 
 If you could post the full error stack please, this may help us identify the issue easier.

I notice that you mentioned you are working as PM and as I cannot find a license under your name, would I be correct in assuming you are working for a company as an internal translator/PM (using a Studio 2015 Pro)? 
 If so, you may want to ensure you have ADMIN rights, then delete the previously installed app and reset Studio- 
 A very easy way of resetting your Studio application, would be via the following (free) app on the SDL App store- SDL Freshstart 
 https://appstore.sdl.com/language/app/sdl-freshstart/876/ (again- admin rights are required).

Paul · Answer

Hi Katrin Wedding Sandra Iannotti 
 If you are having problems saving the target file from an existing SDLXLIFF already translated then the problem could be related to the corruption of the temp files used by Studio when you are working. This can be caused by antiv-virus software, or clean up tools for example. The way to check this is as follows: 
 
 Open the original source excel file for translation as a new project and immediately try to save the target. If it works then the problem I mentioned is most likely the issue 
 If it doesn't work then the problem may be with Studio not being able to handle the Excel properly and this could be because of a problem with the Excel file, or because of a bug in Studio. You can try splitting the source file and handle it in parts until you find the problem part, or try saving the Excel in a different version. So XLS as XLSX for example. 
 
 If you followed this and at 1. the file worked then your resolution is this: 
 
 Create a project with the source Excel file 
 Perfect Match against the previous translation (if you have Professional), and if this fails, or you have the Freelance version then create a new TM and import the previously translated SDLXLIFF into it. Pre-translate your project and save the file 
 
 See if any of this helps? If not can you send me your original source Excel file and your translated SDLXLIFF? If that's oj email them to pfilkin@sdl.com

Lydia Simplicio · Answer

Hello @Sandra Iannotti, 
 Thanks for the error message. This most certainly confirms there is a problem with Excel somewhere along the line. 
 Are you able to work with Excel files outside of Studio without any issues? If not- then i would try repairing the office installation. 
 When repairing or resetting Studio, you basically have three options (and should start with option 1) 
 
 Using the Freshstart app will allow you to reset/repair- but should this not help you can restore the settings as they were- nothing lost. 
 (No need to uninstall/reinstall). 
 Please back up your settings/templates anyway (best practise), beforehand as then you can re-import these once everything is fixed.

Paul · Answer

Hi Sandra Iannotti , 
 
Thanks for sending me the files. This is what I did: 
 
1.	Open the source Excel in Studio using the new Excel filetype and not the older one you have used 
2.	Perfect matched the file from your sdlxliff (everything was translated) 
3.	Saved target 
 
I sent you the target file. 
 
Regards 
 
Paul

Paul · Answer

Unknown said: So, to me these are more and more indices of what I mentioned in other thread - that something has probably changed/screwed recently in Office 2016, what causes problems when saving target files. 
 I'm a bit confused by this Evzen. The problem was that the new filetype was not used as everything worked fine when it was. So an update, that could have switched this off, could very well be the reason Sandra had this problem. I have no idea when the update was applied, so even if it was released a while ago maybe it was only recently applied.

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Object reference not set to an instance of an object when exporting excel files