Cannot Export Tables to Excel

Prerequisites

• Put an X between the brackets on this line if you have done all of the following:
  • Running the latest version of Constellation
  • Attached the Support Package via Help > Support Package
  • Checked the FAQs: https://github.com/constellation-app/constellation/wiki/FAQ
  • Checked that your issue isn’t already filed: https://github.com/constellation-app/constellation/issues
  • Checked that there is not already a module that provides the described functionality: https://github.com/constellation-app/constellation/wiki/Catalogue-of-Repositories

Description

In Table View, I try to export a table of data to Excel. It looks like it all works, I save on my Desktop but then nothing actually happens (the document doesn’t appear). I asked a teammate to do the same thing, he went through the same process as I did, and it worked, so not sure what the issue is?

This seems to be an intermittent issue and the exception is:

java.io.IOException: The system cannot find the path specified
	at java.io.WinNTFileSystem.createFileExclusively(Native Method)
	at java.io.File.createTempFile(Unknown Source)
	at org.apache.poi.util.TempFile$DefaultTempFileCreationStrategy.createTempFile(TempFile.java:105)
	at org.apache.poi.util.TempFile.createTempFile(TempFile.java:60)
	at org.apache.poi.xssf.streaming.SheetDataWriter.createTempFile(SheetDataWriter.java:80)
	at org.apache.poi.xssf.streaming.SheetDataWriter.<init>(SheetDataWriter.java:63)
	at org.apache.poi.xssf.streaming.SheetDataWriter.<init>(SheetDataWriter.java:68)
	at org.apache.poi.xssf.streaming.SXSSFWorkbook.createSheetDataWriter(SXSSFWorkbook.java:292)
	at org.apache.poi.xssf.streaming.SXSSFSheet.<init>(SXSSFSheet.java:69)
	at org.apache.poi.xssf.streaming.SXSSFWorkbook.createAndRegisterSXSSFSheet(SXSSFWorkbook.java:624)
Caused: java.lang.RuntimeException
	at org.apache.poi.xssf.streaming.SXSSFWorkbook.createAndRegisterSXSSFSheet(SXSSFWorkbook.java:628)
	at org.apache.poi.xssf.streaming.SXSSFWorkbook.createSheet(SXSSFWorkbook.java:645)
	at au.gov.asd.tac.constellation.views.tableview2.TableViewUtilities$ExportToExcelFilePlugin.execute(TableViewUtilities.java:191)
	at au.gov.asd.tac.constellation.pluginframework.templates.SimplePlugin.run(SimplePlugin.java:65)
[catch] at au.gov.asd.tac.constellation.graph.node.pluginframework.DefaultPluginEnvironment$1.call(DefaultPluginEnvironment.java:125)
	at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(Unknown Source)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(Unknown Source)
	at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(Unknown Source)
	at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

Steps to Reproduce

1. [First Step]
2. [Second Step]
3. [and so on…]

Expected behaviour: Tables get exported to an Excel File

Actual behaviour: Tables are not being exported to an Excel File

Reproduces how often: Sometimes

Additional Information

N/A

[serpens24]

Basic steps to reproduce:

1. Open a windows Explorer window to %TEMP% and another to Desktop
2. Start Constellation, Create a new empty graph and open the Table View
3. In Table view,select to view Nodes
4. In Tableview, select Export to Excel, select Desktop, then enter the name test1
5. Confirm that a directory poifiles has been created inside %TEMP% if it didn’t already exist
6. From Windows Explorer delete the directory poifiles
7. In constellation, in TableView elect Export to Excel, select Desktop, then enter the name test2 NOTE: At this point, often I find the file test2 is not created on the desktop - if it’s not created there, is seems to be created ‘elsewhere’. My suspicion is there is some form of race condition such that when the POI library checks for the poifiles directory and creates it if it does not exist, if this directory isn’t created fast enough the failure occurs.

[serpens24]

I searched google for the lower level exception and found the following: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29285076/java-apache-poi-sxssfworkbook-unable-to-create-sheets

https://bz.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=57200

This appears to be the same issue … I will dig into these wider issues and look for a solution. An extract from the second link:

_SXSSF creates a temporary file when its saved using the class org.apache.poi.util.TempFile. When a tempfile is first created, the directory name is saved within this class, in the static singleton DefaultTempFileCreationStrategy object. This directory is only created on the first save and its never checked if this directory still exists, as you can see below:

    public File createTempFile(String prefix, String suffix) throws IOException {
        // Identify and create our temp dir, if needed
        if (dir == null)
        {
            dir = new File(System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir"), "poifiles");
            dir.mkdir();
            if (System.getProperty("poi.keep.tmp.files") == null)
                dir.deleteOnExit();
        }

The directory is automatically deleted when the virtual machine exits. (I believe the directory is also created automatically when you load an xlsx using the event api).

So, if you have two applications both loading and saving excels and you then close one this directory is automatically deleted. Now both applications used exactly the same temp directory. Therefore if you try to save your file in the second application which is still open, an IOException is instead raised as it tries to create the tmp file in the no-longer existing directory. The user cannot save their xlsx any longer._