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-   -   Cause of "Parameter is not Valid" error during import? (http://forums.wolflair.com/showthread.php?t=64399)

Janrith June 1st, 2020 07:40 PM

Cause of "Parameter is not Valid" error during import?
 
I know, I know, me and my import issues...

Just when I figured I was over import hassles, I'm seeing another oddity.

I'm getting "Parameter is not valid" when performing an import (different file than what I was previously dealing with).

Verified it has nothing but a single Mechanics Reference Source article in the import file.

Janrith June 1st, 2020 07:48 PM

Note: the import appears to have actually succeeded, it just crashed after the import was complete.

Janrith June 4th, 2020 05:25 PM

Importing multiple articles causes this error and doesn't succeed in the import (it crashes).

Unchecking the preserve ownership flag allows the import to succeed but also duplicates categories (which I suppose is expected).

I'm working on the assumption there's an article in there somewhere triggering the error.

The only way I can think to find this is to try importing a single article at a time until I find the offender.

Janrith June 4th, 2020 11:05 PM

I swore I wasn't going to dive into the XML of the export files, but it turns out that was the best way to analyze what has been going on.

I found several errant user categories and tags that have been causing intermittent problems. By beautifying and then reading the XML, I've been able to find and purge them.

I think they're leftovers from when I was initially experimenting with imports and exports using the 3 free realms, and I'd thought I'd started clean when creating my base realm but apparently not.

Rather than have to start from scratch, I'm investigating the data to see how I can clean it up in a more targeted way.

Progress is slow and steady.

Acenoid June 5th, 2020 02:53 AM

Wow great ! Imagine we would do an export, run a "fix-it" tool over it resolving common errors like left over categories, the xml version, or the (whatever it is) issue with imports of a realm that has been previously imported.

Janrith June 5th, 2020 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acenoid (Post 289025)
Wow great ! Imagine we would do an export, run a "fix-it" tool over it resolving common errors like left over categories, the xml version, or the (whatever it is) issue with imports of a realm that has been previously imported.

<drools enviously/>

That would be really helpful :)

Since I use SlickEdit, I've associated the rwexport and rwstructure file extensions with the XML language definition. That allows me to open the files and beautify them, rather than trying to parse large walls of text.

In the file, it seems built-in categories, domains and tags have a global_uuid attribute on the xml element, while user created ones use original_uuid instead. Also, built in categories, tags and article/topic sections have a "_global" suffix to their element tags, while user created objects just use the base object type as their element name.

Here's a built-in category:

Code:

        <category_global category_id="Category_25"
                        name="General Article"
                        global_uuid="6C00287B-91C6-5D3A-00D0-6A935C3C6BA9">
            <partition_global partition_id="Partition_72"
                              name="Overview"
                              global_uuid="A800287B-91C6-5D3A-00D0-6A935C3C6BA9"/>
        </category_global>

...and a user-defined one:

Code:

        <category category_id="Category_80"
                  name="Malady/Affliction (AD&amp;D)"
                  abbrev="Disease"
                  role="Article"
                  family_id="12"
                  asset_name="Virus"
                  asset_uuid="5400287B-91C6-5D3A-00D0-6A935C3C6BA9"
                  original_uuid="AFF995B6-BC31-1C61-9280-6893DE566BA9"
                  signature="986972">
            <description/>
            <summary/>
            <partition partition_id="Partition_467"
                      name="Overview"
                      original_uuid="B0F995B6-BC31-1C61-9280-6893DE566BA9"
                      signature="986973">
                <description/>
                <purpose/>
            </partition>
        </category>

Running both the "preserved" and "unpreserved" files through diffzilla (built into SlickEdit) it appears there isn't an explicit "preserve owner" xml attribute. Instead, the original_uuid get the first six digits of the GUID changed during the export process. This is what pointed me to examine the custom elements for conflicts. It was interesting that the exporter altering these GUIDs is enough to tell the importer these are new elements rather than existing ones.

Code:

        <category category_id="Category_79"
                  name="Malady/Affliction (AD&amp;D)"
                  abbrev="Disease" role="Article" family_id="12" asset_name="Virus"
                  asset_uuid="5400287B-91C6-5D3A-00D0-6A935C3C6BA9"
                  original_uuid="E6248BB6-BC31-1C61-9280-6893DE566BA9"
                  signature="986972">
            <description/>
            <summary/>
            <partition partition_id="Partition_437"
                      name="Overview"
                      original_uuid="E7248BB6-BC31-1C61-9280-6893DE566BA9"
                      signature="986973"><description/>
                <purpose/>
            </partition>
        </category>

At any rate, with these breadcrumbs, I was able to manually remove the unneeded tags from the file and run an import on a test realm (a copy of the realm having import problems) successfully.

I'm now going through the process of ensuring I'm only using the tags I want, and clearing out any custom Categories/Tags I didn't personally create via the UI, and making individual exports based on the groupings I want (source books/modules).

Once that's done I'm going to run another set of import tests. I'll let you know how it goes.

Acenoid June 5th, 2020 06:25 PM

I found that while the initial imports work a 2nd import from the same source will fail for some reason, so beware of that (even w/o any changes). This error might be a dealbreaker for the whole import export business of the tool. the error was added in one of the latest versions, there is a separate thread about it. So I am interested how your next round of testing goes. I hope it'll work :)

Janrith June 5th, 2020 07:48 PM

Even with only my 8 custom categories, exporting a "clean" structure file, and 4 "clean" preserved exports (PHB, MM, DMG and UA), I'm still getting "Parameter is not valid" after the second import file (MM). However if I import the unpreserved versions, I get duplicates for 5 of these categories (I'd have expected to get dupes for all 8).

The weird thing is that my MM import duplicated the Spell category, but there are no spell articles in that export. However, it didn't duplicate the Character, Deity or Psionic Discipline categories, which don't have articles either. Seems inconsistent.

I'm checking to see if the dupes created are consistent across all 4 import files.

Something that comes to mind as I write this: I wonder if maybe some of the articles aren't reset to the final category structure? I know I was evolving them as I was working on the data so some of them might not conform to the full section/order configuration.

I'll have to check that out after I (possibly) narrow the field further.

I'll keep at it.

Janrith June 5th, 2020 08:37 PM

OK, now I think I'm smoking something, because I went back to a clean realm + structure, and imported each of the 4 preserved files, this time without any issues!

Going to see if there's something I missed. Perhaps the order of import???

Janrith June 5th, 2020 08:45 PM

Hmmm...

Here's the order I did it this time:

New + Structure
PHB
MM
DMG
UA

The UA file has the DMG and PHB files flagged as dependencies. I *believe* I did it last time in the same order, but now I'm second guessing myself. I also don't recall getting a modal complaining about missing dependencies.

Going to try again with a new realm mucking with the order to now see if I can generate a specific repro scenario for the Parameter is not valid error.


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