Bug 27929 - [PATCH] Opening XLS file with drop down list throws ArrayIndexOutofBoundsException
Summary: [PATCH] Opening XLS file with drop down list throws ArrayIndexOutofBoundsExce...
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: POI
Classification: Unclassified
Component: HSSF (show other bugs)
Version: unspecified
Hardware: All All
: P3 major with 27 votes (vote)
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: POI Developers List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks: 30772 30861
  Show dependency tree
 
Reported: 2004-03-25 00:55 UTC by asehbai
Modified: 2006-01-25 07:19 UTC (History)
8 users (show)



Attachments
Java program that reproduces the bug (652 bytes, text/plain)
2004-03-25 01:02 UTC, asehbai
Details
XLS file (with drop down) that causes bug (13.50 KB, application/octet-stream)
2004-03-25 01:06 UTC, asehbai
Details
ObjRecord-patch27929.java, workaround for bug 27929 (6.21 KB, text/plain)
2004-04-29 09:38 UTC, Roland Geier
Details
CVS DIFF and new TestCase classes (3.54 KB, application/zip)
2004-06-03 05:33 UTC, Michael Zalewski
Details
diff -u against HEAD (2.86 KB, patch)
2004-06-26 02:12 UTC, Michael Zalewski
Details | Diff
Revised TestSubRecord.java JUnit Testcase (4.23 KB, patch)
2004-06-27 15:27 UTC, Michael Zalewski
Details | Diff

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Description asehbai 2004-03-25 00:55:54 UTC
Using POI version 2.5 final.

When given an XLS file with a drop-down list, the constructor call to 
HSSFWorkbook throws the following exception:

java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException: 
java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException
        at java.lang.System.arraycopy(Native Method)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.UnknownRecord.<init>
(UnknownRecord.java:62)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.SubRecord.createSubRecord
(SubRecord.java:57)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.ObjRecord.fillFields(ObjRecord.java:99)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.Record.fillFields(Record.java:90)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.Record.<init>(Record.java:55)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.ObjRecord.<init>(ObjRecord.java:61)
        at java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance(Native Method)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.RecordFactory.createRecord
(RecordFactory.java:224)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.RecordFactory.createRecords
(RecordFactory.java:160)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>
(HSSFWorkbook.java:165)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>
(HSSFWorkbook.java:132)
        at nas.components.nruf.poi25test.main(poi25test.java:14)
Exception in thread "main" org.apache.poi.hssf.record.RecordFormatException: 
Unable to construct record instance, the fo
llowing exception occured: null
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.RecordFactory.createRecord
(RecordFactory.java:237)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.RecordFactory.createRecords
(RecordFactory.java:160)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>
(HSSFWorkbook.java:165)
        at org.apache.poi.hssf.usermodel.HSSFWorkbook.<init>
(HSSFWorkbook.java:132)
        at nas.components.nruf.poi25test.main(poi25test.java:14)

I will attach the simple Java program used and an offending XLS file.
Comment 1 asehbai 2004-03-25 01:02:54 UTC
Created attachment 10968 [details]
Java program that reproduces the bug
Comment 2 asehbai 2004-03-25 01:06:05 UTC
Created attachment 10969 [details]
XLS file (with drop down) that causes bug
Comment 3 Roland Geier 2004-04-29 09:34:12 UTC
I was able to track down this bug even for an 'empty' workbook (that is, nothing
is visible there). The error occurs if in a call to static method

SubRecord.createSubRecord(
  short subRecordSid, short size, byte[] data, int offset 
)

the 'size' parameters exceeds the available space in the 'data' buffer. As a
consequence.

I implemented a workaround that works for me by doing some checks in method
ObjRecord::fillFields() before the thread of control proceeds to
SubRecord.createSubRecords() there. I'm well aware this patch might be
dangerous. Find the diff of file ObjRecord.java below, the entire new file is
placed into a separate attachment (that still contains some useful trace messages).

99c99,107
<  Record subRecord = SubRecord.createSubRecord(subRecordSid, subRecordSize,
data, pos + 4);
---
>  Record subRecord = null;
>  if (size - (pos+4) < subRecordSize)
>  {
>    subRecord = SubRecord.createSubRecord(subRecordSid,size-(pos+4)), data, pos+4);
>  }
>  else
>  {
>    subRecord = SubRecord.createSubRecord(subRecordSid, subRecordSize, data,
pos+4);
>  }
103d110
<
Comment 4 Roland Geier 2004-04-29 09:38:27 UTC
Created attachment 11371 [details]
ObjRecord-patch27929.java, workaround for bug 27929
Comment 5 Rahul Karnik 2004-05-12 14:54:06 UTC
I can reproduce this bug with 2.5 FINAL.
Comment 6 Michael Zalewski 2004-06-03 05:29:28 UTC
Here is an alternate patch, with JUnit Testcases.

