Issues with Excel Client When List Separator Is Part of the Value

Problem

There is a problem with managing Data Change Request data via Excel Client if there is a list separator (comma, semicolon) part of a value (e.g., “Audio, Video & Broadcast”). The Excel Client breaks this into two values.

Workaround

There is a limitation in the Excel Client when a list separator is included as part of the value. This is because Excel Client is not able to manage multiple values per row. As an alternative you can copy/paste all the records to be inserted with the required values directly in the worksheet and update the DCR. This allows you to bypass the restrictions in Excel Client. The validation process is still activated when you submit on the partition. All the records will be verified, based on the implemented rules.

The root problem is the Excel's macro API behavior. If a different separator is used, other projects will have issues with the data as the separators are locale-specific. We plan to investigate if Excel allows us to use the incoming data in the list of restricted values differently. Note that this might not be possible to change, given the limited technical support from MS Excel for the restricted lists (this is a programmatically generated restricted list, not user-defined). And please be also aware that Excel Client is in a maintenance mode, given the ceasing support of Microsoft for VBA external libraries.