Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid char

[jagarcia]

Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid char

Good morning,

I need your help trouble shooting an error I get while importing an Excel spreadsheet into Access 2007.

Error Name: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid char

It happens when I run the Import utility. Once I go through all the steps:
1. Import the source data into a new table in the current database.
2. Select the Excel file from my harddrive
3. Select the worksheet to import.
4. Name the table to import into
5. Error happens.

So far what the only suggestion I have read at this forum is to update the service pack. Please let me know if you have other work solutions.

Thank you.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

is the import working at all - look at these sort of issues

it could be an invalid character in a column header, which access cant turn into a field name

or it could be an invalid character in the worksheet/file name so access cant create the table name

try it manually, and see what happens - you will get the same effect

 

[jagarcia]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

gemma,

The import works fine in Access 2000-03. It is not the file spelling as it happens with any file name I try to import.

Thank you.

 

[DCrake]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

Have you indicated that the data in row one contains the field names. If so are there any unusaul characters in the descriptions. Don't forget Access has restrictions on which characters are allowable in field names. Also there is a max len of 64 chars (I think).

David

 

[jagarcia]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

I've encountered the problem of special characters in the column heading, in which case Access converts the name something that it can import. The problem I have, though, is with the actual file name. Access tells me the name contains invalid characters.

I new test file with no special column names clean data and a one word name, "TestFile". I still got the same error.

I'm doing a manual import.

Thank you.

 

[jagarcia]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

I have found out what is causing this error:

The error message is:

" is not a valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid characters or punctuation and that it is not too long.


There is nothing wrong with the Excel file name. The problem is that I'm using Access2007 to open an Access2000 DB and then perform the manual import. This is where error occurs.

I solved my problem by converting my Access2000 DB to Access2007 and then attempting the import. It worked flawlessly.

Thank you for your inputs.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

that rings a bell - i had a very similar issue with A2007 trying to run a A2003 MDE file. although it seemed OK, some things just wouldnt work, and we had to recompile the source into an A2007 MDE/ACCDE - then we had no problems.

 

[boblarson]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

So the problem was you were trying to import an xlsx file (2007) into a database format which has no knowledge of xlsx files but only xls (which means that the name was invalid in that instance). Is that correct? If a file is in a previous version format, there is no guarantee it will be able to import files from a newer version and in this case it would be that in an Access 2000 format database, the xlsx format, was only about 7 years after that 2000 format was released.

 

[jagarcia]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

No, the problem was importing an Excel 97-03 file into Access 2000. Out IT folks replaced Access 2007 with Access 2007. So although I can still open Access 2000 DBs with the new Access 2007, the import of Excel files requires that I convert the Access 2000 DB to Access 2007.

Thank you.

 

[boblarson]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

Hmm, something not right there as I can import any Excel files (2000, 2002, 2003) into a 2000 format database from Access 2007 myself. There has to be some other issue at hand, but since you have a way around it, we'll just leave it at that for now.

 

[jagarcia]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

Perhaps my version of MS Office 2007 has not been updated with all the HotFixes. I do not control those updates at work.

In any case, I'll be migrating about 30 user databases tomorrow from 2000 to 2007. I'll keep the forum posted of how this turns-out.

Thank you.

 

[jagarcia]

Re: Error Message: " is not valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid ch

I finished migrating about 30 databases and re-linking tables and macros. Just when I thought I was in the clear, the original error on this post has come back to haunt me again.

" is not a valid name. Make sure that it does not include invalid characters or punctuation and that it is not too long.

This time it's happening whan I try to view in Desgign View some queries. These are Select queries trying to open a table in the database with absolutely not special characters in the name. The error happens on several databases and with variuous types of queries. The queries do run. I just can't open to modify or view them.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.