Excel sections that contain cells with fill or border colors lose their color information when viewed in NuGenesis LMS - WKB59217

SYMPTOMS

• Excel sections that contain colors in one or more cells (either as the "fill" color or border colors, or both) appear black-and-white when viewed in NuGenesis LMS
• Colored text in the section is not affected
• If an Excel section with colors is added to a Word document outside of NuGenesis, the color information is visible within Word

ENVIRONMENT

• NuGenesis 9 LMS
• NuGenesis 8 LMS
• NuGenesis 8 ELN
• Vision Publisher 7.1

CAUSE

Microsoft patches KB4486563 and KB4486564 changed part of the OS, which affects the display of Excel sections in LMS.

FIX or WORKAROUND

1. Defect report CRI-270 was filed for this issue
2. The most recent patches for Windows 7, Windows Server 2012, and Window 10 appear to resolve this issue
   • Windows 7 / Server 2008: KB4489892
   • Windows 8.1 / Server 2012 R2: KB4489893
   • Windows 10 / Server 2016: KB4489890
3. Workarounds: when closing an Excel section, print it to the Waters Image Writer. This printer creates images of the section, and it will display with full colors in LMS.
   • If the Excel sections in question are Smart Builder forms (aka LEME or Form Designer), configure the form template to print to the Image Writer upon close.
     • Smart Builder (NuGenesis 8 LMS FR1 or later) has an additional option in the form Settings called "Visible Form Range".  This setting will produce an image of the visible form section upon close without the Image Writer. This setting is available only in NuGenesis 8 LMS FR1 or later, and is best suited for Excel sections that do not exceed one page.
   • If the Excel sections in question are not Smart Builder forms, but Smart Builder is installed on the client/Citrix machines, ask the users to close the sections by clicking the "Print and close" option in the NuGenesis LMS Smart Builder area on the Addins tab. This option prints the section to the Image Writer. It cannot be automated in this case because the section is not under Smart Builder control.
   • If the Excel sections in question are not Smart Builder forms, and Smart Builder is not installed on the client/Citrix machines, ask the users to manually print sections to the Waters Image Writer before closing them.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION