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List Upload Error Messages

If you encounter any of the following error messages while trying to upload a list into CONNECT, follow the instructions below.

1.  "The file you have selected has duplicate header names. Please correct this issue and try again."

 

 

  • This error message indicates that you are trying to upload a file that has more then one header with the same name. 
  • To fix this, open your file in Microsoft Excel and change one of the header names so that they no longer match.

2.  "The file you have selected has columns without headers. Please correct this issue and try again."

 

 

This error message indicates that you have selected a file that has columns with blank headers. This can happen in two situations (or a combination of both).

  1. The file you are trying to upload has columns with data but at least one of the columns is missing a header (see example on left).
  2. The file you are trying to upload has "ghost" columns. These are columns that have no values in any of the rows (including the header) but are represented in the file by commas. 
  3. Follow the instructions below to fix this issue.

 

2.1.  Identifying files with "Ghost" columns

 

Indentifying files with

 

  • If you think your file has "ghost" columns, there is an easy way to tell. Simply open your file in Notepad (TextEdit on Mac) and you will generally see an abundance of commas at the end of each row.
  • In a CSV (Comma Delimited Values) file, each comma indicates to Excel or CONNECT that there is another column, 
  • Hence when there is an abundance of extra commas on the end of each row, that is indicating to the program that there are extra columns.

 

2.2.  Fixing files with "Ghost" columns

 

Fixing files with

 

To fix the issue of "ghost" columns, you first want to open your file in Microsoft Excel. In Excel, you will not be able to see the columns. 

 

The best way to get rid of them is to highlight a lot of extra columns to the right of your data.

  1. Highlight the columns by clicking one of the letter headers at the top, holding down your click and dragging across until you've highlighted enough columns. The more you highlight, you the more likely you are to catch all of the ghost columns.
  2. Right click on any of column letters as the top and select "Delete". Save your file and exit Excel. 
  3. To confirm you have successfully deleted the "ghost" columns, re-open your file in notepad and the extra commas should be gone.
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