Excel & PPT Content Examples don't work on Desktop Apps & on the Browser the content element can't be moved

[rhumbertgz]

URL of sample

• excel-content-hello-world
• powerpoint-content-hello-world

Describe the bug
I downloaded this repository and try to run the content examples listed above. I followed the recommended npm install and npm run start but the add-in is not shown under the development add-ins section in the Add-ins Popup. The same error happens on both Mac OS and Windows. I tried also the Edge browser on MacOS and Windows. When I upload the manifest with the local server running (npm run dev-server) I get and error saying the manifest is not valid.

However, the add-in is listed under "My Add-ins" and I was able to add it to both Excel worksheet and PPT Slide. The Get Data From Selection button works but I can't move the content element neither on Excel or PPT online. Opening the same documents on the Desktop apps I can move them, but I get this error:

FYI, running npm run validate on both examples on MacOS and Windows fails. I get this error:
Error: Invalid regular expression: /^(?!.*[\r\n\f\b\v\a\t])[\S]*\.xll$/u: Invalid escape

To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Go to 'Office-Add-in-samples' and download the repository
2. Navigate to:

• excel-content-hello-world
• powerpoint-content-hello-world

3. Run the recommended commands npm install and npm run start

Expected behavior
The PPT and Excel Desktop apps should list the Excel/PPT Content Add-in

Test on the web

1. As an alternative run npm install and npm run dev-server
2. Open PPT/Excel on the Edge Browser
3. Click on the Add-ins Command under the HOME tab
4. Click the Advanced... link
5. Click the Upload My Add-in link on the top-right corner of the Office Add-ins Dialog
6. Locate the manifest.json of the PPT/Excel Content example and upload it
7. Click the added PPT/Excel Content Add-in to add it to the current slide or worksheet
8. Try to move the added element

Expected behavior

You should be able to move the content element.

Environment

• Platform: PC desktop, Mac, Office Online
• Host: Excel, PowerPoint
• Office version number: Windows: 19725.20170, MacOS: 16.107.1 (26031524)
• Operating System: Windows 11 Enterprise 24H2, MacOS 26.3 (25D125)
• Browser (if using Office Online): Windows Edge: 145.0.3800.97 , MacOS Edge: 146.0.3856.62

Additional context

Add any other context about the problem here.

[AlexJerabek]

Thank you for reporting this.

@ElizabethSamuel-MSFT, could you please investigate?

[ElizabethSamuel-MSFT]

@rhumbertgz We're working on fixing the issue.

Note that the validate issue you mentioned is known - see #6583. For these samples, this isn't a blocking error. But we can't roll back to v.22 because it doesn't support content add-ins.

[Rick-Kirkham]

@rhumbertgz The fix is in the vDevPreview version, so you might try changing the first two lines of the manifest to:
"$schema": "https://developer.microsoft.com/json-schemas/teams/vDevPreview/MicrosoftTeams.schema.json",
"manifestVersion": "DevPreview",

[rhumbertgz]

@Rick-Kirkham thanks for the update! I tried on MacOS the DevPreview and it is working 👍
I will try tomorrow at work on Windows, but I guess it should work :)

[ElizabethSamuel-MSFT]

@rhumbertgz I think I've determined what the issue is. I have a fix in a PR now. After it's merged and the site redeployed, I'll be able to verify if the issue has been fixed.

[ElizabethSamuel-MSFT]

@rhumbertgz The samples should be working now. Thx again for letting us know about this issue.

[rhumbertgz]

@ElizabethSamuel-MSFT I tried the latest demo code, and on Windows it doesn't work. I then tried the DevPreview change suggested by @Rick-Kirkham which works for me on MacOS, but no luck.

Btw, i noticed that on Windows, the manifest value must be "devPreview" otherwise npm start fails. I even got a warning on VSCode when I used "DevPreview", but on MacOS I don't get such warning. FYI, on MacOS I'm just using the dev-server and I manually sideloaded the add-in.