In a data file, column headers are labels located at the top of each column that identify the data within that column.
It is important to note that COS (the Content Optimization System) will reject any data that is missing header columns. Additionally, each column header must be unique; if there are any duplicate column headers, COS will reject the entire data set.
Duplicate Column Headers Error Message
If a data file contains duplicate column headers, it will receive a syntax error message when being loaded into COS. To resolve this issue, you'll need to identify the duplicate column headers and modify one of them.
This is a fairly common error message that indicates there are two or more columns in the data file with the same label. To fix this problem, you'll need to thoroughly review the data file and locate the columns with duplicate headers.
If the duplicate columns contain the same data, you can simply delete one of them. However, if they contain different data sets, you'll need to relabel one of the column headers so it accurately identifies the data.
Excel provides an easy way to locate duplicate header columns. Follow these steps:
- Open the data file
- Highlight the top row (the column headers)
- Click the "Home" tab
- Select "Conditional Formatting"
- Hover over "Highlight Cell Rules" and select "Duplicate Values"
- Click "OK"
This will highlight every column header that contains a duplicate label, making it easy to identify and fix the issue.
Missing Column Header
If the data file is missing a column header, COS will also give a syntax error. To resolve this, search each header in the data file to ensure there are no blank fields. If you find any, simply add a column header title, then re-load the data into COS.