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rgreen33
Pyrite | Level 9

I have been running the SAS Add-in for MS Office for a couple months now (our install is completely new - and I am new to SAS).  Over the past few days, I have noticed that updates have been applied to my Windows machine.  Today, I rebooted.  After the reboot, when I launch Outlook, I see the small pop-up window that shows a connection being made to my SAS profile.  Then, I get the following error:  SAS Add-in - Failed to create SAS Folders. 

 

 Capture1.JPG

 

When I click "Close", Outlook continues to load without any other issues.  Once Outlook is up and running, I can navigate to the SAS tab.  If I click on SAS Central, nothing happens.  If I click on Gadget Pane, I can see my SAS server.  So, I am not sure what SAS Folders Outlook is failing to create.  I have searched the web for this error and I am finding nothing.  Any ideas?

 

By the way, the Add-in seems to be working fine in Excel and Word.

 

Thanks,

Ricky

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
fifthand57th
SAS Employee

The Windows 10 Anniversary update allows Windows users to overcome the 260 Windows path limit by editing the Windows Registry or Group Policy. See https://www.howtogeek.com/266621/how-to-make-windows-10-accept-file-paths-over-2

60-characters/

 

When the 260 character path limit is eliminated, Windows adds a \\?\ to the path of the SAS OMR.pst file in AMO in Outlook. This is visible in Outlook on the Data Files tab in Account Settings. NOTE: Our SAS Add-in debug log shows that the .pst file is created successfully and the path is correct (no \\?\ added to the front of the path).

 

Due to the \\?\ the SAS created .pst file cannot be loaded, a "Failed to create SAS Folders" error occurs. (Works fine in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.)

 

In this instance to stop Outlook from adding the \\?\ prefix do *not* use the Windows 10 option to allow paths greater than 260 characters. This allows non-Microsoft .pst files to be located and loaded by MS Outlook.

 

NOTE: The SAS Add-in's use of .pst files is ending after the current release (7.14).

 

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12 REPLIES 12
ballardw
Super User

One of the first things I would do is check with the IT staff in your organizations that does updates and ask them if they have done anything with your install. It may have been an update to Outlook or other Microsoft application and not SAS and see if IT can roll back to a working installation.

 

 

The next step would likely be SAS tech support.

rgreen33
Pyrite | Level 9

3 MS Office 2016 updates were installed on my computer.  I am assuming that something in these updates broke my setup.  I have re-installed the Add-in, but I am still getting the same error.  I am just trying to find out if others are seeing the same issue...and what does the message mean - what folders can't be created.  I am waiting on another person to reboot after lunch, as these same updates were just pushed to his computer.  I'm curious to see if this is just something that is isolated to my computer or if it is something that my other users will see eventually.

 

Thanks,

Ricky

ballardw
Super User

I don't have access to the SAS Add-in so I don't know specific folders involved.

One of the things that your IT may have done was change permissions to folders that the add-in wants to write to (create folder in) such that you no longer have permission to write there. This is moderately likely if the folders were to want to add anything to the Programs Folder, possibly in the Office files.

 

Another complete guess is if the updates changed the folder structure or permissions in the Office folders then possibly Add-in doesn't recognize or can't find the path it wants. Again this a guess.

fifthand57th
SAS Employee

Hi rgreen33,

 

Search your computer for a file called SAS OMR(<your-connection-profile-name>).pst. It is usually in C:\Users\<your-userid>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook.

 

Close Outlook then rename this file with a different extension (for example, SAS OMR.pst.orig). Then restart Outlook. This file will be recreated. It could be that this file is corrupt.

 

Also, you must be able to read/write to this file. See this SAS Note: http://support.sas.com/kb/54082

 

I hope this helps.

Tiffany

 

rgreen33
Pyrite | Level 9

@fifthand57th,

 

No luck.  I renamed the files and they were recreated...but, I still get the error.  A coworker received the same updates and he is NOT seeing the issue.  So, it is something particular to my setup.  If I could find what folders the message is referring to, I should be able to track down the issue.

