Typos in MLS export file format in MLS 3.6

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RossEvans
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Typos in MLS export file format in MLS 3.6

#1

Post by RossEvans »

MLS 3.6 introduced a change, apparently typographical errors, in the file format of one of the standard MLS export files, Membership.csv.

The first line of that csv file contains the column names for the fields being exported. Several of those field names, excerpted here for brevity, traditionally have been named as follows:

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"2-Street 1","2-Street 2","2-D/P","2-City","2-Zip","2-State/Prov","2-Country"
But in MLS 3.6, the corresponding column titles are:

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"2—Street 1","2—Street 2","2—D/P","2—City","2—Zip","2—State/Prov","2—Country"
In each case, the character following the "2" at the beginning of each column title traditionally has been an ordinary ASCII hyphen character (hex 2D). But in MLS 3.6, each of those characters has been retyped as an em-dash (hex 97).

This change, presumably an error, might break any programs, spreadsheets, scripts, etc. designed to read the export files. It certainly broke mine. I can work around it, but it is maddening to find such inconsistency.
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sbradshaw
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Re: Typos in MLS export file format in MLS 3.6

#2

Post by sbradshaw »

This seems like it must've been either an intentional change, or an over-zealous find-and-replace. M-dashes would be more correct in these titles if they were written out, but in this case it's all abbreviations anyway so I don't know why someone bothered to change it...
frigby
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Re: Typos in MLS export file format in MLS 3.6

#3

Post by frigby »

The typos certainly broke my utilities. I can work around it but it would be nice to know if and when they are going to fix it.
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johnshaw
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Re: Typos in MLS export file format in MLS 3.6

#4

Post by johnshaw »

How does one report an issue with MLS? Call into the GSC?
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”
― Thomas Paine, Common Sense
RossEvans
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Re: Typos in MLS export file format in MLS 3.6

#5

Post by RossEvans »

JohnShaw wrote:How does one report an issue with MLS? Call into the GSC?
There used to be an email address for reporting MLS issues, but the address I mailed to in the past is no longer valid. So on this one I just used the "send a message" function within MLS.
RossEvans
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Re: Typos in MLS export file format in MLS 3.6

#6

Post by RossEvans »

This problem has been fixed in MLS 3.6.2.

The export column names in question (see original post in this thread) now use the ordinary ASCII hyphen character (hex 2D) once again.
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