moparisthebest/poi
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Releases 1 Wiki Activity

Add a basic FAQ entry for how to report problems when you can't share the file. For OOXML, give the normal advice of unzip + view xml. For OLE2 ones, suggest the new BFF as well as the existing dev tool eg BiffViewer

Browse Source 
git-svn-id: https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/poi/trunk@1148036 13f79535-47bb-0310-9956-ffa450edef68
This commit is contained in:
Nick Burch 2011-07-18 20:18:32 +00:00
parent 634200d3c3
commit 926573660d
1 changed files with 42 additions and 0 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

42
src/documentation/content/xdocs/faq.xml
View File

@ -320,4 +320,46 @@ System.out.println("Core POI came from " + path);
</source>
</answer>
</faq>
<faq>
<question>
An OLE2 ("binary") file is giving me problems, but I can't share it. How can I investigate the problem on my own?
</question>
<answer>
<p>The first thing to try is running the
<link href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/officeinteroperability/archive/2011/07/12/microsoft-office-binary-file-format-validator-is-now-available.aspx">Binary File Format Validator</link>
from Microsoft against the file, which will report if the file
complies with the specification. If your input file doesn't, then this
may well explain why POI isn't able to process it correctly. You
should probably in this case speak to whoever is generating the file,
and have them fix it there. If your POI generated file is identified
as having an issue, and you're on the
<link href="/howtobuild.html">latest codebase</link>, report a new
POI bug and include the details of the validation failure.</p>
<p>Another thing to try, especially if the file is valid but POI isn't
behaving as expected, are the POI Dev Tools for the component you're
using. For example, HSSF has <em>org.apache.poi.hssf.dev.BiffViewer</em>
which will allow you to view the file as POI does. This will often
allow you to check that things are being read as you expect, and
narrow in on problem records and structures.</p>
</answer>
</faq>
<faq>
<question>
An OOXML ("xml") file is giving me problems, but I can't share it. How can I investigate the problem on my own?
</question>
<answer>
<p>There's not currently a simple validator tool as there is for the
OLE2 based (binary) file formats, but checking the basics of a file
is generally much easier.</p>
<p>Files such as .xlsx, .docx and .pptx are actually a zip file of XML
files, with a special structure. Your first step in diagnosing the
issues with the input or output file will likely be to unzip the
file, and look at the XML of it. Newer versions of Office will
normally tell you which area of the file is problematic, so
narrow in on there. Looking at the XML, does it look correct?</p>
<p>When reporting bugs, ideally include the whole file, but if you're
unable to then include the snippet of XML for the problem area, and
reference the OOXML standard for what it should contain.</p>
</answer>
</faq>
</faqs>