eClass and Canvas Support
Troubleshooting Grade Import Issues
Last modified on 15 August 2025 01:20 PM
NOTICE: Please be advised that the content of this article may only be relevant for users concluding the final stages of course work on eClass or for users on the eClass External system. The eClass Learning Management System is currently in a read-only state that prohibits new courses, enrollments, and users from being added to the site. Credit courses and co-curricular courses at the UofA are now being delivered on Canvas, and full articles on how to use Canvas can be found here.

Instructors experiencing issues while attempting to upload CSV files into the eClass gradebook can try the following troubleshooting steps:

Error message: 'user mapping error, could not find user...'

  • These errors are usually caused by mis-mapping the columns from your spreadsheet to the corresponding gradebook column in eClass. For assistance with these problems, see the instructions in the knowledgebase article: Importing Grades into The Grader Report (or the link immediately to the right of 'Identify user by' inside the eClass gradebook when importing grades).
  • If you have verified that your mapping is correct and still see this error, another cause of mapping issues is if a Student ID number or CCID has become corrupted in your spreadsheet. In these cases, check for the user id identified in the error message. These can sometimes be inadvertently converted by auto-formatting in MS Excel:
    • If you have a user whose Student ID number begins with zero, Excel will trim the leading zero.
    • If you have a student with a CCID approximating a date, eg. may4, Excel will convert it into a date.

Error message: 'Error writing to database'

  • This error message occurs when the grader report is expecting to receive numeric values and instead receives textual data.
  • The most common cause is text written directly into your spreadsheet in place of numbers as in the example depicted below:



  • This error will also occur if you are attempting to upload textual data such as feedback or comments directly into a gradebook column. Text columns must be imported into the 'Comments' area of a pre-existing gradebook column following the instructions in this article: Importing Text Columns to the Gradebook.
  • This error will also be thrown on rare occasions by user mapping problems. See the tips above for solving those issues.

Error message: 'Multiple users found with email address of...'

  • Occurs when trying to map email-to-email and one or more users have a Demostudent account in the eClass system, usually because they have been a TA, etc elsewhere on eClass.
  • As recommended in this eClass article regarding importing grades, we strongly recommend only mapping from CCID, student number, or anonymous ID.
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