 

Thanks,

Ricky

fifthand57th
SAS Employee

@rgreen33

 

The "SAS Folders" that the error refers to are the SAS metadata folders on your SAS Metadata Server. The SAS OMR.pst file is populated with the metadata folder structure when the connection to the metadata server is made at the time the SAS Add-in loads in Outlook.

 

Did renaming the SAS OMR.pst file and restarting Outlook create a new SAS OMR.pst file?

 

What version of the SAS Add-in do you have installed?

 

Please turn on logging, http://support.sas.com/kb/56743, close and restart Outlook. After the error click on SAS Central so the debug logging file captures this. Search the logging file for ERRORs and post them here for me to review or we can take this offline and you can send the entire logging file to support@sas.com to create a Technical Support track. I'll keep an eye out for it and take a look. (If you create a track, please post that you did so here so I will know and can pick it up.)

 

fifthand57th
SAS Employee

Whoops. Just saw that the pst file was recreated. Ignore that question. Let's take a look at the logging file...

rgreen33
Pyrite | Level 9

@fifthand57th,

 

I enabled the debugging and the only ERROR that appears in the debug file is as follows:

 

2017-03-16 00:55:12,965 [11] ERROR SAS.OfficeAddin.OfficeAddinBase [(null)] - Error Loading the CommentManager

 

As for the version of the Add-in, if I go to Add-ins in Outlook, it is showing 7.1...but, I did apply all of the updates when I installed it (I have uninstalled it and re-installed it a few times...same error).

 

Thanks,

Ricky

fifthand57th
SAS Employee

@rgreen33

 

Hi Ricky,

 

I have one more thing for you to try. If it doesn't work, please forward the entire logging file to support@sas.com to create a track. As we may need to schedule a WebEx.

 

It could be a corrupt SAS User Profile. To recreate the SAS User profile:

 

  • Close all MS Office programs.
  • Open Windows Explorer and type %appdata% on the navigation bar (see attached image).
  • Rename the SAS folder to SAS_old.
  • Then restart Outlook.

If the error persists, please create a track with the entire debug logging file and I'll review it. It will show me how the SAS Add-in is loading, etc. and we'll go from there.

 

Tiffany

 

 


2017-03-16_9-29-52.png
rgreen33
Pyrite | Level 9

@fifthand57th,

 

Still no luck.  I just tried renaming the SAS folder.  When Outlook restarted, a new SAS folder was created and the error still appears.  I am out of the office today and tomorrow.  I will open a track with SAS support when I am back in the office on Monday.  Thanks for all of your help.

 

Thanks,

Ricky

fifthand57th
SAS Employee

@rgreen33

 

Hi Ricky,

 

Please send in the entire debug log and put a link to this discussion in your email to support@sas.com. I'll keep an eye out for the track Monday AM. (Fyi, I'm OOO Monday afternoon.) 

 

To anyone following this discussion... I'll post the resolution here once it's discovered.

 

Tiffany

 

fifthand57th
SAS Employee

The Windows 10 Anniversary update allows Windows users to overcome the 260 Windows path limit by editing the Windows Registry or Group Policy. See https://www.howtogeek.com/266621/how-to-make-windows-10-accept-file-paths-over-2

60-characters/

 

When the 260 character path limit is eliminated, Windows adds a \\?\ to the path of the SAS OMR.pst file in AMO in Outlook. This is visible in Outlook on the Data Files tab in Account Settings. NOTE: Our SAS Add-in debug log shows that the .pst file is created successfully and the path is correct (no \\?\ added to the front of the path).

 

Due to the \\?\ the SAS created .pst file cannot be loaded, a "Failed to create SAS Folders" error occurs. (Works fine in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.)

 

In this instance to stop Outlook from adding the \\?\ prefix do *not* use the Windows 10 option to allow paths greater than 260 characters. This allows non-Microsoft .pst files to be located and loaded by MS Outlook.

 

NOTE: The SAS Add-in's use of .pst files is ending after the current release (7.14).

 

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