Today I`m here to present some options of solutions to handle an error for Item Connector – “Cannot specify a NULL Key value for reference entity REV_DTE in Item Connector”- used to upload massive courses into SAP SuccessFactors LMS.

Before to start, go understand the whole import process.

The import or upload process in LMS is used for inputting some kind of data (information) in the system and can be executed manually or massively (our focus).

Manual is a single process that you can execute using the ADMIN interface, and in another hand, the massive is a routine that uses archives called CONNECTORS. The connectors are basically a TXT or CSV files that you can use to import massive data.

Once the file (using some specific columns, attributes and rules) is created you drop it into a SFTP folder and schedule the LMS to consume it and the magic happens.

Here is the mapping of each column to connector file build (Course (Item) Data Connector File Columns | SAP Help Portal)

But in some cases the connector doesn`t load correctly the data caused by some malformation in the file, fields, attributes and so on. To check what is happen you need to check the error log.

For our particular case, the connector used to upload courses is called Item Connector and when is consumed show the specific error in the log (Admin side >> System Administration >> Connectors >> Item Connector >> View Results):

“…LMS: Cannot specify a NULL Key value for reference entity REV_DTE in Item Connector…”

To understand this error is important to know that the unique item identifier (Item Key) is formed by:

Item Type | Item ID | Creation or Revision Date/Time Stamp

Here an example: COURSE LOGISTIC001 (Rev 2 – Jan/25/2021 05:00 PM America/New York)

Referencing the KBA >> 2642533 – LMS: Cannot specify a NULL Key value for reference entity REV_DTE in Item Connector – SAP ONE Support Launchpad – The system is waiting for the REV_DTE informed in the connector archive, if is blank, basically it filled out with the actual the current timestamp as REV_DTE.

To control this behavior there are a settings item.connector.defaultRevDate.currentTimestamp in the Admin Side >> System Administration >> Configuration >> CONNECTORS

If setup to “Y” the system uses the current timestamp as REV_DTE and the field isn`t mandatory that means the field can be blank.

if setup to “N” the system will require the REV_DTE and the field is mandatory, that means the field need to be filled out.

Remember that the REV_DTE must have in this format MON-DD-YYYY HH24:MI:SS

Here an example: Jan-25-2021 05:00 PM

If you`re continuous receiving the error, check this another attribute in the properties file >> connector.input.file.format.csv.enable

If setup to “true” is expected to receive the file in CSV mode, if setup to “false” is the standard mode or TXT file.

To finalize, a little step-by-step to resume:

1 – Check the parameter item.connector.defaultRevDate.currentTimestamp and adjust itfor your case

2- Check the format of REV_DTE

3- Check the parameter connector.input.file.format.csv.enable

You can check more details >>

2286589 – Avoiding Date/Time Issues with Connectors – SAP ONE Support Launchpad

2318341 – LMS Connectors Knowledge Support and Tips – SAP ONE Support Launchpad

2477153 – How to setup specific filename for a connector? – SAP ONE Support Launchpad

Visit SAP SuccessFactors community in Home – Welcome to the SAP SuccessFactors Community!

And take a look in SAP HELP at SAP SuccessFactors Learning | SAP Help Portal

Last but not least, I would appreciate it if you could provide your feedback, and if you have any questions feel free to meet me in the comments.

Daniel Romanin

All images in this post are from SAP SuccessFactors Demo