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ArcMap is not recognizing the first column of my csv. Field name "AppID" and the values are all in the format of wxyz-#### (letters-numbers). I've checked the files for erroneous carriage returns. If I duplicate the first column in my csv before bringing it in to ArcMap, it comes in the way I wanted it to originally, but still doesn't recognize the very first column.

I should clarify that when I say the field is not recognized I don't mean it doesn't show up in arcmap, only that when the table is opened the second column is the first shown column of the attribute table and you have to manually scroll left to see the first column. I am able to perform joins with all other fields in the table, except for the one that is not recognized. When I join using that field, nothing is returned in the attribute table after the join. Exporting to dbf worked, but this is not an ideal solution since it makes my workflow longer

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    Hyphens (-) are not permitted in field identifiers (they are evaluated as math expressions). Try using underscores (_) instead.
    – Vince
    Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 20:37
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    I've found that using CSV format directly can have problems, so too Excel, if you have Microsoft Access (or other .mdb editor) you can import the CSV into an empty personal geodatabase and use the Microsoft field validator on importing; while importing you can specify what each field will be (text, float, integer etc) which irons out most of the issues. If you don't have a suitable office program then Table to Table might make your data a little more robust. Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 20:59
  • LibreOffice Calc is also a better alternative to Excel if you need to manipulate CSV data in preparation for bringing it into GIS.
    – Dan C
    Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 22:14

2 Answers 2

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Perhaps the field is missing all together. Or some values are Null whereas others are not. If the second part, try changing the field format to Text within excel. It may be reading it as an integer field in ArcMap and making all the values with text in them Null

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  • There are no null values and it is already formatted as text in excel.
    – richakel
    Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 22:35
  • I should clarify that when I say the field is not recognized I don't mean it doesn't show up in arcmap, only that when the table is opened the second column is the first shown column of the attribute table and you have to manually scroll left to see the first column. I am able to perform joins with all other fields in the table, except for the one that is not recognized. When I join using that field, nothing is returned in the attribute table after the join. Exporting to dbf worked, but this is not an ideal solution since it makes my workflow longer.
    – richakel
    Commented Dec 14, 2017 at 22:43
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Try looking for leading or trailing spaces in what appears to be a number in the CSV/XLSX. They will stop ArcR recognising a numeric field

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