Error message when using export to Excel Button in Query

Kellie DeMers:

I have continuously been getting error messages when I try to use the 'Excel' button on the toolbar in Query to export my query results into a spreadsheet.  I know that Blackbaud has said that it is a known issue and I have followed their KB notice to create files for each export I do, but I use this feature requently when doing research on specific groups of prospects and I don't want to create a new file in my folder every time I want to put query results into a spreadsheet.  Has anyone been able to devise a workaround for this besides the KB that BB has put out?


Thanks!

Joan Perry:

Keri,

Not a fan of this bug as there are many times I need a quick export of data in Excel.

However, I do a lot of exporting to CSV...we use our constituent IDs...the majority of which start “0” and are located in the Northeast so 99% of our zip codes start with “0”.

if I export as Excel and send to users who are not careful with data, then often lose leading zeroes, so converting myself and formatting helps.

Plus as you say, for large exports, I too love having the fallback “raw” CSV data.

Joan

Keri Barnhart:

Joan Perry:

Keri,

Not a fan of this bug as there are many times I need a quick export of data in Excel.

However, I do a lot of exporting to CSV...we use our constituent IDs...the majority of which start “0” and are located in the Northeast so 99% of our zip codes start with “0”.

if I export as Excel and send to users who are not careful with data, then often lose leading zeroes, so converting myself and formatting helps.

Plus as you say, for large exports, I too love having the fallback “raw” CSV data.

Joan

Oh, that's a really good point about being in the NE with 00XXX ZIPs! We default ours to the ZIP+4 with Address Accelerator, but the few times I opened a CSV directly instead of using the Data Import feature (where I can set the data type before it pulls in), I did get a little surprise at the Puerto Rican alumni addresses that hadn't been Accelerated.


I'll be honest - it took me several months to convert my opinion. I hated it so much at first that I rolled back one of the Windows security updates that introduced the bug! I had to reimage my machine and decided not to fight that particular battle again, but we also never use the RE Reports to Excel function - only to PDF if we must, but mostly we built our own reporting tools outside of RE. (That said....if you google the right terms, you should be able to find the KB which explains the bug and you can selectively roll back the security patch on your machine. It's been 8 or 9 months now, so I can't guarantee that it would still work, and I would never recommend this for general users, but it's an option.)

 

Cindy Avery:

Keri Barnhart:

Joan Perry:

Keri,

Not a fan of this bug as there are many times I need a quick export of data in Excel.

However, I do a lot of exporting to CSV...we use our constituent IDs...the majority of which start “0” and are located in the Northeast so 99% of our zip codes start with “0”.

if I export as Excel and send to users who are not careful with data, then often lose leading zeroes, so converting myself and formatting helps.

Plus as you say, for large exports, I too love having the fallback “raw” CSV data.

Joan

Oh, that's a really good point about being in the NE with 00XXX ZIPs! We default ours to the ZIP+4 with Address Accelerator, but the few times I opened a CSV directly instead of using the Data Import feature (where I can set the data type before it pulls in), I did get a little surprise at the Puerto Rican alumni addresses that hadn't been Accelerated.


I'll be honest - it took me several months to convert my opinion. I hated it so much at first that I rolled back one of the Windows security updates that introduced the bug! I had to reimage my machine and decided not to fight that particular battle again, but we also never use the RE Reports to Excel function - only to PDF if we must, but mostly we built our own reporting tools outside of RE. (That said....if you google the right terms, you should be able to find the KB which explains the bug and you can selectively roll back the security patch on your machine. It's been 8 or 9 months now, so I can't guarantee that it would still work, and I would never recommend this for general users, but it's an option.)

 

My problem is trying to use the Edit Button on the Tool Bar to "Export GIFT BATCH GRID (or PARTICIPANTS or SEATS) to Excel." It recently stopped working. Of course, I can use the "plain" Export choice that just says "Export Gift Batch (etc.) but why should I have to? Blackbaud touts its products as the way to be efficient - work smarter, not harder - and this recent snafu doesn't match the mantra. I find so often that one day a function works and the next it doesn't only to speak/chat with someone who says, "Oh, we made an upgrade." "Oh, we decided to stop offering that option." What??