RE: Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for Object Handler examples

[Jerry Jie Ji]

Whoa, such detailed answer really warrant its place in an FAQ. While I
crash through the material mentioned, could you please share with us
more on the automation add-in function/technology?

Thanks and regards,
Jerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Sinha, Amitesh [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 9:44 AM
To: Jerry Jie Ji
Subject: RE: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
Object Handler examples


If you have excel 2003, why do not you use automation add-in to expose
the functions directory from quantlib library. XLL technology is getting
deprecated. Most of your efforts are likely to be lost in coming years.

Having said that, the following pointers may be of interest to you.

1. http://www.planatechsolutions.com/xlpfaq/Q0011.htm
        essentially open your xll in visual studio tool "depends" and
see if any dll xll depends on is missing. I suspect log4cxx , oh dll
may not be in the path. If you do not have depends, go to
www.dependencywalker.com.
2. I am hoping that you are not mixing managed C++ and unmanaged C++ as
string in managed C++ are treating     differently. Most likely you are
not doing this.
3. If point 1 does not rescue you, you may be mixing debug/release
libraries, just check that you are not doing this.

4. Using DumpBin /Exports should list the DLLs bound statically to your
code. You need to ensure they are in your
   path, and not just lying around the target machine.

If you are familiar with COM, you might want to consider making
automation add-in. xlls are painful and deprecated technology. I just
use C# wrapper of C++ dlls. I even avoid explicit COM programming.

let me know if the problem goes away.

Regards
Amitesh Sinha
Valuation Risk Group
CREDIT    SUISSE    
Phone: [phone]
Mobile: [phone]
email: [hidden email]


-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of Jerry
Jie Ji
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 8:57 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: RE: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
ObjectHandler examples


Similar problem here, just that I'm using MS VC++ 2005 Express (8)
and MS Excel (Office) 2003.

Many thanks in advance!

--
Jerry
Singapore

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Liu,
Xiaobo
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 6:43 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
ObjectHandler examples

> Hi,
>
> I complied both latest versions of ObjectHandler
> and QuantlibAddin, but could not load up
> any *.xll files due to error msg stating that
> the xll files are NOT of Excel add-in format.
>
> I am using MSVC++ 6.0 and Excel 2000,
        and would greatly appreciate any help on this.

> Regards,
> Xiaobo Liu


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Thank you.

[Sinha, Amitesh-3]

We need to bear in mind, automation add-in are supported only on office xp and later version. for the versions below excel xp, I just wrap the function in a COM Coclass  and  use a VBA wrapper. Although there are tools to auatomataically generate xll from COM idl over the net, I resist the temptation to use xlls these days. Moreever,i can be wrong but Microsoft themselves does not want to promote the use of xlls, it seems to me.

Automation-addins are fairly accessible these days and are esp useful if you need to access COM exposed function from excel cell. There are many good references on these things and I would be repeating if I launch into a detailed explanations here..I will just list some good links to get started.

1. http://blogs.msdn.com/eric_carter/archive/2004/12/01/273127.aspx
   shows how to create a sample automation add-in, we cause expose our quantlib functions via a dll and access it    
   through C# using dllimport attribute. I do not think wrapping will slow down computations materially as they  
   still are done in quantlib's c++ compiled code.

2. http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms173189.aspx
   
However, for the office versions prior to office xp, I would simply make a com Add-in and wrap the functions in VBA.
Lots of firms eg matlab follow the approach outlined above. Microsoft also recommends using VBA wrapper for interfaces exposed through COM.

Regards
Amitesh

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of Jerry
Jie Ji
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 10:36 AM
To: Sinha, Amitesh
Cc: [hidden email]
Subject: RE: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
Object Handler examples


Whoa, such detailed answer really warrant its place in an FAQ. While I
crash through the material mentioned, could you please share with us
more on the automation add-in function/technology?

Thanks and regards,
Jerry

-----Original Message-----
From: Sinha, Amitesh [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 9:44 AM
To: Jerry Jie Ji
Subject: RE: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
Object Handler examples


If you have excel 2003, why do not you use automation add-in to expose
the functions directory from quantlib library. XLL technology is getting
deprecated. Most of your efforts are likely to be lost in coming years.

Having said that, the following pointers may be of interest to you.

1. http://www.planatechsolutions.com/xlpfaq/Q0011.htm
        essentially open your xll in visual studio tool "depends" and
see if any dll xll depends on is missing. I suspect log4cxx , oh dll
may not be in the path. If you do not have depends, go to
www.dependencywalker.com.
2. I am hoping that you are not mixing managed C++ and unmanaged C++ as
string in managed C++ are treating     differently. Most likely you are
not doing this.
3. If point 1 does not rescue you, you may be mixing debug/release
libraries, just check that you are not doing this.

4. Using DumpBin /Exports should list the DLLs bound statically to your
code. You need to ensure they are in your
   path, and not just lying around the target machine.

If you are familiar with COM, you might want to consider making
automation add-in. xlls are painful and deprecated technology. I just
use C# wrapper of C++ dlls. I even avoid explicit COM programming.

let me know if the problem goes away.

