Correcting TIBCO StreamBase Add-In for Microsoft Excel Conflicts

Products	Versions
TIBCO StreamBase Add-in for Microsoft Excel	2.7.0 and later

Description

The TIBCO StreamBase Add-In for Microsoft Excel, which provides an Explorer pane for connecting to TIBCO Streaming Streams and LiveView Tables does not create the TIBCO ribbon in the Excel UI, components of the ribbon do not work, or data does not flow through RTD expressions.

Correct appearance of TIBCO Explorer pane and TIBCO Ribbon in Excel

Correct appearance of TIBCO Explorer pane and TIBCO Ribbon in Excel

A typical error is:
"The Ribbon/COM Add-in helper required by add-in StreamBase.Excel.Addin could not be registered. This is an unexpected error. Error message: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation."

Issue/Introduction

Steps to identify and resolve conflicts and misconfigurations which prevent add-in functionality

Environment

Windows 10, Microsoft Office 2016 and later, Microsoft Office 365

Resolution

The following are the most common causes and solutions to enabling or restoring TIBCO StreamBase Add-In for Microsoft Excel functions.

A. The TIBCO ribbon is disabled in Excel options

Use Excel menu: File > Options > Customize Ribbon. In the Excel Options dialog, under Customize the Ribbon, "Main Tabs", make sure TIBCO and its sub-menus appear and are enabled/checked.

Excel Ribbon Settings dialog with all TIBCO Ribbon items showing

If this is correct and the TIBCO ribbon is non-functional in parts, or the TIBCO ribbon does not appear, and the TIBCO Explorer pane cannot be shown, continue with other solutions.

B. Trust Center settings for add-ins is set too high for the TIBCO StreamBase Excel add-in

Use Excel menu: File > Options > Trust Center > Add-ins. Un-check "Require Application Add-ins to be signed by Trusted Publisher". Restart Excel and check functionality and other solutions.

C. Multiple RTD Server add-ins installed

The add-in uses the Microsoft RTD COM Automation Server for connecting to external systems across the network and receiving input. If you have multiple Excel add-ins installed which use RTD (such as add-ins from Bloomberg and RealTick), the order in which the add-ins are installed and enabled can result in one or more not working completely.

In this case to test and correct conflicts:
1. In the "Excel Add-ins" dialog, uncheck other RTD add-ins and enable only:
StreamBase.Excel.Addin
2. In the "COM Add-ins" dialog, uncheck other RTD add-ins and enable only:
StreamBase.Excel.Addin
StreamBase.Excel.Addin (Custom Task Pane Helper)
3. Shutdown and restart Excel.
4. See if "Show Explorer UI" and RTD functions work. If so, enable one at a time the other RTD add-ins and see if a conflict appears.

In Excel, navigate to these dialogs using menu and dialog items:

a) Menu: File > Options > Add-ins, Manage (at bottom of dialog), set to "Excel Add-ins", click [Go].
Excel Add-ins dialog showing the StreamBase.Excel.Addin

b) Menu: File > Options > Add-ins, Manage (at bottom of dialog), set to "COM Add-ins", click [Go].
COM Add-ins dialog showing the two StreamBase.Excell.Addin entries

If a conflict appears that is not resolved by enabling each add-in one at a time in any order, then this is a permanent conflict and you will need to approach both vendors for a solution.

D. The wrong version of the add-in was installed

The Excel add-in comes in a 32-bit and a 64-bit version. Either may be installed, but only the one matching the bit-depth of Microsoft Excel (or Microsoft Office) will appear as a valid add-in.

Check Excel's version using menu: File > Account, click on "About Excel" and see if the first line identifies it as "32-bit" or "64-bit". These labels are reflected in the TIBCO StreamBase Excel Add-in installers as so (example):

32-bit: TIB_sb-addin-exc_2.7.0_win_x86.msi
64-bit: TIB_sb-addin-exc_2.7.0_win_x86_64.msi

If the wrong version is installed, uninstall and install the correct version.

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