I came up with almost the same solution as Roland except

1) I adjusted the size in the static method SubRecord.createSubRecord(). I
    also set the sub record size to 0 if it is ever negative.
2) I adjusted the size of the subrecord to 4 less than the total size of the
    OBJ record. The last 4 bytes of an OBJ record should always be an ftEnd
    subrecord, and this appears to be the case with Autofilters and dropdown
    boxes inserted via the Forms toolbar.
3) I adjusted Obj.java to advance the offset by SubRecord.getRecordSize()
    (instead of 4 + subRecordSize). The value of subRecordSize may not be
    reliable.

The patch includes new JUnit Testcases for the modified SubRecord.java and 
ObjRecord.java. These tests fail with the 2.5 as pulled yesterday, but work 
with the changes in the patch file.
Comment 7 Michael Zalewski 2004-06-03 05:33:49 UTC
Created attachment 11735 [details]
CVS DIFF and new TestCase classes
Comment 8 Danny Mui 2004-06-18 23:06:17 UTC
Hi Michael, can you provide a unified diff?  I'd rather merge the diff once for
either Release 2 or HEAD.

Thanks.
Comment 9 Michael Zalewski 2004-06-26 02:12:42 UTC
Created attachment 11954 [details]
diff -u against HEAD
Comment 10 Glen Stampoultzis 2004-06-27 11:49:02 UTC
Michael, I'm just trying to understand your test case.  

The following test case is failing:

    public void testParseEnd()
    {
        Record r = SubRecord.createSubRecord( (short) 0x0015, (short) 0x0012,
dataAutoFilter, 0x0000 );
        assertEquals( "ftCmo is 22 bytes", 22, r.getRecordSize() );
        assertEquals( "ftEnd is a EndSubRecord"
                , "org.apache.poi.hssf.record.EndSubRecord"
                , r.getClass().getName() );
    }


The sid you're passing in is for the CommonObjectDataSubRecord record yet your
test is expecting it to be a EndSubRecord.  Why is this the case?

Comment 11 Michael Zalewski 2004-06-27 15:21:53 UTC
Looks like I goofed. That last testcase should be

public void testParseEnd() {
  Record r = SubRecord.createSubRecord(
      (short)0x0000, (short)0x0000, dataAutoFilter, 0x0046
  );
  assertEquals( "ftEnd is 4 bytes", 4, r.getRecordSize());
  assertEquals( 
      "ftEnd is a EndSubRecord"
    , "org.apache.poi.hssf.record.EndSubRecord"
    , r.getClass().getName()
  );
}

Nothing fancy about this testcase. It merely takes the actual bytes from an OBJ 
record that describes a dropdown, which was causing a problem in this report. 
Since I needed to change that method (SubRecord.createSubRecord), and verifies 
that the subrecords are all parsed and created properly.
Comment 12 Michael Zalewski 2004-06-27 15:27:15 UTC
Created attachment 11963 [details]
Revised TestSubRecord.java JUnit Testcase
Comment 13 Glen Stampoultzis 2004-06-27 23:25:50 UTC
Tried the new patch but get the following error now:

java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException
	at java.lang.System.arraycopy(Native Method)
	at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.UnknownRecord.<init>(UnknownRecord.java:62)
	at org.apache.poi.hssf.record.SubRecord.createSubRecord(SubRecord.java:57)
	at
org.apache.poi.hssf.record.TestSubRecord.testParseAutoFilterLbsData(TestSubRecord.java:82)

Comment 14 Michael Zalewski 2004-06-28 03:57:54 UTC
I'm guessing you did not apply the changes to SubRecord.java and ObjRecord.java

http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/showattachment.cgi?attach_id=11954

The ArrayIndexOutOfBounds is exactly what is happening inside the 
InvocationTargetException, whenever there is a dropdown list on the spreadsheet

There is also a JUnit testcase TestSubRecord.java

http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/showattachment.cgi?attach_id=11963

BTW, there is also another JUnit testcase TestObjRecord.java, inside the zip 
file at

http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/showattachment.cgi?attach_id=11735

Let me see if I can put all this together in a single ZIP file

Revised ObjRecord.java
Revised SubRecord.java
New TestObjRecord.java
New TestSubRecord.java
Comment 15 Danny Mui 2004-06-30 15:32:38 UTC
as a sidenote, Eclipse's [Team - Create Patch] patch creation includes new files
in one single patch.  A lot easier to submit to bugzilla.
Comment 16 Glen Stampoultzis 2004-07-03 11:50:40 UTC
I applied them as far as I can tell.  Here's a diff with the changes applied to
you can compare for yourself.

