Report Writer & File Hosting Services

Per the system requirements, Report Writer is designed to be run using a locally installed copy of Microsoft Office. Many users utilize file sharing hosts, like OneDrive, DropBox, Google Drive, SharePoint, and similar services, to synchronize documents between multiple PCs, and Excel and Word files are no exception. Some of these are known to have compatibility issues with the way Report Writer reads and writes documents on a hard drive.

Sharepoint: SharePoint libraries synchronized on a computer do not always function and may result in files failing to prep when Prep Fields and Tables is run in Excel.

OneDrive: OneDrive may exhibit similar behavior to SharePoint, but for most users it functions correctly if the Use Office to sync Office files that I open option in the Office tab of the Settings window is un-checked.

DropBox: Files hosted in DropBox will function correctly, but may result in erroneous prompts to update external links. See this FAQ page for details on how to mitigate or avoid this.

Other services: Google Drive and other file hosting services are not explicitly tested against for functionality with Narrative1, but there are no known incompatibilities with these at this time.

Some file hosts allow users to edit documents directly in their web browser, such as Microsoft Office Online, SharePoint Online, and others. These online editors do not have any means to load locally installed Office add-ins such as those used by Report Writer, nor can they execute Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) code, such as is used in Excel files and its add-ins. Consequently, Report Writer files opened in these services will not perform as expected. While basic editing may be possible, any components that rely on VBA code cannot function on these platforms. For Report Writer to function as expected the documents with which Report Writer is being used must be opened in the appropriate Office application on a Windows-based personal computer.