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HomeTroubleshooting@RISK for Excel: Simulation"The worksheet name '...' has a character not in the current code page."

4.64. "The worksheet name '...' has a character not in the current code page."

Applies to: @RISK 5.0–7.0 only

When I try to run a simulation, I get the error message

"The worksheet name '...' has a character not in the current code page."

with some name or strange characters shown within the quotes.

It looks like one or more Excel worksheets (tabs) were created by somebody with different regional settings from yours, and not Western Europe or North America.

Your best solution, if you have a current maintenance contract, is to upgrade to the latest version. Starting with 7.5.0, @RISK has improved Unicode support so that code pages are no longer a concern. However, if you don't have a maintenance contract and don't want to purchase an upgrade, you can use one of the following options.

Option A: Locate the workbook that contains the worksheet named in the error message. If you don't need that workbook in your simulation, close it. If you do need it, choose one of the options below.

Option B: Rename the worksheet in question to something in your character set. Here's how:

  1. Click Utilities » Unload @RISK Add-in.
  2. Rename any worksheet tabs that have characters that aren't part of your local character set. (If any formulas in this workbook refer to that worksheet name, Excel will adjust them automatically.)
  3. Save the workbook — probably you want to save under a new name.
  4. Relaunch @RISK.

Option C: Save the workbook in XLSB format, close Excel, reopen @RISK, and open the XLSB workbook.
If any formulas in other workbooks refer to this workbook by name, you will need to update those formulas. Before you do that, verify that your workbook in XLSB format doesn't have the problem. (We do have one confirmed case where this solution worked, but because we did not have access to the workbook we aren't sure whether the success was related to some characteristic of that particular file.)

Option D: Close Excel, change your Windows regional settings to match those of the person who created the workbook, and then run @RISK.

Last edited: 2016-07-12

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