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Why Am I Getting This Error?
Primary Cause: The most common cause of this error is that your file was not saved in the proper format.
Secondary Causes:
- There could be hidden characters or formatting in your file that you may not be able to see. This often occurs when you are copying data from some other source such as a download from your sales system. If the source software uses a different character set than RoyaltyZone's character set, some characters may not be read properly.
- When your file is not formatted properly, even though saved as a .csv, may not be able to be read. For example, if you copied information from a Word document into Excel and saved it as a csv, you may get this error
How Do I Fix It?
The following options can fix this error. They are listed in order of difficulty:
-
Copy Your Data to a Clean File
- Highlight all the data from your upload file
- Select Copy
- Open a new spreadsheet or new tab in current document and select the Paste dropdown
- Select Paste Special
- Select Values
- Select OK
- Highlight the Invoice Date Column
- Format as a Date
- Save as csv
Upload the new file to see if its fixed
2. Compare Your Upload File to RoyaltyZone's Template and Validate it for Accuracy
- In RoyaltyZone, begin the reporting process and go to Step 3
- Select Upload Sales
- Download the Sales Data Template
- Compare your upload file to the downloaded template to make sure the columns are the same, in the same order
- Make sure your file doesn't violate any of the Points listed below
Remember to save your file as a .csv and retry the upload
3. Open Your File in a Text Program Such as Microsoft Notepad and Review for Issues
- Select the program from your OS Menu
- Open your file in that program and review it for the following:
a. Extra commas or blank spaces at the top of the document - these indicate blank rows and must be removed
b. Blank spaces in between text - These must be removed
c. Rows of commas in between rows of data - These indicate blank rows and must be removed
d. Additional commas at the end of a row of data - These could indicate blank columns. Check to make sure they aren't optional fields before deleting
e. Missing commas between text - You must insert a comma to separate data in each field
f. Unusual characters in the document - These must be removed.
g. Rows of commas at the end of the document - These indicate blank rows at the end of the file and must be removed
You can make your changes directly to the file in Notepad and then save it as a .csv file
How Can I Avoid This in The Future
- The best way to avoid this error is to ALWAYS download a new Sales Data Template on the Upload page of the reporting process. This ensures you are using the most recent version
- Use Excel's Copy, Paste SPECIAL function, and paste VALUES only if you are copying from a download of another software program
- Use the Points listed above to make sure your data is correct.
For Experienced Excel Users
If you are an experienced Excel user, you can use Excel's Data > Import function to validate your data before copying it to the upload template. This is very useful for validating column formatting, and leading zero issues. Import your data and validate it before importing into a clean Excel file, then use Copy > Paste Special > Values into the RoyaltyZone template.
If All Else Fails
If, after trying all of the above, you are still getting this error, please send your upload template to your Licensor so they can review and report it to Support.