File Exchange CSV files created in TL now corrupting...

[i.b.redguy]

I have been using Turbo Lister to create file exchange CSV files for a long time now without issue.

In the past two weeks, the listing pages on eBay have extra lines of code showing that have never appeared before...

This is showing at the head of the listing page... 

 @@@@@@%

 And this is showing between each line of type lower down...

                                                                                                          %0D%0A 

These bits of code are on the left of the page.

Nothing I'm doing has changed at all, so I can only think it's at eBay's end... it's not going to stop me listing but it does make the pages I create look messy.

Any thoughts?

[shipscript]

@i.b.redguy 

I looked at the source code for your description. The %0D%0A is code for a CRLF (carriage return, line feed), or, basically, a new line. File Exchange does not tolerate new lines within any spreadsheet data cell because a new line indicates a new record, so TurboLister should be exporting without new lines in the data.

TL would not have been updated just ahead of retirement, so I suspect a wrong export format was chosen or an external program is affecting the results.

I'm not sure what the leading @@@@% is about. I suspect it somehow represents the leading two bytes that designate a UTF-8 file follows, even though it no longer matches the 2-byte UTF signature. File Exchange, on the US platform, does not handle UTF-8 encoding, so TL should not be exporting UTF-8 for File Exchange.

Thus, I have to suspect the interpreter. If you are saving or viewing your CSV in a spreadsheet tool prior to uploading to File exchange, that process could be interpreting or processing the description differently than previously.

[i.b.redguy]

Thank-you for taking the time to reply.

I have checked through the files in some detail using several CSV programs and am 100% convinced that it's at the eBay File Exchange end.

There have always been problems with £ signs and fractions which I use a lot in my listings. Previously it was placing an error code next to the symbols but as of two weeks ago it started placing blank boxes without the symbols, so it must be down to File Exchange - I have changed zero at my end.

[dollybeauty]

Possible TL database corruption.

Compact and retry.

[shipscript]

If you are seeing problems with symbols, then I suspect a UTF-8 conversion problem. The UK File Exchange does not support UTF-8, so I have to upload there using ISO-8859-1 or CP1252, which would be the default for Excel, but not necessarily the default for third-party spreadsheet tools.

[i.b.redguy]

Well I've tried compacting the database and I have used ISO 8859-1 as the default, still no joy with the excess code down the left edge of the listing page.

The only problem I have solved is that fraction and pound signs now display without me having to re-enter them, so a partial victory.

I guess my customers will just have to get used the strung-out descriptions - example shown here...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/373104041295