2436298 - Error "Dereferencing of the NULL reference (RS_EXCEPTION-000)" in AO

The error "Dereferencing of the NULL reference" is occurring when refreshing an existing workbook or inserting a query in Analysis for Office.

This might happen after an upgrade in the BW system.

The following entries appear in Analysis Office trace file:

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Program error in class SAPMSSY1 method : UNCAUGHT_EXCEPTION

ABEND RS_EXCEPTION (000): Dereferencing of the NULL reference
MSGV1: Dereferencing of the NULL reference
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.message.impl.MessageManager.addMessageInternal(MessageManager:211)
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.message.impl.MessageManager.addMessageByListener(MessageManager:178)
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.message.impl.MessageManager.addMessage(MessageManager:131)
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.message.impl.MessageManager.addMessageInternal(MessageManager:207)
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.message.impl.MessageManager.addMessageByListener(MessageManager:178)
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.message.impl.MessageManager.addMessage(MessageManager:131)
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.service.RfcService.fillMessages(RfcService:358)
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.service.RfcService.doPostProcessing(RfcService:308)
com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.service.rfcproxy.base.RfcFunction.execute(RfcFunction:95)
com.sap.ip.bi.bics.dataaccess.resource.impl.bi.selector.variableprocessor.ProviderVariableContainer.submitVariables(ProviderVariableContainer:583)
com.sap.ip.bi.bics.dataaccess.consumer.impl.selector.variableprocessor.VariableProcessor.submitVariables(VariableProcessor:533)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.models.CrVariableContainer.SubmitVariables(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.models.CrModelApplication.AssignDpsCompletely(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.commands.CrVarContextChangeCommandHelper.Execute(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.models.CrDataProvider.AssignCompletely(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.commands.CrCommandRefreshSingleDp.ExecuteCommand(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.common.commands.CoCommandBase.Execute(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.common.commands.CoCommandProcessor.CommandExecute(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.common.commands.CoCommandProcessor.InitialCommandExecute(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.common.commands.CoCommandProcessor.DoExecuteCommandInternal(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.common.commands.CoCommandProcessor.DoExecuteCommand(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.commands.CrCommandProcessor.DoExecuteCommand(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.common.commands.CoCommandProcessor.DoExecuteCommand(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.controls.contextMenuControls.CnContextMenuCommandListener.RibbonCommandListener_OnButtonAction(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.controls.contextMenuControls.CnContextMenuButton.FireActionEvent(Unknown Source)
cli.com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.shared.addin2007.Connect.ContextMenuOnButtonAction(Unknown Source)

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SAP Analysis for Microsoft Office

The issue might be caused by a corrupted cache file of the BW system in client machine.

1. Make sure that all Excel sessions are closed;
2. Delete the cache of the BW system in the client machine. The default path is the following:
   -> C:\Users\<USER>\AppData\Roaming\SAP AG\SAP BusinessObjects Advanced Analysis\cache
3. Check whether the issue remains;
4. Implement the SAP note to avoid the errors related to the cache of the BW system:
   -> 2798918 - Improve calculation of AO RFC metadata timestamp

In AO 2.8 SP16 and higher versions, the cache of the BW system in client machine is automatically deleted when the error is thrown. Refer to SAP Note 3255878 for more details.

3255878 - The AO Metadata Cache needs to be updated

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