Index: java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/ObjRecord.java
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/cvs/jakarta-poi/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/ObjRecord.java,v
retrieving revision 1.1.2.2
diff -u -r1.1.2.2 ObjRecord.java
--- java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/ObjRecord.java	22 Feb 2004 11:54:47 -0000
1.1.2.2
+++ java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/ObjRecord.java	3 Jul 2004 11:47:12 -0000
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@
             short subRecordSize = LittleEndian.getShort(data, pos + 2);
             Record subRecord = SubRecord.createSubRecord(subRecordSid,
subRecordSize, data, pos + 4);
             subrecords.add(subRecord);
-            pos += 4 + subRecordSize;
+            pos += subRecord.getRecordSize();
         }
 
     }
Index: java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/SubRecord.java
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/cvs/jakarta-poi/src/java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/SubRecord.java,v
retrieving revision 1.1.2.2
diff -u -r1.1.2.2 SubRecord.java
--- java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/SubRecord.java	22 Feb 2004 11:54:47 -0000
1.1.2.2
+++ java/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/SubRecord.java	3 Jul 2004 11:47:12 -0000
@@ -42,19 +42,28 @@
     {
         Record r = null;
 
+        short adjustedSize = size;
+        if( size < 0) {
+           adjustedSize = 0;
+        } else if( offset + size > data.length) {
+           adjustedSize = (short) (data.length - offset);
+           if( adjustedSize > 4) {
+              adjustedSize -= 4;
+           }
+        }
         switch ( subRecordSid )
         {
             case CommonObjectDataSubRecord.sid:
-                r = new CommonObjectDataSubRecord( subRecordSid, size, data,
offset );
+                r = new CommonObjectDataSubRecord( subRecordSid, adjustedSize,
data, offset );
                 break;
             case GroupMarkerSubRecord.sid:
-                r = new GroupMarkerSubRecord( subRecordSid, size, data, offset );
+                r = new GroupMarkerSubRecord( subRecordSid, adjustedSize, data,
offset );
                 break;
             case EndSubRecord.sid:
-                r = new EndSubRecord( subRecordSid, size, data, offset );
+                r = new EndSubRecord( subRecordSid, adjustedSize, data, offset );
                 break;
             default:
-                r = new UnknownRecord( subRecordSid, size, data, offset );
+                r = new UnknownRecord( subRecordSid, adjustedSize, data, offset );
         }
 
