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Error HTTP ERROR 401 or 401 Authorization Required when using WRITEBACK

Overview

When using the WRITEBACK or WRITEBACKARGUMENTS function in Excel Online on a Mac, a type of "401 Unauthorized" message may appear:


Excel Online showing an HTTP 401 Unauthorized error when using the Velixo WRITEBACK function on Mac Safari

or

Alternative 401 Authorization Required error dialog from the Acumatica API during a WRITEBACK call on Mac


or the following message can be displayed:


Velixo task pane showing Value Not Available Error with the Something went wrong message for WRITEBACK


Excerpt from Message Text:

Value Not Available Error
Something went wrong, please carefully check the function arguments.

The ERP system's API returned the following error (note that it can sometimes be deeply technical, confusing, and/or not reflecting the real root cause of the failure):

Cause

Acumatica requires the use of "cookies" to authenticate Velixo during writeback operations. The Mac's Safari browser can be very strict in disabling any cross-site cookies.

We are in contact with Acumatica to development techniques to avoid this issue.

Workarounds

Here are three options for working around this particular issue:

  • Use Excel Desktop for Mac (instead of Excel Online)

  • Use the Chrome / Edge browser (instead of the Safari browser)

  • Uncheck the box "Prevent cross-site tracking" in Safari's Privacy Options: