Support Article
Unable to use Excel to edit a Decision Table
SA-12544
Summary
Unable to use "Edit in Excel" functionality for Decision Tables
Two issues are found during the course of this investigation:
Issue 1
Users with Internet Explorer 11 are able to edit the contents of the Decision Table in Excel. On saving the Excel sheet, the changes are not reflected in the rule.
Issue 2
A popup error which results in a blank Excel sheet loading.
Error Messages
Issue 2
Switching to NOTEPAD.EXE. There was an error launching
application associated with '.xls' file type. To troubleshoot, find
any file of this type using 'File Explorer', right-click, make sure
'open' action exists in the popup menu, select it, check that your
associated editor works cleanly.

Steps to Reproduce
- Open a Decision Table rule for editing.
- Click "Edit in Excel".
- (Applies to Issue 1 only) Make changes to the Excel sheet, save and return to the Decision Table rule form.
Root Cause
Issue 1
The root cause of this problem is a defect in Pegasystems’ code/rules. In IE8, IE9, and IE10 versions, explicit event listeners for openauthoring are not required whereas IE11 mandated it.
Issue 2
The root cause of this problem is a misconfiguration in Internet Explorer
Resolution
Issue 1
install HFIX-22815 which adds the required event listeners for the openauthoring control in pzActiveXUtilForDecisionTableAndMapValueRuleForms JS file and attaches to the ruleform.
Issue 2
Delete Temporary Internet Files and disable the IE setting, "Enable Protected Mode", on the "Internet Options" > "Security" tab.
PDN article: http://pdn.pega.com/node/1824 details further information on IE Protected Mode.
Published August 3, 2015 - Updated October 8, 2020
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