---
title: "Empty column imported from LiveDesign"
slug: "connector-ld-spo-troubleshooting-empty-column"
updated: 2026-09-22T13:12:33Z
published: 2026-09-22T13:12:33Z
canonical: "docs.discngine.com/connector-ld-spo-troubleshooting-empty-column"
stale: true
---

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# Empty column imported from LiveDesign

When importing a LiveReport from LiveDesign into Spotfire, some columns can be imported but with only empty values.

## Details

When a LiveReport is imported from LiveDesign, it is first converted into a SDF file, then this SDF is converted into a SBDF file, and this SBDF is imported into Spotfire. During the process of conversion into SDF, the special characters are modified and need to be escaped to be imported properly at the next step. Some of these characters are managed by default in the Connector:

- the regular SDF forbidden characters: '<','>','.','%',' ','-'
- the greek alphabet characters  

If a **column name** contains a **special character** which is not part of the list above, it will be imported, but all **values will be empty**.

## Resolution

This can be fixed by adding the special character(s) causing the issue in the Spotfire preference **ExtraCharactersToEscape**. It needs to be done by a Spotfire administrator following the [set preferences step of the installation guide](/public/docs/connector-ld-spo-admin-guides-installation#set-preferences).