Troubleshooting
Problem
A newly signed certificate for IBM® Cognos® TM1® Perspectives tm1p.xla file can prevent you from opening IBM Cognos TM1 Perspectives. When opening Cognos TM1 Perspectives you may see the following messages or errors: * Microsoft Excel Security Notice > Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern * Insert a Smart Card > Please insert smart card * Other Security warnings and prompts to "Disable Macros / Enable Macros" These messages are due to a newly signed certificate.
Symptom
User launches TM1 Perspectives from the Windows Start Menu (or desktop shortcut).
- By default, this is a shortcut to the following file: C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\tm1\bin\tm1p.xla
A warning message appears, for example:
- Microsoft Excel Security Notice
Microsoft Office has identified a potential security concern.
Warning: Macros are disabled because the digital signature is invalid. You can view the signature's associated certificate data...
Cause
Known limitation (APAR PI19424) triggered by an expired (April 29, 2014) certificate, which (in turn) is caused by a limitation in Microsoft Office 2007/2010 relating to SHA2 certificates.
Environment
Client device is using Excel 2007 or 2010.
- The problem does not affect Excel 2013.
Resolving The Problem
Fix:
Upgrade client device to Excel 2013.
Workarounds:
There are several different possible workarounds:
- Method #1 - (Easiest/recommended) Configure Excel to trust the location of the TM1 Perpectives add-in
1. Launch Excel
2. Click "File > Options"
3. Select "Trust Center"
4. Click "Trust Center Settings"
5. Select "Trusted Locations"
6. Click "Add new location"
7. Type in the location of your 'tm1p.xla' file
TIP: By default, this is: C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\tm1\bin\
8. Click OK
9. Test.
- Method #2 - Configure Microsoft Excel to automatically load 'tm1p.xla' when Excel is opened
In other words:
- Manually add the Cognos TM1 Perspectives 'tm1p.xla' file to Excel
- Afterwards, do not use the 'TM1 Perspectives' shortcut. Instead, simply launch Excel directly (the TM1 add-in will already be registered and active).
Steps:
1. Ensure that your client device has the latest Microsoft Office service pack applied.
At the time of writing, this means:
- Office 2007 Service Pack 3 (SP3)
- Office 2010 Service Pack 2 (SP2)
2. Launch Excel
3. Click "File - Options"
4. Select "Add-Ins"
5. Inside the section "Manage", ensure that "Excel Add-ins" is selected, and click "Go":
6. Click "Browse" and then navigate to your TM1 installation directory (for example C:\Program Files (x86)\ibm\cognos\tm1\bin\)
7. Select the file: tm1p.xla
Afterwards, when you want to use the TM1 Perspectives, simply open Microsoft Excel (do not open the tm1p.xla via the shortcut).
Related Information
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Document Information
Modified date:
15 June 2018
UID
swg21672487