Export to Excel Feature in Umbraco Forms No Longer Working in Certain Browser Versions

[sebastian-pierre]

Issue: Export to Excel Feature in Umbraco Forms No Longer Working in Certain Browser Versions

Bug summary

• The feature in Umbraco Forms that allows users to export data to Excel has suddenly stopped functioning correctly. This feature had been working properly for approximately 2 years.
• Recent observations suggest that the issue might be related to specific browser versions, notably Chrome or Chromium-based browsers. Updating to the latest version of Chrome seems to resolve the issue temporarily.

Specifics

• The issue occurs when users try to use the GetExport method to download exported Excel files from a specified folder in the browser.
• Umbraco version: 8.18.5
• Umbraco Forms version: 8.7.6
• Browsers affected: Chrome and potentially other Chromium-based browsers.
• Updating Chrome to the latest version appears to resolve the issue, indicating a possible compatibility problem with certain browser versions.
• Full error messages and screenshots from users facing this issue would be helpful.

Steps to reproduce

• Attempt to export data to Excel using the GetExport method in Umbraco Forms.
• Observe the behavior in Chrome or a Chromium-based browser, especially in versions that are not the latest.
• Compare the behavior in the latest version of Chrome or other browsers.

Expected result

• The expected behavior is a successful download of the exported Excel file, without encountering errors, as has been the case for the past 2 years.

Actual result

• Users are currently experiencing errors when trying to export data to Excel.
• The problem seems to be browser-specific, as updating to the latest version of Chrome resolves the issue.
• Detailed error messages and screenshots would be valuable for further investigation.

[AndyButland]

Unfortunately I think if the issue isn't replicable on a current version of a browser, then there's not much we can do. As you've reported, it has worked for a while and you haven't upgraded to get any code changes from Forms. The Chrome browser is an evergreen one that regularly updates, so it sounds like they released something with a bug or unexpected non-backward compatible change, but as the issue isn't present in the latest version, they likely have reverted.

As such I suspect the solution you have already found - upgrading to the latest browser version - is the best one here.