Maps, files, and feeds

Map layers

• “Choose a .zip shapefile or a .geojson file.” / “A layer name is required.” Pick a file and give the layer a name before uploading.
• “the shapefile had no usable features”. The shapefile parsed but has no shapes. Re-export it from your GIS tool with its features included.
• “the file is not valid JSON” / “the file is not a GeoJSON FeatureCollection, Feature, or geometry”. The GeoJSON is malformed or not a recognized type. Validate it, or export a FeatureCollection from your GIS tool.
• “the layer is too large (N MB; limit 12 MB). Simplify it first.” Reduce the detail (fewer vertices) in your GIS tool, or split the layer into smaller areas.

Attachments

• “file is too large (max 15 MB)”. An attachment on a record can be up to 15 MB. Compress or shorten the file.

Locations

• “This location is in use: N child locations and M records reference it. Deactivate it instead.” A location that other locations or records point at cannot be deleted, so history stays intact. Deactivate it instead: it stops appearing in pickers but the records that used it keep reading correctly.

The location check on a record (on station, near, off, or unverifiable) is information, not an error. It compares a record’s GPS point with its expected site so you can spot points that landed in the wrong place. A record with no location binding or no GPS reads as unverifiable.

The BI feed (OData)

• “Provide a valid API token as a Bearer credential.” / “Invalid or expired API token.” The feed needs a token. Create one under Settings, Data connections, and give it to your BI tool. If a token was revoked, any report using it stops; create a new one and update the tool.
• “No entity set named …” or an invalid filter message. The tool asked for a table or filter the feed does not offer. Refresh the tool’s metadata to see the available tables and columns.

Keep a feed token private

A token can also go in the feed URL for tools that cannot set a header, but a URL can be logged, so prefer a credential field and do not share a URL that has the token in it.

Collectors (field submissions)

When a collector’s device submits, problems come back to the device:

• “Invalid collector token.” The collector’s token was revoked or is wrong. Re-create the collector in Settings and share the new setup link.
• “Form not found or not granted.” The collector was not given access to that form. Grant it the survey type and submit again.

Notifications and email

• The Notifications panel says delivery starts once email is configured. Notification rules save, but no email is sent until the server operator has set up email delivery for your organization. Until then, watch the records list or the lab samples page directly.
• A positive-result alert fired on a negative result. The positive keywords match plain text, so a result like “not detected” contains the word “detected”. Set more specific keywords on the rule. See positive lab result alerts.