I’m receiving the following error when trying to export my dashboard:
Could not gerenate the flash file (swf).
I"ve narrowed the issue down and it appear to only happen when I have a graph with two data series (or two graphs, each with 1 data series) which has it’s source data source range, 31 cells in total.
Each of the cells contain forumla (index & match). When I reduce the number of cells the graph is connected to, the error is not received.
I required 31 days worth of data in my graph and also required serveral graphs.
Has anyone come across a similiar issue in the past, and if so do you know if there is a way to solve this issue? Any alternatives etc.
I use several graphs - some with a dozen or more series on (unreadable, I know, but I control the visibility of each series with toggle buttons so the user can pick which one or more to display). Not had any issues with SWF generation and I’m still on SP2.
Have you tried deleting the component and rebuilding from scratch? Sometimes the components get corrupted. I know other people have found this gets rid of mysterious errors.
When you have trouble with this software…list the version and fix pack you are on.
If you downloaded the software from SAP you might have trouble…their d/l server really sucks. I have used it extensively inside several different companies and environments. At best, I get a good download 50% of the time. Other times the install file is corrupt.
When you get major problems with Xcelsius, just reinstall it with a fresh download. Your valid key will work, no matter what version/fix pack you download.
p.s. Obvious response …make sure you have a pc that meets the minimum requirements for this program.
I have rebuilt the file from scratch 3 times now, still no luck.
Haven’t tried the re-install as yet, however the issues is repeated on 2 other pc’s.
PC exceeds the requiremnest of Dashboard Design.
Again, the graph works fine when there is only approx 20 days of data in the two series, as soon as you extend it, it crashes. 31 days is the requirements unfortunaly.
I’ve read elsewhere that date formulas can play havoc some times, has anyone else experienced that?
I’m using =today() month/day/year forumlas throught the file.
Vlookups, especially in later versions of this software, are killing the SWF generation. As a longtime developer in this software, vlookups were not a problem prior to xcelsius 2008 sp4. After that, I started noticing problems.
For the record, when I mention problems with Vlookup, Im talking about when you use 1000+ vlookup functions. Using 1000+ Index/Match seems to improve the file and does not generate errors.
if you are using v lookup, then you must use the true/false argument of the function. Do not leave it blank.
Get rid of vlookups. They dont render right and are consuming tons of RAM when you make a SWF. Convert to Index/Match.
Try generating the SWF and look at your taskmanager. Are you running out of RAM during the export process?
After advice from above I updated my Excel feeder file, it did have HLOOKUP in it (only small) but removed; the excel max number of rows was set to 1000. I re-evaluated this and set to 500.
Also slimmed down my feeder file trying to reduce formula use within it.
After much playing around and tweaking it finally works again. Although for some reason it does on occasion still stop the export to SWF, but on the whole its working.
This is what I’ve encountered and my conclusion/fix to this problem.
I too have recently had the “Could not gerenate the flash file (swf)” with one particular file.
In task manager the memory peaked at around 1.7-1.8Gb before erroring.
Previous versions of the file dating back months also had the problem yet they had generated OK back then.
On a separate laptop I was not having the problem - memory peaking at 900Mb.
So what was different on my desktop? It turns out (in my case) the main cause is setting the Maximum Number of Rows preference to a stupidly high number. I had done this several weeks ago to see what was Dashboard’s limits and had forgotten to set it back. Doh! I didn’t encounter any problems soon after.
However, the other important factor is in Excel when using the MATCH function. In order to future proof my files I have been setting the function to lookup up the whole column (eg $A:$A) instead of a defining a range.
It seems this will cause Dashboard to try generating unnecessarily and consequently running out of memory.
When I amended these factors the processing used no more menory than expected.
There may be another unknown factor involved because I did successfully generate earlier this week with the factors mentioned but it suddenly started to fail 2 days ago.
That’s my take on this - I hope it’s useful to anyone in the same situation.
(BOB member since 2005-03-01)
(BOB member since 2008-06-05)