1. Account Administration
  2. CSV Imports
  3. CSV Import Error Messages
  4. General Import Errors

General Import Errors

This section describes errors that you might see on any type of import. See the following:

There is already an item with that name or name/parent combination

The error occurs when the CSV file contains duplicate data for a multi-select field column.

To resolve the error, review the CSV file, look for a multi-select field column, and make sure that no data (internal ID) is entered twice.

Example

Incorrect:

(CSV File) Custom Field value = 1|2|3|4|5|5|6

Correct:

(CSV File) Custom Field value = 1|2|3|4|5|6

The following file(s) could not be uploaded because of one or more errors. Please correct and re-upload.

CSV import errors are encountered if leads, estimates and opportunity CSV files that have a character encoding option of UTF-8 are saved with ANSI encoding. The error is resolved if the special character for example 'ä', is removed from the CSV file.

Incorrect file encoding was used when the file is saved for import. When saving the file for import:

  1. Open the CSV file in Notepad.

  2. Select File > Save as.

  3. In the Encoding dropdown list, select UTF-8.

  4. Click Save.

  5. Import this file using the Import Assistant.

Mandatory field missing for field "XXXX"

The file might contain extra commas. When you open a CSV file in Excel, extra commas are not visible. However, extra commas are visible when you open the file in Notepad.

Use Notepad or a similar application to open the CSV file and look for extra commas.

You do not have permissions to set a value for element XXXX due to one of the following reasons: 1) The field is read-only; 2) An associated feature is disabled

To resolve the error, in the Import Assistant, expand the Advanced Options menu and check Ignore Read-Only Fields. This option is enabled by default; however, for existing imports, Ignore Read-Only Fields is disabled.

Invalid effective date reference key

The error occurs when the date format of the Effective Date column in the CSV file is inconsistent with the date format used in the Date Format field found in Home > Set Preferences > General, in the Formatting field group.

To resolve the issue, do one of the following:

Excel converts value from text to date format

The format conversion happens when:

  1. A value is initially formatted as text

  2. The file is saved as a CSV file.

  3. Excel incorrectly converts the value to the date format.

  4. The file is opened again.

If the CSV file is saved again, it retains the incorrect formatting. Then, if that file is used in a CSV import, an invalid reference error is received.

To prevent Microsoft Excel from automatically converting text values to the date format, enter an equal sign with quotation marks on the value. This notation forces the use of the text format.

For example, to enter Sept 2013, in Excel, enter =" Sept 2013". Note the space after the quotation marks.

A Saved Search with Internal ID xxx does not exist

The error is triggered by a custom field on the form that pulls its value from the results of a saved search and one of the following conditions is met:

To resolve the error, the administrator needs to ensure that:

  1. The saved search is active, and

  2. The user has access to the saved search (either the saved search is public or the user belongs to the audience for the search). For more information, see Defining Audiences for Saved Searches.

Please enter a value for amount

The error occurs when:

To format the Amount column in the CSV file:

  1. Select the column.

  2. Right-click and select Format Cells.

  3. On the Number tab, select Number.

  4. Click OK.

  5. Save the file.

Also ensure that there are no zero values in the Amount column. Some imports require that the amount not be zero.

There is already a Custom Record Entry with that name

The error occurs when the external ID is specified in the CSV file. The external ID serves as a reference key and should be unique for each record type. To resolve the error, make sure that the external ID has not yet been used for another record.

Different number of columns than in the header row

This error occurs if a row in the CSV file contains more values than the specified header row. Consider the following example.

The first row leads to an error because it contains more columns than the number of headers. The second row contains data for all columns, therefore it does not lead to an error. The third row is also processed correctly because the CSV file does not need to contain data in all rows for all columns.

Name

Country

Item

<empty header>

John Smith

USA

Travel kit — medium

TAX-CA-125

Katherine Thomas

France

Travel kit — large

—

Jane Murray

USA

—

—

AfterSubmit Script failed, record created with internalId xxx

When an afterSubmit script runs after a CSV import, and the script fails, the records are still created or updated in NetSuite. The CSV response indicates that the record has been created or updated even if an afterSubmit script that runs after the CSV import fails.

In this case, the CSV response contains a message similar to the following:

[AFTERSUBMIT Script failed, record created with InternalId 123] You must enter at least one line item for this transaction.

This message indicates that the records have been saved, and you only need to retry the user event script, but should not run the CSV import again.

Note:

For information about working with afterSubmit scipts, see afterSubmit(context) and SuiteScript 2.x User Event Script Type.

Warning: Your personal language settings do not match your company's language preferences. This may slow down the import of CSV data.

The error occurs when your language preference do not match the company’s language preference.

This may happen when there is a difference between subsidiary, or parent subsidiary language preference, and your company’s language preference. The company default language cannot be changed, after the account is set up. The parent subsidiary, subsidiary, and personal language preferences can be changed. This may cause the difference in language preferences. For more information, see Multi-Language Preferences, and Choosing a Language for Your NetSuite User Interface.

Related Topics

General Notices