Xlsx documents Viewer Pane

We are experiencing an issue where on both 12.16 and 12.17 versions an xlsx doc won't fill the viewer pane but if the mouse is pointed to where the sheet tabs should be, they are selectable. It does however work if you have any excel workbook open prior to previewing any xlsx doc. Any suggestions as to what could be causing it. Opus has to be quit and process killed for a user to then see the full preview pane.

Screenshot attached.

Which version of Excel is installed?

Do you see a similar issue in the File Explorer viewer pane, for the same file? (Try resizing the width & height of the window if you don't see it immediately, in case that's required.)

Issue doesn't happen within File Explorer at all. The issue is initially resolved by resizing the opus window but happens on each new login but not all users.
Excel 1909 Office 365 pro plus

Please give this test viewer a try:

  • (Test download removed. The fix is in 12.17.3 and later.)
  • Extract somewhere to get docsvw32.exe and docsvw64.exe
  • Locate your viewers directory by typing /home/Viewers into Opus. (Or go to C:\Program Files\GPSoftware\Directory Opus\Viewers which is the usual location.)
  • Copy the new versions over the existing ones. (Will require admin rights.)

If you get a file in use error, close any existing viewers and wait a few minutes. (You can also find any docsvw*.exe process in Task Manager and kill it, but if you do it's best to reboot afterwards as it can leave the corresponding Excel process in an unstable state, which might invalidate the test. In either case, there's no need to exit or kill the main dopus.exe process)

Hi Leo

So added those onto the machine and that fixes the issue with the viewer pane but now what we are getting is the process for Excel and word are now not closing properly on the machines when the viewer pane changes to a different document. Any ideas?

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That's normal, and Explorer does the same thing. They will close after a few minutes if you don't view another file that needs them, but stay loaded in case you do. It speeds up viewing several documents of the same type a great deal.

Hi Leo

I am guessing having 8 in the background still open isn't?

It's mostly up to Excel how many processes it opens to do things.

What happens when you do the same test with File Explorer?

Do the processes close after a while? (COM servers can stay running for 10 minutes or more.)

Hi Leo

We have a mix of users using opus and excel and the ones using explorer don't seem to have this issue. And no the processes stay open in the background until manually closing them.

Are there docsvw32.exe or docsvw64.exe processes as well, when no viewers are open?

If so, in Task Manager's Details tab, add the Command Line column. Do they have
/V "ServerCache" at the end of the command-line?

If you use File > Exit Directory Opus from an Opus lister it should shut down Opus and any background tasks, including the docsvw*.exe ones. Do they exit OK when that is done, or do they keep running?

Are the Excel processes still there after doing that? Do they have -Embedding at the ends of their command lines in Task Manager?

Hi Leo

Just back in the office will have a look tomorrow and get back to you.

Cheers

Mike

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Hi Leo

Image attached is what we are seeing when we are having the issue. Thats with excel closed and opus closed on screen. As discussed with explorer these files don;t stay open when viewing them through the viewer pane.

Cheers

Mike

That looks like the viewer is currently open, which accounts for the first docsvw32.exe ("Preview Handler") and the last Excel.exe ("-Embedding").

The second docsvw32.exe ("ServerCache") is there to keep that same Excel ("-Embedding") process loaded for a few minutes after its last use, to speed up viewing subsequent files. That's normal as well, and will keep that one Excel.exe open for a while.

But the other three Excel.exe processes, with filenames on the command line, don't look like anything the viewer would open. Those look like someone has double-clicked those .xlsx files to open them in Excel (as in the application, not the viewer). I don't have any of those on my system when viewing an .xlsx file in Opus:

Do you see those processes start at the same time that files are opened in the viewer? It's possible some kind of Excel add-on or something in the sheets triggers it, which I don't have on my machine or in my test sheets. (e.g. VBA macros, although I'd be surprised if the Excel viewer runs them. But maybe there's something else.) But otherwise those processes look like instances of Excel that have been launched by double-clicking files and which aren't from the viewer.

Hi Leo

Yeah the viewer wasn't open on the screen at that time but seems to be sitting in the background for some reason.

All 3 of them were opened in the viewer pane just excel wasn't opened to view them. All addins are disabled on excel and no macro's within any of those spreadsheets.

Cheers

Mike

But, if you kill all those excel and docsvw processes, and then open an Excel file in the viewer, how many Excel processes are now open?

There should only be one, with "-embedding" at the end. I don't think the others are created by the viewer, but doing that test will confirm if I'm correct.

Hi Leo

When we kill the opus processes it still leaves the excel with embedding open is that normal?

We done some further testing today and it seem's to only be xls and not xlsx files that it is doing this with. Any ideas why that would be?

Cheers

Mike

I'm not sure if it's normal. That's up to Excel. It may exit after a few minutes.

Do those processes open when the viewer opens? That's the important part.

Hi Leo

No they don't.

Cheers

Mike

Everything seems normal to me then. Those extra processes are almost certainly started by something else.