         return r;
Index: testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestObjRecord.java
===================================================================
RCS file: testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestObjRecord.java
diff -N testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestObjRecord.java
--- /dev/null	1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0000
+++ testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestObjRecord.java	3 Jul 2004 11:47:18
-0000
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/* ====================================================================
+   Copyright 2002-2004   Apache Software Foundation
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+==================================================================== */
+
+package org.apache.poi.hssf.record;
+
+import junit.framework.*;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Tests for OBJ record.  Test data taken directly
+ * from a real Excel file.
+ *
+ * @author Michael Zalewski (zalewski at optonline.net)
+ */
+public class TestObjRecord extends TestCase
+{
+
+    public TestObjRecord(String name)
+    {
+        super(name);
+    }
+
+
+/*
+   The following is a dump of the OBJ record corresponding to an auto-filter
+   drop-down list. The 3rd subrecord beginning at offset 0x002e (type=0x0013)
+   does not conform to the documentation, because the length field is 0x1fee,
+   which is longer than the entire OBJ record.
+
+   00000000 15 00 12 00 14 00 01 00 01 21 00 00 00 00 3C 13 .........!....<. 
Type=0x15 Len=0x0012 ftCmo
+   00000010 F4 03 00 00 00 00
+                              0C 00 14 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ 
Type=0x0c Len=0x0014 ftSbs
+   00000020 00 00 00 00 01 00 08 00 00 00 10 00 00 00
+                                                      13 00 ................ 
Type=0x13 Len=0x1FEE ftLbsData
+   00000030 EE 1F 00 00 08 00 08 00 01 03 00 00 0A 00 14 00 ................
+   00000040 6C 00
+                  00 00 00 00                               l.....           
Type=0x00 Len=0x0000 ftEnd
+*/
+
+    byte[] dataAutoFilter = new byte[] {
+         // ftCmo
+  	    
(byte)0x15,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x12,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x14,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x01,(byte)0x00
+       
,(byte)0x01,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x01,(byte)0x21,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x3c,(byte)0x13
+        ,(byte)0xf4,(byte)0x03,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00
+
+         // ftSbs (currently UnknownSubrecord)
+                                                                            
,(byte)0x0c,(byte)0x00
+       
,(byte)0x14,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00
+       
,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x01,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x08,(byte)0x00
+        ,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x10,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00
+
+         // ftLbsData (currently UnknownSubrecord)
+                                                                            
,(byte)0x13,(byte)0x00
+       
,(byte)0xee,(byte)0x1f,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x08,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x08,(byte)0x00
+       
,(byte)0x01,(byte)0x03,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x0a,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x14,(byte)0x00
+        ,(byte)0x6c,(byte)0x00
+
+         // ftEnd
+                               ,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00,(byte)0x00
+    };
+
+    public void testAutoFilter() {
+       ObjRecord or = new ObjRecord( ObjRecord.sid, (short)
dataAutoFilter.length, dataAutoFilter);
+       assertEquals( "Obj record size", 74, or.getRecordSize());
+       List lstSubRecords = or.getSubRecords();
+       assertEquals( "Subrecord count", 4, lstSubRecords.size());
+       Object oSubRecord = lstSubRecords.get( 0);
+       assertEquals(
+             "First subrecord class"
+           , "org.apache.poi.hssf.record.CommonObjectDataSubRecord"
+           , oSubRecord.getClass().getName()
+       );
+       oSubRecord = lstSubRecords.get( 3);
+       assertEquals(
+             "Last subrecord class"
+           , "org.apache.poi.hssf.record.EndSubRecord"
+           , oSubRecord.getClass().getName()
+       );
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
Index: testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestSubRecord.java
===================================================================
RCS file: testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestSubRecord.java
diff -N testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestSubRecord.java
--- /dev/null	1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 -0000
+++ testcases/org/apache/poi/hssf/record/TestSubRecord.java	3 Jul 2004 11:47:19
-0000
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+/* ====================================================================
+   Copyright 2002-2004   Apache Software Foundation
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+==================================================================== */
+
+package org.apache.poi.hssf.record;
+
+import junit.framework.*;
+
+/**
+ * Tests Subrecord components of an OBJ record.  Test data taken directly
+ * from a real Excel file.
+ *
+ * @author Michael Zalewski (zalewski at optonline.net)
+ */
+public class TestSubRecord extends TestCase
+{
+    /*
+       The following is a dump of the OBJ record corresponding to an auto-filter
+       drop-down list. The 3rd subrecord beginning at offset 0x002e (type=0x0013)
+       does not conform to the documentation, because the length field is 0x1fee,
+       which is longer than the entire OBJ record.
+
+       00000000 15 00 12 00 14 00 01 00 01 21 00 00 00 00 3C 13
.........!....<.  Type=0x15 Len=0x0012 ftCmo
+       00000010 F4 03 00 00 00 00
+                                  0C 00 14 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
................  Type=0x0c Len=0x0014 ftSbs
+       00000020 00 00 00 00 01 00 08 00 00 00 10 00 00 00
+                                                          13 00
................  Type=0x13 Len=0x1FEE ftLbsData
+       00000030 EE 1F 00 00 08 00 08 00 01 03 00 00 0A 00 14 00 ................
+       00000040 6C 00
+                      00 00 00 00                               l.....        
   Type=0x00 Len=0x0000 ftEnd
+    */
+
+    byte[] dataAutoFilter = new byte[]{
+        // ftCmo
+        (byte) 0x15, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x12, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x14, (byte)
0x00, (byte) 0x01, (byte) 0x00
+        , (byte) 0x01, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x01, (byte) 0x21, (byte) 0x00,
(byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x3c, (byte) 0x13
+        , (byte) 0xf4, (byte) 0x03, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00,
(byte) 0x00
+
+        // ftSbs (currently UnknownSubrecord)
+        , (byte) 0x0c, (byte) 0x00
+        , (byte) 0x14, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00,
(byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00
+        , (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x01,
(byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x08, (byte) 0x00
+        , (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x10, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00,
(byte) 0x00
+
+        // ftLbsData (currently UnknownSubrecord)
+        , (byte) 0x13, (byte) 0x00
+        , (byte) 0xee, (byte) 0x1f, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x08,
(byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x08, (byte) 0x00
+        , (byte) 0x01, (byte) 0x03, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x0a,
(byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x14, (byte) 0x00
+        , (byte) 0x6c, (byte) 0x00
+
+        // ftEnd
+        , (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00, (byte) 0x00
+    };
+
+    public TestSubRecord( String name )
+    {
+        super( name );
+    }
+
+    public void testParseCmo()
+    {
+        Record r = SubRecord.createSubRecord( (short) 0x0015, (short) 0x0012,
dataAutoFilter, 0x0000 );
+        assertEquals( "ftCmo is 22 bytes", 22, r.getRecordSize() );
+        assertEquals( "ftCmo is a CommonObjectDataSubRecord"
+                , "org.apache.poi.hssf.record.CommonObjectDataSubRecord"
+                , r.getClass().getName() );
+    }
+
+    public void testParseAutoFilterLbsData()
+    {
+        Record r = SubRecord.createSubRecord( (short) 0x0013, (short) 0x1fee,
dataAutoFilter, 0x0032 );
+        assertEquals( "ftLbsData is 20 bytes", 20, r.getRecordSize() );
+    }
+
+    public void testParseEnd()
+    {
+        Record r = SubRecord.createSubRecord( (short) 0x0000, (short) 0x0000,
dataAutoFilter, 0x0046 );
+        assertEquals( "ftEnd is 4 bytes", 4, r.getRecordSize() );
+        assertEquals( "ftEnd is a EndSubRecord"
+                , "org.apache.poi.hssf.record.EndSubRecord"
+                , r.getClass().getName() );
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
Comment 17 Marcus Sundman 2004-07-08 19:27:30 UTC
Stuff like this is extremely ugly on more than one level (copy'n'paste from org.
apache.poi.hssf.record.RecordFactory.createRecord):
--------8<---------------------------------------------------
   catch (Exception introspectionException)
   {
      introspectionException.printStackTrace();
      throw new RecordFormatException("...");
   }
-------->8---------------------------------------------------

