indicator is not unique

Questions about the implementation and application of the PLS-SEM method, that are not related to the usage of the SmartPLS software.
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mariasadiq
PLS Junior User
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 20, 2020 11:53 am
Real name and title: Maria Sadiq Post Graduate Research Dissertation Student

indicator is not unique

Post by mariasadiq »

1) when I try to import data file in PLS software either in csv format or txt format, this error comes :
Line 0: Indicator 'is' is not unique
Line 0: Indicator 'your' is not unique
Line 0: Indicator 'job' is not unique
and many more errors like this
And on the left side of window of PLS, there comes an error "your datafile setup is corrupt. Please open the data file and revise the setup"

what to do with these error. pls guide?

2) in my excel data file, many fields are blank (because the respondent has not answered that question so the field for that question is blank), but those questions are not related to survey items (actual questions of survey), rather those questions are about introduction of respondent like what is job position/briefly describe your job, so now what to do with these blank fields?

Your kind help will be highly appreciated.
Thankyou
jmbecker
SmartPLS Developer
Posts: 1281
Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:09 am
Real name and title: Dr. Jan-Michael Becker

Re: indicator is not unique

Post by jmbecker »

1) The error message means that several of your variables have the same name. It seems to be an issue that they names are separated by the same character as your separation indicator. Ideally, you should either put the variable names in "" or connect them with an _

2) Blank fields should be OK, if they correspond to variables. Sometimes the detection mechanism cannot correctly assign blank fields as missing values if they are excessive. Then it is better to fill them with some missing value marker (i.e., any number that is not part of your possible space if values, for example, -999).
Dr. Jan-Michael Becker, BI Norwegian Business School, SmartPLS Developer
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan_Michael_Becker
GoogleScholar: http://scholar.google.de/citations?user ... AAAJ&hl=de
simonss22
PLS Junior User
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2020 12:56 pm
Real name and title: Ms Samantha Simmons

Re: indicator is not unique

Post by simonss22 »

1) when I try to import data file in PLS software either in csv format or txt format, this error comes :
Line 0: Indicator 'is' is not unique
Line 0: Indicator 'your' is not unique
Line 0: Indicator 'job' is not unique
and many more errors like this
And on the left side of window of PLS, there comes an error "your datafile setup is corrupt. Please open the data file and revise the setup"

what to do with these error. pls guide?

2) in my excel data file, many fields are blank (because the respondent has not answered that question so the field for that question is blank), but those questions are not related to survey items (actual questions of survey), rather those questions are about introduction of respondent like what is job position/briefly describe your job, so now what to do with these blank fields?

Your kind help will be highly appreciated.
Thankyou
Did you manage to resolve your first issue and if do please tell me how exactly?
did you used jmbecker method?
kimarthur
PLS Junior User
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2022 12:35 am
Real name and title: Kim Arthur

Re: indicator is not unique

Post by kimarthur »

Had the same problem. Then, I checked the excel sheet and found out I hadn't deleted some blank spaces/boxes.
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