Error "Invalid Javascript returned by the Server" in Web Data Entry Form or Data Grid

Applies to:

Symptoms

Sometimes a popup javascript error "Invalid Javascript returned by the server" may appear when the user is opening or moving around in Web Data Entry Forms or Data Grids in the web interface of Hyperion Financial Management.

This most often occurs when the grid / web form is supposed to be displaying not just the labels of the metadata items in rows and columns but also their descriptions (in the users current language).

It will most often be seen when the problem is related to the entity metadata, so it will appear when expanding the entity hierarchy, or when expanding the ICP dimension (since ICP dimension is made dynamically from those entities which have IsICP enabled in their metadata properties).

However, it may also be seen in any dimension which accepts descriptions such as Scenario, Account or Custom 1-4 dimensions.

Cause

Most often this is caused by invalid metadata characters in the descriptions.

It is frequently seen when the & (ampersand) symbol is used in the description of some items. As documented in the HFM Administrators Guide, & is not an allowed symbol in any Description property.

Solution

1. Open your metadata file in a text editor and search for the symbol & or the string &
   
2. Recognise which metadata members contain the bad metadata
   
3. Edit the metadata in HFM's Metadata Manager, Enterprise Performance Management Architect (EPMA) or by your usual method to remove the invalid symbol.
   
4. Load the "cleaned" metadata into the application and test again the grid or Web Data Entry Form functionality. 
   
   You may need to clear your browser cache/cookies and close your web browser and open a fresh session to get the updated content.