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. You can fix this by removing special characters (like 'ä') from the file.

The file was saved with the wrong encoding. To fix it

  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"

Your file might have extra commas. You won’t see them in Excel, but you can spot them if you open the file in Notepad.

Use Notepad (or something similar) to open your CSV and check 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 fix this, open the Import Assistant, go to Advanced Options and enable 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

This error happens when the Effective Date in your CSV doesn’t match the date format set 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:

This happens when a value is set as text, you save the file as CSV, and then Excel changes it to a date when you open it again. If you save the file after that, the wrong format remains, and you get an invalid reference error during import.

To stop Excel from changing text to dates, type an equal sign and place the value between quotation marks.

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

This error happens when a custom field on the form pulls its value from a saved search, and either the search is inactive, deleted, or set to private and you don’t have access.

To fix it, the administrator should make sure the saved search is active and that you have access (either it’s public or you’re in the audience). For more information, see Defining Audiences for Saved Searches.

Please enter a value for amount

This error occurs if your import has duplicate records (like duplicate items in a sales order) or if the Amount column isn’t formatted right. Remove duplicates and make sure the Amount column is formatted as a number.

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 don’t allow zero amounts.

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

If an afterSubmit script fails after a CSV import, the records are still created or updated in NetSuite. The CSV response will show that the record was created or updated, even if the script failed.

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 doesn't 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