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** Troubleshooting ** Error 'Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation' when using Excel link

Troubleshooting


Problem

User launches Excel. User clicks "Controller" - "Log on". User receives error message.

Symptom

Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation

Cause

There are many different causes for the error "Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation".

  • This IBM Technote specifically relates to the scenario where the message appears when using the Excel-link functionality.
  • For the scenario where the user is using the 'main' Controller application interface (not the Excel-based functionality) see separate IBM Technote #1347234.

In this case there are several scenarios why this error would appear inside Excel:

  • Scenario #1 - "Client Distribution Server" settings are configured to use http://localhost
  • Scenario #2 - Unsupported version of Microsoft Office installed on end user's client PC
    • See separate IBM Technote #1347207
  • Scenario #3 - Dotnet Trust (caspol command) and Trusted Site in IE are not using the naming convention that matches the "Client Distribution Server" settings mentioned in Scenario #1.
  • Scenario #4 - User's Windows user account has been locked out of the Microsoft Active Directory (domain).
    • See separate IBM Technote #1347252

Resolving The Problem

Scenario #1
Reconfigure the "Client Distribution Server" settings so that they refer to http://<servername> as opposed to http://localhost.

  1. Logon to the Controller application server
  2. Launch the program "Controller Configuration"
  3. Open the section "Client Distribution Server"
  4. Modify the settings (such as "CASUrl") to refer to http://servername/xxxxxx instead of http://localhost/xxxxxxxxxx
  5. Click "Save.

Scenario #2
Upgrade end user's client PC to a supported version of Microsoft Office.
  • See separate IBM Technote #1347207

Scenario #3
Run the caspol command using the correct server naming convention for the Controller application server and then add this host name, again using same convention, to IE's Trusted Sites.

For detailed instructions on how to do this, find these sections headed:
"Server Naming Conventions",
"CASPOL Disable2.BAT",
and
"Appendix 2 – Manual Method of configuring Microsoft Internet Explorer trusted sites"
..of the "IBM Cognos Proven Practices: How to Install the IBM Cognos Controller Client on a User's PC" document. See link below for one version of this which is generally applicable to all Controller versions.

Scenario #4
Ask the I.T. department to unlock the user's Windows user account.
  • See separate IBM Technote #1347252

[{"Product":{"code":"SS9S6B","label":"IBM Cognos Controller"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Component":"Controller","Platform":[{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"8.5.1;8.5;8.4;8.3;10.1","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB10","label":"Data and AI"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
15 June 2018

UID

swg21506977

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