Double-clicking on a Prism graph embedded in PowerPoint doesn't open Prism, but instead shows this message: "The server application, source file or item can't be found, or returned an unknown error. You may need to reinstall the server application".

The Problem

Occasionally, the message "The server application, source file or item can't be found, or returned an unknown error. You may need to reinstall the server application" will be shown when double-clicking on a Prism object embedded in a Microsoft PowerPoint or Word document. Note that the ability to embed Prism objects in this way using OLE is a Windows-only feature (OLE is unavailable on Mac). The message that is displayed when this happens comes from Windows, not from Prism. When you double-click on a Prism object in PowerPoint (or Word), Windows tries to open it within Prism. If it can't, Windows displays this message.

Update December 15, 2023

Prism 10.1.2 has been released for Windows with a fix for the WebView2 issue that was causing this message to be displayed. Please update to 10.1.2 before trying any other workarounds!

Microsoft recently released a new version of WebView2 which has resulted in this alert being displayed for many embedded Prism objects from Prism versions 9.3.0-10.1.1. WebView2 is a component developed and maintained by Microsoft, and allows desktop applications to incorporate different types of code and related functionalities. This component is installed on all modern Windows devices, and is used by all Prism versions starting with 9.3.0.

After the Windows update on December 7, 2023 (WebView2 Build 120.0.2210.61), attempting to access embedded Prism files in Microsoft Office documents resulted in an error being displayed when trying to access these embedded files. Prism 10.1.2 was released on December 14, 2023 with a fix for this issue. Please download and install this or a newer version of Prism either by checking for updates from within the application (open the Help menu and select "Check for Updates") or by downloading the latest installer on our updates page.

If for some reason, you are unable to update to the latest version of Prism, you may still try to use the workarounds below to continue working with embedded (OLE) Prism objects in Microsoft Office Applications.

Workaround to open an embedded (OLE) Prism object from PowerPoint

• Reboot the computer to make sure that both Prism and PowerPoint are completely closed. It is important that all instances and processes of these apps are not loaded into RAM, and the easiest way to do this is simply to reboot. An alternative to rebooting is to open the Task Manager, switch to Details, find all instances of Prism.exe and PowerPnt.exe, and choose "End Task"
• Run PowerPoint as an administrator. To do this, locate the PowerPoint application, right-click it, and select "Run as administrator". Important: make sure that you choose to run as administrator immediately after rebooting your computer. If you open any files or related applications, it's possible that a relevant process may be started that will not allow this workaround to succeed
• Open the relevant PowerPoint file and double click on the embedded (OLE) Prism object. This will automatically launch Prism
• There is no need to launch Prism manually. If you launch Prism manually, this may cause issues when trying to open the OLE Prism object

Workaround to send a Prism graph/layout to PowerPoint

• Reboot the computer to make sure that both Prism and PowerPoint are completely closed. It is important that all instances and processes of these apps are not loaded into RAM, and the easiest way to do this is simply to reboot. An alternative to rebooting is to open the Task Manager, switch to Details, find all instances of Prism.exe and PowerPnt.exe, and choose "End Task"
• Run Prism without choosing to run as administrator
• Open the relevant Prism file and click the "Send to PowerPoint" button in the Prism toolbar. This will automatically launch PowerPoint
• There is no need to launch PowerPoint manually. If you launch PowerPoint manually, this may cause issues when trying to send the Prism graph/layout to PowerPoint

General tips

1. If you've closed both Prism and PowerPoint following the steps above, but you're still having trouble, try restarting your computer before trying these workarounds. This should end any other Prism or PowerPoint tasks that are running
2. Try to avoid manually launching Prism or PowerPoint, especially when using "Run as administrator". These actions require that Prism and PowerPoint are able to communicate with each other. If the applications don't have the appropriate rights/privileges, you may not be able to send a Prism graph/layout to PowerPoint or to open an embedded Prism project from within PowerPoint. Both of these actions will automatically launch the other application as needed

What can I do?

One of these workarounds should solve the problem:

• Run PowerPoint as an administrator. To do this, search for PowerPoint through the search menu, then right-click and select "Run as administrator"

• Ensure that your Microsoft Office applications are up to date. Tips from Microsoft on how to check for updates can be found here

• Reboot your computer. That solves lots of strange problems.

• Right-click on the object in PowerPoint (or Word), choose GraphPad Prism Object, and then choose Convert. Finally, choose the version of Prism you have installed. If the object was embedded with an older version of Prism, this will allow you to open it with a more recent version.

• Right-click on the saved PowerPoint file, choose Properties and click the Change...button from the General tab.  Select the Recommended Program (PowerPoint). 

• Find Prism.exe, right click and choose Properties. Uncheck the option, "Run as administrator".

• When you save the PowerPoint file, use the PPTX format, instead of older formats.

 

If those suggestions don't help, please Google for the message. The message comes from Windows, not Prism, and you'll find lots of sites that discuss it.