Overview: Users may occasionally face synchronisation issues between their local Excel workpaper copies and the SharePoint storage utilised by the Active Platform. This problem is rooted in SharePoint's safety mechanism and primarily revolves around versioning disparities. Such disparities can arise when local copies on users' devices diverge from the latest version on Active's cloud storage, often due to connectivity or network issues. This leads to a synchronisation gap, highlighted by a yellow warning bar at the top, prompting the user to determine the necessary course of action.
Please refer to the Glossary for definitions of key terms used in this article.
In case of a SharePoint sync problem with Active Workpapers, users might observe the following symptoms:
Issue 1: 'Refresh Recommended' Excel warning Bar in yellow.
Users may encounter a 'Refresh Recommended' yellow bar at the top when opening the excel workbook. This yellow bar suggests that users can either 'Save a Copy' or 'Discard Changes', which indicates a synchronisation issue.
Resolution 1
Determine whether the local workbook on your machine has the latest changes or whether you want to revert to the changes currently stored in SharePoint. Choose one of the following two resolutions based on your scenario.
I want to revert my changes to the copy currently stored in SharePoint: choose Discard Changes. This action will reset your local copy to match the SharePoint version/version of the binder stored in Active (you can view that version by vising Active and opening that binder in Excel online).
My local workbook is the correct version: if this is the case, Sharepoint/Active has a copy of the file different to yours, and we want to change the copy in Sharepoint/Active to reflect your copy. To do this:
First, choose Save a Copy from the yellow bar and save it to a location on your computer (other than your downloads page).
Request your Active Platform admin to go to: https://workpapers.businessfitness.com.au/admin/manage-firm/firm-details and scroll down and tick 'Allow excel binder checkout' and press Save. Then wait 2 mins for the sync to complete.
Log out and log back in to your Active Platform account, access the relevant binder, and choose ** Checkout from the 'Open Excel Binder' menu. (This will download a copy of the workbook currently in Sharepoint. DO NOT open this as we do not want to use this version of the file).
Immediately click Check In, and upload the copy you saved in Step 1 when you chose Save a Copy from the yellow bar before.
You can now delete your local copy and click Open Excel Binder from the website to resume work with the latest copy.
Issue 2: ''We've saved your changes locally...' error message
Issue 2: 'We've saved your changes locally...' error message in Excel, if you receive a warning stating that your changes are saved locally but cannot be uploaded to the server.
This message indicates that you have made changes in your local excel but are unable to connect to Active's cloud SharePoint server to update the copy in SharePoint.
Resolution 2
Confirm you are logged into Excel with the same email address that you used to log into Active.
Confirm that 'AutoSave' is selected at the top of the Excel document.
Close the file, and try opening it again from your 'Recent Files' in Microsoft Excel. This may prompt the yellow warning bar in Issue 1, enabling you to resolve it accordingly.
If the issue persists, you may need to contact Microsoft support.
Issue 3: Blank workbook upon opening Excel.
The Excel workbook might appear blank or contain unfinished content (as in the screenshot below).
Resolution 3
Where this has occurred, you definitely DO NOT have the latest version of the file. In which case, resolve as per Issue 1's resolution.
Issue 4: 'Update local Workbook' error.
When the Active Workpapers add-in indicates a version conflict, you may see the below message in a workbook's side pane.
Resolution 4
This is Active Workpapers identifying that the copy of your workbook is not the same as the last one used. Once you have resolved per Issue 1 above and have opened the correct live copy of the workbook from SharePoint, simply click Continue.
Issue 5: 'Already activated' message
An already activated message message in the taskpane of Excel states that the workbook is already activated (as below).
Resolution 5
Change the Binder status to in progress if set to completed. Then Close and reopen the binder from the Active website. If issue persists, attempt the steps in Issue 1.
Issue 6: 'Read Only' message.
Read Only/Upload Failed prompt: The workbook may also indicate that the workbook is in 'Read-only' mode or state 'Upload Failed' as the status along the top. The prompt might also show that the workbook was last modified a certain number of minutes ago.
Resolution 6
In Excel, click into 'Review' ribbon at the top > and click on protect workbook if it is highlighted in grey.
Then, close and reopen the binder from the Active website.
Additional information
Upload Failed prompt in Excel
The workbook may also indicate that the workbook is in 'Read-only' mode or state 'Upload Failed' as the status along the top. The prompt might also show that the workbook was last modified a certain number of minutes ago. This this case follow the resolution under issue 1.
**Addressing connection loss:
One of the common causes of sync issues is a loss of connection to the SharePoint server. Make sure you have a stable and reliable internet connection while working on Active workpapers to minimise the chances of encountering sync problems.
Note: Whenever you need to access an Excel document from SharePoint, make sure to open it directly from the Active binder. This will help ensure that your local copy stays synchronised with the server version.