2547408 - Error "Unable to cast object of type 'System.NullReferenceException' to type 'bali.lang.Exception'" in AO

The error "Unable to cast object of type 'System.NullReferenceException' to type 'bali.lang.Exception'" is occurring when trying to connect to a BW system in Analysis for Office.

The following entries appear in Analysis Office trace file:

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General .NET Exception:
Unable to cast object of type 'System.NullReferenceException' to type 'bali.lang.Exception'.
at com.sap.ip.bi.base.application.service.rfcproxy.base.RfcFunction.execute()
at com.sap.ip.bi.bics.dataaccess.resource.impl.bi.dataarea.DataArea.create()
at com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.models.CrDataArea.CreateDataArea(CrModelApplication iApp, IDataArea iBicsDataArea)
at com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.models.CrModelApplication.GetCreateDataArea(CoSystemInfo iSystemInfo)
at com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.models.CrDataProvider.AssignQueryViewPrepare(Boolean iSkipCreation)
at com.sap.ip.bi.pioneer.core.models.CrModelApplication.AssignDpsCompletely(List`1 iCompleteDpList, List`1 iDpListForVarScreenPossible, CreWithVariablePrompt iWithVariablePrompt, Boolean iWithMessageIfNoVar, CrePromptShown& oPromptShown, Boolean iForceDocumentModePromptsScreen)

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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.

Check whether the issue remains after deleting 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

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