The "Publishing Reports from a Batch File" described in the SAS^® Financial Management 5.4: Process Administrator's Guide might fail in SAS^® Financial Management 5.5 and later. In addition, the Microsoft Excel version used for the SAS^® Financial Management Add-in has an effect on the reported behavior.

In Microsoft Excel 2013, fewer failures occurred compared to the other versions.

The batch's failure is related to two different aspects: 

• In the first scenario, the batch opens the Microsoft Excel file, but the logged-on user credentials are not automatically passed, and the Password field remains empty. 
• In the second scenario, the process starts, but the Microsoft Excel session never ends because it does not close automatically and requires a manual step.

How to Identify This Issue

To execute the batch and reproduce the issue, use a command similar to the following:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE" /e/fm_operation=BatchPublish/fm_username=sasdemo/fm_password=DemoPasswd /fm_batchpublish_settingsfile="C:\test\My_FMsp_Report_FMsp_Settings.xml" "C:\test\MyReport.xlsb"

In the first scenario, a Microsoft Excel session opens and waits for the Password to be inserted.

In the second scenario, one or more Microsoft Excel sessions remain active (which you can view if you open the Task Manager).

Workarounds and Solutions

The first scenario has been fixed in SAS^® Financial Management 5.61 via a hot fix (L1Y006 or later). However, the second scenario might occur.

The first and second scenario has been fixed in SAS^® Financial Management 5.62 via a hot fix.