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error - status file has an invalid line

Posted: August 8th, 2020, 7:23 am
by AriSilva
Hi folks,
I´ve got this error message (see the complete text in the attached figure) when trying to convert a .dat file to a csdb using the DataViewer.
The dictionary I´ve used was exactly the same that created the .dat file, but with changes with the names of certain variables (I´ve compared them using winmerge).
I´ve tried to convert the file using a batch program with no instructions, just the implicit read and write. Same message,
I used this same .dat file with this same dictionary to export data to SAS, and it worked fine.
The message seems to contain the start positions of the first record in the file.
Then I opened the .dat file in a text editor and save it with another name (both files are DOS and UTF-8).
And amazingly, it worked!

Re: error - status file has an invalid line

Posted: August 10th, 2020, 8:21 am
by josh
Looks like something got corrupted in the status file (.sts). The status file stores the partial save state for the file. When you saved the .dat file with a different name that broke the link between the data file and the status file so the conversion worked because it ignored the status file. You could also have just deleted the .sts file. Of course in both cases any cases that were partially saved will no longer be set as partially saved in the csdb.

Re: error - status file has an invalid line

Posted: August 12th, 2020, 7:06 am
by AriSilva
Thanks Josh, got it.
I thought that .dat files did not have the .sts file associated with it, only the .csdb files.

Re: error - status file has an invalid line

Posted: August 12th, 2020, 8:07 am
by josh
The opposite. With the .dat format, partial save (.sts), index (.csidx) and notes (.csnot) files are in separate files. With csdb files all of that data are stored in the csdb file itself.