Why Offline Reports Fail in Excel Format (Comments & Special Characters)

Applicable Product:

  • Talent Management: ALL

Applicable Release:

  • 22+


Summary:
Reports may fail in Excel format due to special characters or HTML in comments fields; CSV often succeeds.

Symptoms:

  • Excel output fails with EngineException/NullPointerException in BIRT.
  • CSV output succeeds for the same report data.

Resolution Steps:

  1. Temporarily remove/sanitize comments columns before Excel export.
  2. Prefer CSV for large reports with free-text fields.
  3. Consider BIRT formatting to strip HTML special characters.

Additional Notes:

  • Work with engineering to evaluate robust sanitization for Excel outputs.
  • Educate users on content limits in comment fields.

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