Common Setup Problems

Shim ReStackor Demo Setup

You should be able to unzip the demo, drag the ReStackor folder on your C:\ drive, open the C:\ReStackor\Excel\ReStackor.xls spreadsheet and run the code. There are, however, all kinds of ways to screw that up:

Incorrect file paths
No read/write access to the C:\ drive
Security disabled spreadsheet macros

The frames below review some common problems and may give you some ideas on why the demo won't run. The most direct way to debug the setup up is open a DOS prompt and try and run C:\ReStackor\Code\restackor.exe. That will directly execute the code and display error messages for common file access problems.

Win7 Zip Files:

Win7 and Vista zip routines are setup to automatically disable any executable downloaded from the internet as a virus protection step. Unpacking a zip file will generate this warning:

To unblock the zip file right click on ReStackor-xls.zip => Properties => General => Unblock.

... and then double click on the zip file to unpack ReStackor. More info on Win7 zip routines and disabling of executable files is here .

File Path:

The path to the ReStackor code has to be C:\ReStackor\Code\restackor.exe. No other path will work. A typical setup error is installing the ReStackor folder in C:\ReStackor\Restackor

Run from the DOS prompt:

When ReStackor is run from excel the execution window will immediately close on an error. If that happens, you can run ReStackor directly from the command prompt. On any error the code will complain about missing files or missing file paths. You need to run the spreadsheet at least once to write the input file to C:\ReStackor\Work_Dir\Stack.in. If that file is missing the code won't make it very far as the first thing it does is try to read the input file.

Enable Macros:

ReStackor calculations are launched by an excel macro. You need to click the "Enable Macro" button to allow ReStackor to run from excel.

Some paranoid installations will disable macros deeper within the menus of excel. If you are able to run C:\ReStackor\Code\restackor.exe from the dos command prompt but you can not run from the spreadsheet you will need to debug those deeper excel menus to figure out why macros have been disabled in your spreadsheet.

Vista Enable Macros:

Vista locks out the C: drive for read/write access and that will not allow the spreadsheet macros to write the ReStackor input file or allow the code to write the output file. To enable ReStackor and the spreadsheet macros to run the spreadsheet must be launched with admin privileges using Start => excel [shift][cntrl][enter]. Instructions are here .

Vista also has it's own quirks for enabling macros. There is no menu when excel starts. Instead the enable macro button silently appears at the top of the spreadsheet.

You need to enable both macros and data connections for ReStackor to run within Vista.

Clicking on the Vista Trust Center link brings up a whole series of menus that control whether macros can be run or even if Vista will throw up a prompt telling you that excel macros have been disabled.

Debugging the entire range of issues with file access under Vista is much easier running ReStackor from a DOS command prompt. That command prompt needs admin privileges and that requires the command prompt to be launched by Start => command prompt [shift][cntrl][enter].

File Paths:

ReStackor reads the calculation input file from C:\ReStackor\Work_Dir\Stack.in and writes output to C:\ReStackor\Work_Dir\stack.out and the C:\ReStackor\Work_Dir\Mid_Valve directory for mid-valve calculations. If those file paths do not exist the code will bomb.

Europe Dot/Decimal:

ReStackor is setup to use the US system of dots for decimals. If your spreadsheet is setup to use commas the code is going to bomb. You can check if your spreadsheet is writing out dots for decimals by checking the ReStackor input file at C:\ReStackor\Work_Dir\Stack.in.

If you are in Europe your spreadsheet is probably setup to use commas for decimals. To change to decimals there are four steps to get to the windows control panel for decimal separators:

Start button.
Control Panel
Date, Time, Language and Regional Options
Change the format of numbers, dates, and times

Step 5: You can select English or any other language that uses dots for decimals

... OR ...

Use any language and select "Customize" to set:

Step 6: Set the "Decimal symbol to "."
Step 7: The list separator to ","

Then hit the ReStackor run button and check the input file C:\ReStackor\Work_Dir\Stack.in to make sure dots are used for decimals.