Regards
Amitesh Sinha
Valuation Risk Group
CREDIT    SUISSE    
Phone: [phone]
Mobile: [phone]
email: [hidden email]


-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of Jerry
Jie Ji
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 8:57 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: RE: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
ObjectHandler examples


Similar problem here, just that I'm using MS VC++ 2005 Express (8)
and MS Excel (Office) 2003.

Many thanks in advance!

--
Jerry
Singapore

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Liu,
Xiaobo
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 6:43 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
ObjectHandler examples

> Hi,
>
> I complied both latest versions of ObjectHandler
> and QuantlibAddin, but could not load up
> any *.xll files due to error msg stating that
> the xll files are NOT of Excel add-in format.
>
> I am using MSVC++ 6.0 and Excel 2000,
        and would greatly appreciate any help on this.

> Regards,
> Xiaobo Liu


-------------------------------------------------------
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_______________________________________________
Quantlib-users mailing list
[hidden email]
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/quantlib-users




CONFIDENTIAL NOTE: The information contained in this email is intended
only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain
information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure
under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution
or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have
received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and
delete the mail.
Thank you.


-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email is sponsored by xPML, a groundbreaking scripting
language
that extends applications into web and mobile media. Attend the live
webcast
and join the prime developer group breaking into this new coding
territory!
http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=110944&bid=241720&dat=121642
_______________________________________________
Quantlib-users mailing list
[hidden email]
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/quantlib-users

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Thank you.


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This SF.Net email is sponsored by xPML, a groundbreaking scripting language
that extends applications into web and mobile media. Attend the live webcast
and join the prime developer group breaking into this new coding territory!
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[eric ehlers]

Hi All,

To clarify:

- ObjectHandler and QuantLibAddin are supported subprojects of
QuantLib, implemented using the Excel C API (XLLs)

- Liu and Jerry are troubleshooting a QuantLibAddin error message

- Amitesh is talking about scrapping ObjectHandler and QuantLibAddin
altogether and implementing something new in a different technology
e.g. automation

Let me address these issues separately:

1) "Addin not in Excel format" error message from QuantLibAddin

On 2/28/06, Liu, Xiaobo <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I complied both latest versions of ObjectHandler
> > and QuantlibAddin, but could not load up
> > any *.xll files due to error msg stating that
> > the xll files are NOT of Excel add-in format.

On 3/1/06, Jerry Jie Ji <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Similar problem here, just that I'm using MS VC++ 2005 Express (8)
> and MS Excel (Office) 2003.

On 3/1/06, Sinha, Amitesh <[hidden email]> wrote:

> 1. http://www.planatechsolutions.com/xlpfaq/Q0011.htm
>         essentially open your xll in visual studio tool "depends" and
> see if any dll xll depends on is missing. I     suspect log4cxx , oh dll
> may not be in the path. If you do not have depends, go to
> www.dependencywalker.com.
> 2. I am hoping that you are not mixing managed C++ and unmanaged C++ as
> string in managed C++ are treating      differently. Most likely you are
> not doing this.
> 3. If point 1 does not rescue you, you may be mixing debug/release
> libraries, just check that you are not doing this.
>
> 4. Using DumpBin /Exports should list the DLLs bound statically to your
> code. You need to ensure they are in your
>    path, and not just lying around the target machine.

Please see also:
    http://quantlib.org/quantlibaddin/troubleshooting.html#startup_error

2) Using automation instead of the C API

On 3/1/06, Sinha, Amitesh <[hidden email]> wrote:
> XLL technology is getting
> deprecated. Most of your efforts are likely to be lost in coming years.

For a long time it seemed evident that MS were trying to steer
developers away from the API toward newer replacements - VBA/COM/.NET.
 Many people continue to use the API because for certain tasks it is
orders of magnitude faster than the newer alternatives.  And now it
seems that MS have given up on their attempts to deprecate the API,
apparently Excel 2007 will include enhancements to the API:

http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2006/01/03/508985.aspx

Regards,
Eric

[Liu, Xiaobo]

Now it is working, following steps in Eric's email:

(1)Ran  www.dependencywalker.com to see what were missing in my *.xll
(2)Added ObjectHandler-vc6-mt-gd-0_1_2.xll in my system path.

Your help is greatly appreciated!
(I should have gone through the trouble shooting section in QL more
carefully.)

Regards,
Xiaobo

-----Original Message-----
From: eric ehlers [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 4:15 AM
To: Sinha, Amitesh
Cc: Jerry Jie Ji; Liu, Xiaobo; [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
Object Handler examples


Hi All,

To clarify:

- ObjectHandler and QuantLibAddin are supported subprojects of
QuantLib, implemented using the Excel C API (XLLs)

- Liu and Jerry are troubleshooting a QuantLibAddin error message

- Amitesh is talking about scrapping ObjectHandler and QuantLibAddin
altogether and implementing something new in a different technology
e.g. automation

Let me address these issues separately:

1) "Addin not in Excel format" error message from QuantLibAddin

On 2/28/06, Liu, Xiaobo <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I complied both latest versions of ObjectHandler
> > and QuantlibAddin, but could not load up
> > any *.xll files due to error msg stating that
> > the xll files are NOT of Excel add-in format.

