Validation¶

The Validation tab helps you identify potential naming issues before they cause problems in your workflow.

Why Validate?¶

Layer names with certain characteristics can cause issues:

• File export failures - Invalid characters prevent saving
• Database errors - Special characters may conflict with SQL
• Cross-platform issues - Some characters aren't allowed on all operating systems
• Sorting problems - Names may not sort as expected
• Display issues - Very long names get truncated

Using the Validation Tool¶

Steps¶

1. Go to the Validation tab
2. Select layers to validate (or use Select All in the Main tab)
3. Click Validate Selected Layers
4. Review the results

Understanding Results¶

Results are displayed with status indicators:

Validation Checks¶

Invalid Characters¶

The following characters are flagged as potentially problematic:

Name Length¶

Names longer than 255 characters are flagged.

Why it matters:

• Most file systems limit filenames to 255 characters
• Long names may be truncated when exporting
• Some databases have field length limits

Empty or Whitespace Names¶

Names that are empty or contain only whitespace are flagged.

Examples of problematic names:

• `` (empty)
• (only spaces)
• \t (only tabs)

Leading/Trailing Spaces¶

Names with spaces at the beginning or end are flagged.

Why it matters:

• Can cause duplicate name issues
• May not display correctly
• Can cause matching/search problems

Common Issues Reference¶

The Validation tab includes a quick reference panel listing common naming issues:

Common Naming Issues to Check:
• Invalid characters: < > : " / \ | ? *
• Names starting/ending with spaces
• Very long names (>255 characters)
• Duplicate names
• Empty names
• Names with only numbers
• Special characters in file paths

Validation Workflow¶

Before Renaming¶

1. Open the plugin
2. Go to the Validation tab
3. Click Validate Selected Layers
4. Review any warnings
5. Go to Main tab and configure options to fix issues
6. Preview changes
7. Validate again if needed
8. Apply the rename

After Importing Data¶

1. Import your data layers
2. Open the plugin
3. Validate all layers
4. Apply the Clean Names quick template if issues are found
5. Rename to fix issues

Validation Examples¶

Example 1: File Export Preparation¶

Scenario: Preparing layers for export to Shapefile

Validation finds:

⚠️ Layer<2024>: Invalid character '<', Invalid character '>'
⚠️ Data/Points: Invalid character '/'
✅ Clean_Layer: Valid

Solution:

1. Enable Remove special characters
2. Preview changes
3. Apply rename
4. Export files successfully

Example 2: Database Import¶

Scenario: Preparing layers for PostGIS import

Validation finds:

⚠️ My Layer Name: Contains spaces (may need quoting in SQL)
⚠️ layer-with-dashes: Dashes may cause issues
✅ layer_underscore: Valid

Solution:

1. Use Find/Replace: Find (space), Replace _
2. Use Find/Replace: Find -, Replace _
3. Apply changes

Example 3: Cleaning Imported Data¶

Scenario: Data imported with messy names

Validation finds:

⚠️  Layer Name : Leading/trailing spaces
⚠️ Layer  Name: Multiple consecutive spaces
⚠️ Layer (copy) (1): May indicate duplicate
✅ Clean_Layer: Valid

Solution:

1. Enable Clean extra whitespace
2. Use Find/Replace to remove "(copy)" text
3. Apply changes

Best Practices¶

Regular Validation¶

• Validate before major exports
• Validate after importing external data
• Validate before database uploads

Fixing Issues¶

• Use Remove special characters for invalid chars
• Use Clean whitespace for spacing issues
• Use Find/Replace for specific patterns

Prevention¶

• Establish naming conventions for your team
• Create templates that enforce clean names
• Validate early and often

Validation vs. Preview¶

Use both together:

1. Validate to identify current issues
2. Configure options to fix issues
3. Preview to verify the fixes
4. Apply the rename