I’ve been using CDMS to import updated essential facilities and utility databases into HAZUS. I exported the HAZUS databases to Excel using CDMS , updated the values, and imported the same excel spreadsheets back into CDMS. The import works for about half of the databases, but then I get the same validation error across the other half of the datasets:

Longitude - Must be numeric.
Latitude - Must be numeric.

I checked the Excel spreadsheet, and the latitudes and longitude cells are formatted as numbers. Also, the individual values in those cells are indeed numeric. Could there be other reasons for this “must be numeric” error in the lat/lon fields?

I have not been able to fix this problem, but I now have a workaround.

If you receive a formatting error while importing an Excel file into CDMS, and you cannot find any errors in your excel file, try the following:

1. Export the excel worksheet with the problematic data to a tab-delimited text file (.txt).

2. Start Microsoft Access and create a new database file (if you have office 2007, save the database in the older .mdb format).

3. Import the text file into a new Microsoft Access table.

4. Once the import is completed, open the table in Design View. Check to ensure that all the data fields are in their proper format (doubles for decimal data, text for any data with words or dashes such as zip codes, phone numbers, etc.). Delete any excess colums that may have formed.

5. Open the table in Datasheet View, and delete any excess rows that may have formed.

6. Close Microsoft Access.

7. Open CDMS. This time, import the data from the Microsoft Access database (.mdb) file instead of the Excel file. The data should now import successfully.

And if anyone has found a better workaround for this problem, please let me know.