Load Data staging table wired field creation during load

[Eli7]

Hi All,

I have created an import tbl with the Load Data process. When I now load a csv file the date loads fine but it creates a wired new string column in the staging table with some characters and the first column name for which a field already exist.

I have not seen this before and cannot find what might cause this.

Has anyone seen this before and found a cause.

Thanks!

[Medi C]

@Eli7 
It looks like your CSV file has a BOM. ServiceNow doesn't support BOM .
If it is a one time upload, please convert the CSV to an excel file and try uploading the excel file instead.

[Ankur Bawiskar]

@Eli7 

ServiceNow supports CSV file having UTF-8 encoding character

seems CSV file has unusual BOM character in CSV header and hence this issue is coming.

this KB talks about that

How to identify an Import CSV file having UTF-8 or UTF-16 BOM characters? 

💡 If my response helped, please mark it as correct ✅ and close the thread 🔒— this helps future readers find the solution faster! 🙏

[Tanushree Maiti]

Hi @Eli7 ,

This extra wired column can be created due to formatting issues in the CSV file, such as inconsistent column counts or extra line breaks at the end of the file or incorrect encoding.

Here is probable root causes and solutions: 

• Inconsistent Data Columns: The most frequent cause is when some rows in the CSV file have a different number of columns than the header row or other rows.
  • Solution: Open the CSV file in a basic text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit, not Excel) to examine the raw data and ensure every row has a consistent number of data values and commas/delimiters. Remove any extra delimiters or columns.
• Extra Line Breaks: The CSV file may have an invisible extra line break at the very end, which the system interprets as a new, empty row.
  • Solution: Open the file in a text editor and check for or delete any blank lines after the last actual data row.
• Character Encoding Issues: Incorrect character encoding (e.g., UTF-16 with BOM) can cause the import process to misinterpret characters and create extra fields or rows.
  • Solution: Ensure the CSV file is saved with the correct character encoding, typically UTF-8 or Windows-1252, and configure the charset property in the ServiceNow data source accordingly if needed.
• Delimiters Within Fields: If a field value contains the delimiter character (e.g., a comma in a description field) but is not properly enclosed in double quotes, ServiceNow might misinterpret the structure and create additional columns, leading to data inconsistencies and potential extra rows.
  • Solution: Ensure that all fields containing special characters or the delimiter character are properly enclosed in double quotes within the CSV file.