Instead you should do it like this:
--------8<---------------------------------------------------
   catch (Exception introspectionException)
   {
      RecordFormatException rfe = new RecordFormatException("...");
      rfe.initCause(introspectionException);
      throw rfe;
   }
-------->8---------------------------------------------------

Or even better, make a new constructor in RecordFormatException:
--------8<---------------------------------------------------
   public RecordFormatException(String message, Throwable cause)
   {
      super(exception, cause);
   }

[and then]

   catch (Exception introspectionException)
   {
      throw new RecordFormatException("...", introspectionException);
   }
-------->8---------------------------------------------------

Comment 18 Ryutaro Murai 2004-08-10 17:41:10 UTC
I was going to report that using the Data > Filter > Autofilter feature causes the worksheet to fail to 
load, but it appears to be just one facet of this bug, and a major headache. Is there any way to get 
around this?
Comment 19 Ryutaro Murai 2004-08-11 14:26:31 UTC
OK, maybe that was a stupid question. What I meant was "Is there any way to work around this without 
having to actually edit the source, learn how to use Ant, etc." Meantime I managed to edit the source, 
learn how to use Ant, and get it fixed. Works great, MacOS X, Java 1.4.2, Hooray. Still, I think there are 
enough people out there who aren't going to get much farther than the limitations page. Maybe this 
bug (and a workaround, if there is one) should be addressed there?

POI rocks. Jakarta rocks. Java rocks.
Comment 20 Peter Lobacz 2004-09-02 14:21:44 UTC
Using POI 2.5.1 final

The error occurs when reading an xls file with a pivot table. I suppose it 
happens because of the drop down in the pivot table.

The ObjRecord-patch27929.java works well for me!!!
Comment 21 Glen Stampoultzis 2004-09-19 02:29:23 UTC
Okay... finally applied this one to HEAD.  Sorry to be such a slow bastard.
Comment 22 Arunanthisivam Vimalathithen 2005-02-08 11:18:59 UTC
The patch file produces errors if an attempt is made to write to the same excel 
file as the solution in the patch adds null sub records. A work around is 
possible by putting null checks toString and serialize methods. The methods are 
given bellow.

    public String toString()
    {
        StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();

        buffer.append("[OBJ]\n");
        for ( Iterator iterator = subrecords.iterator(); iterator.hasNext(); )
        {
            Record record = (Record) iterator.next();
		if(record != null) {
	            buffer.append("SUBRECORD: " + record.toString());
		}
        }
        buffer.append("[/OBJ]\n");
        return buffer.toString();
    }


    public int serialize(int offset, byte[] data)
    {
        int pos = 0;

        LittleEndian.putShort(data, 0 + offset, sid);
        LittleEndian.putShort(data, 2 + offset, (short)(getRecordSize() - 4));

        pos = offset + 4;
        for ( Iterator iterator = subrecords.iterator(); iterator.hasNext(); )
        {
            Record record = (Record) iterator.next();
		if(record != null) {
	            pos += record.serialize(pos, data);
		}
        }

        return getRecordSize();
    }