On 3/1/06, Jerry Jie Ji <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Similar problem here, just that I'm using MS VC++ 2005 Express (8)
> and MS Excel (Office) 2003.

On 3/1/06, Sinha, Amitesh <[hidden email]> wrote:

> 1. http://www.planatechsolutions.com/xlpfaq/Q0011.htm
>         essentially open your xll in visual studio tool "depends" and
> see if any dll xll depends on is missing. I     suspect log4cxx , oh dll
> may not be in the path. If you do not have depends, go to
> www.dependencywalker.com.
> 2. I am hoping that you are not mixing managed C++ and unmanaged C++ as
> string in managed C++ are treating      differently. Most likely you are
> not doing this.
> 3. If point 1 does not rescue you, you may be mixing debug/release
> libraries, just check that you are not doing this.
>
> 4. Using DumpBin /Exports should list the DLLs bound statically to your
> code. You need to ensure they are in your
>    path, and not just lying around the target machine.

Please see also:
    http://quantlib.org/quantlibaddin/troubleshooting.html#startup_error

[Jerry Jie Ji]

Hi Savior,

Sorry I know this isn't a strict QuantLib question but just hope someone
here had been through similar error.

I am stuck with the following linking error when building log4cxx0.9.7
dll project in MS Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition (the static project,
however, builds fine) --

Linking...
   Creating library ../Lib/Debug/log4cxx.lib and object
../Lib/Debug/log4cxx.exp
msxml.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "wchar_t *
__stdcall _com_util::ConvertStringToBSTR(char const *)"
(?ConvertStringToBSTR@_com_util@@YGPA_WPBD@Z) referenced in function
"public: __thiscall _variant_t::_variant_t(char const *)"
(??0_variant_t@@QAE@PBD@Z)
msxml.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "char * __stdcall
_com_util::ConvertBSTRToString(wchar_t *)"
(?ConvertBSTRToString@_com_util@@YGPADPA_W@Z) referenced in function
"public: char const * __thiscall _bstr_t::Data_t::GetString(void)const "
(?GetString@Data_t@_bstr_t@@QBEPBDXZ)
../Bin/Debug/log4cxx.dll : fatal error LNK1120: 2 unresolved externals

BTW, I've installed Microsoft Platform SDK for Windows Server 2003 SP1,
MSXML 3.0, MSXML 4.0 SDK SP2 but none helped.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

--
Jerry

-----Original Message-----
From: eric ehlers [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 5:15 PM
To: Sinha, Amitesh
Cc: Jerry Jie Ji; Liu, Xiaobo; [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Quantlib-users] Err Msg "Not excel add-in format" for
Object Handler examples

Hi All,

To clarify:

- ObjectHandler and QuantLibAddin are supported subprojects of
QuantLib, implemented using the Excel C API (XLLs)

- Liu and Jerry are troubleshooting a QuantLibAddin error message

- Amitesh is talking about scrapping ObjectHandler and QuantLibAddin
altogether and implementing something new in a different technology
e.g. automation

Let me address these issues separately:

1) "Addin not in Excel format" error message from QuantLibAddin

On 2/28/06, Liu, Xiaobo <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I complied both latest versions of ObjectHandler
> > and QuantlibAddin, but could not load up
> > any *.xll files due to error msg stating that
> > the xll files are NOT of Excel add-in format.

On 3/1/06, Jerry Jie Ji <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Similar problem here, just that I'm using MS VC++ 2005 Express (8)
> and MS Excel (Office) 2003.

On 3/1/06, Sinha, Amitesh <[hidden email]> wrote:
> 1. http://www.planatechsolutions.com/xlpfaq/Q0011.htm
>         essentially open your xll in visual studio tool "depends" and
> see if any dll xll depends on is missing. I     suspect log4cxx , oh
dll
> may not be in the path. If you do not have depends, go to
> www.dependencywalker.com.
> 2. I am hoping that you are not mixing managed C++ and unmanaged C++
as
> string in managed C++ are treating      differently. Most likely you
are
> not doing this.
> 3. If point 1 does not rescue you, you may be mixing debug/release
> libraries, just check that you are not doing this.
>
> 4. Using DumpBin /Exports should list the DLLs bound statically to
your
> code. You need to ensure they are in your
>    path, and not just lying around the target machine.

Please see also:
    http://quantlib.org/quantlibaddin/troubleshooting.html#startup_error

2) Using automation instead of the C API

On 3/1/06, Sinha, Amitesh <[hidden email]> wrote:
> XLL technology is getting
> deprecated. Most of your efforts are likely to be lost in coming
years.

For a long time it seemed evident that MS were trying to steer
developers away from the API toward newer replacements - VBA/COM/.NET.
 Many people continue to use the API because for certain tasks it is
orders of magnitude faster than the newer alternatives.  And now it
seems that MS have given up on their attempts to deprecate the API,
apparently Excel 2007 will include enhancements to the API:

http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2006/01/03/508985.aspx

Regards,
Eric




CONFIDENTIAL NOTE: The information contained in this email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete the mail.
Thank you.