DB Error: Duplicate entry '' for key 3

[tlove]

Hello,
I'm trying to upload a hundred users using the import xml file and I'm getting the error
"DB Error: Duplicate entry '' for key 3"

I've tried to follow the existing sample.xml file
First rows of my xml file are:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE users SYSTEM "users.dtd">

<!--
* sample.xml
*
* Copyright (c) 2000-2008 John Willinsky
* Distributed under the GNU GPL v2. For full terms see the file docs/COPYING.
*
* Sample user import data.
*
* $Id: sample.xml,v 1.2 2008/03/07 21:39:22 asmecher Exp $
-->

<users>
<user>
<username>jsmith@abc.com.au</username >
<password>gNGxglps12</password >
<salutation></salutation >
<first_name></first_name >
<last_name></last_name >
<gender></gender >
<affiliation></affiliation >
<email>jsmith@abc.com.au</email >
<country></country >
<biography locale="de_DE"></biography>
<biography locale="en_US"></biography>
<biography locale="es_ES"></biography>
<role type="presenter"/>
</user>
I welcome any advice.
Best regards,
Terry

[jmacgreg]

Hi Terry,

IIRC, the supplied sample XML files haven't been given a thorough vetting for a while, and they may be slightly out of date; in any case, they don't necessarily apply to any one journal's configuration. I haven't seen the kind of error you are encountering with the users XML import plugin; to narrow possible problems, I would recommend the following:

- review http://pkp.sfu.ca/wiki/index.php/Import ... ML_Plugin;
- start with a subset of the 100 users as a test-case, say 5 or 10 in one XML file;
- pare the import file down to the essentials (for example, don't include biography elements if you don't have biographical information for the users);
- check that your import file validates;
- report back with problems if you still hit them.

If you still encounter problems, I'm happy to review a sample of the XML file. You can either post part here (obfuscated emails/usernames, of course) or PM me with more details.

Cheers,
James

[systemsconsciousness]

are you saying this problem is being caused by improperly formed xml or an invalid character? maybe someone could help... i keep getting the error "DB Error: Duplicate entry '' for key 3" when trying to import reviewers. i need to migrate more than 10k records. the most i could get to work at a time was about 75 before getting this error. oh and i've validated my xml and have used the import tool successfully with chunks of this dataset at a time... yet i can't find anything specifically wrong with my text... could blank xml <fields></fields> do this?

any idea?

cheers,
dean