Attribute Error Handling

This section summarizes common situations that can lead to warnings and errors when you are working with Item Specifics and Pre-filled Item Information.

The following sections provide details about how to configure the way eBay handles invalid attributes you pass in, and the way these preferences affect listing requests when different error conditions occur.

Determining When to Display Error Messages to End Users

Setting the Attribute Error Severity Preference>

Attribute Error and Warning Conditions

When you list with Item Specifics or Pre-filled Item Information, a number of situations can lead to warnings and errors related to the attribute data you specify for the listing:

The meta-data you are using is out of date. This can occur for a number of reasons:
Your cached meta-data is current. However, the seller wants to use a previously listed item as the basis for listing a very similar item. Your application downloads the existing item (or uses a locally stored version of the item data) and presents the seller with original item data, including the attributes. If the attribute set IDs, value IDs, parent-child relationships, required status, or other meta-data changed on eBay since the downloaded item was originally listed, your new listing request may fail if you list with the original attribute data.
Your cached meta-data is current. However, the seller created the item within your application a few weeks ago to be listed at a future date, and the meta-data has changed on eBay since the item was created. See Creating Listings Before the Listing Start Date for more information about how this works.
Your cached meta-data is current. However, the seller is changing some attributes when revising or relisting an item, and the item's existing attributes are out of date.
Your cached meta-data is not current because you hard-coded the meta-data in your application.
Your cached meta-data is not current because eBay updated the meta-data on the site shortly after you refreshed your local meta-data. Or, the meta-data on eBay was being updated while you were in the middle of downloading it, and you therefore downloaded the older data.
Your cached meta-data is current, but a problem is occurring on the client side. Here are some examples:
You are are not using the Item Specifics SYI XSL stylesheet to ensure that required and dependent attributes are presented correctly and that only the relevant attributes are presented.
You are not using the supplied validation rules to verify that the values passed in are correct. See Validation Rules in the Attribute Meta-Data for information about these rules.
You are using the Item Specifics SYI XSL stylesheet and you have presented the meta-data to the seller correctly, but the request includes inconsistent data. For example, the seller changes the category after selecting the Item Specifics and your application does not verify that the category is mapped to the same characteristic set.
The request includes ambiguous data. For example, your application generates duplicate information in the listing request, such as two attribute sets with the same ID.
Your application is using the Item Specifics SYI XSL stylesheet, but a required attribute is not considered part of the "Item Specifics" section of a listing, so it is not rendered in the HTML form. In this case, the application needs to present the required attribute to the user in a different manner. For example, the US eBay Motors deposit attributes are not handled by the stylesheet. See Specifying a Vehicle Deposit and Deposit Amount for information about working with these attributes.

Under certain conditions, you can control whether eBay returns warnings or errors in response to invalid attribute data and how eBay handles listing requests when such data is passed in. For example, you (or the seller) may prefer eBay to simply drop invalid attributes and proceed with listing the item, or you (or the seller) may prefer eBay to reject the listing if any attributes are incorrect. See Setting the Attribute Error Severity Preference for information about how to specify your application's error tolerance preference. See Attribute Error and Warning Conditions for details about how the preference setting affects the listing results in different scenarios.

Some error and warning messages that eBay returns are intended for end users, and others are intended for the application itself. To help you determine the intended target so that you can handle the error appropriately, see Determining When to Display Error Messages to End Users. See Attribute Error and Warning Conditions for a list of common attribute-related messages and their intended targets.

Determining When to Display Error Messages to End Users

When a warning or error occurs, the message that is returned is usually intended for the seller (i.e., it is a user-facing message). But in some cases the message is more appropriate for the application itself (i.e., it is an application-facing message).

For example, suppose a seller has a slow Internet connection, so your application does not automatically refresh its meta-data from eBay. The seller lists an item, and eBay returns a warning that says the version of the meta-data has changed. Displaying such a message could cause the seller confusion. Instead, it might be more user-friendly to translate the warning message as appropriate to your application. For example, the message could say the available Item Specifics have been updated on eBay and it could ask the seller if it is OK to refresh the data now.

If the text an attribute error or warning message is intended only for the application, eBay returns Error.UserDisplayHint with a value of false. If the message text is intended for the user (the default), this property is not returned.

Attribute Error and Warning Conditions lists a number of common errors and warnings and indicates which messages are intended for end users.

Setting the Attribute Error Severity Preference

Some users may feel very strongly about the Item Specifics or Pre-filled Item Information they include in their listings, and they may want your application to strictly enforce the proper selections. Other users may be more concerned that their items are listed at a particular time and would prefer to drop some or all of the Item Specifics with warnings whenever possible. They can then revise the item's Item Specifics or product details later.

Your application can set an error handling preference (ErrorHandling) to influence how eBay handles listings that contain invalid Item Specifics data. Please note that this preference does not affect site-wide characteristic set data like return policies.

Table 22-5 describes the error handling preference values that you can specify and how they can affect a listing request. These values are also described in the schema documentation for ErrorHandlingCodeType.

Table 22-5 Attribute Error Handling Preference Values 

Value	Meaning	Recommended Usage
BestEffort	(Default) If any attribute data is invalid, drop the invalid attributes, keep the attributes that are valid, and proceed with listing the item. If dropping the attribute data leaves the item in a state where required attributes are missing or invalid, reject the listing.	Use this preference for most categories that support Item Specifics. This is the default setting if ErrorHandling is not specified in the request.
AllOrNone	If any attribute data is invalid, drop the entire attribute set, and proceed with listing the item. If the category has required attributes and the attribute set is dropped, reject the listing.	Use this preference when you would rather list the item with no Item Specifics rather than a partial set of Item Specifics.
FailOnError	If any attribute data is invalid, reject the listing.	Use this preference for categories in which Item Specifics justify the financial value of a listing or provide time-sensitive information. For example, suppose you are listing a black PDA that would normally be more expensive than a white PDA of the same brand. In this case, the Color attribute is very important because the color justifies the price. If an invalid attribute ID is passed in (e.g., an old ID for the Color attribute), you might want eBay to reject the listing. Similarly, if you are listing a ticket and it is a 1-day listing, you might consider optional attributes such as the Event Type to be too important to drop. If you specify an old ID for such an attribute (or any invalid attributes at all), you might want eBay to reject the listing.
Legacy	Apply attribute validation rules that were in effect prior to May 2005. In general, drop attributes with invalid attribute IDs and accept the listing (if the other item data is valid), but reject the listing if a valid attribute has an invalid value ID. If dropping the attribute data leaves the item in a state where required attributes are missing or invalid, reject the listing.	Use this preference for categories in which unrecognized or invalid attributes can be dropped (and revised later), but the values of certain attributes are fundamental to the success of the listing. For example, in Men's Jeans categories, buyers are likely to search against Waist Size. If you pass in the correct Waist Size attribute ID but you specify an invalid value ID, you might want eBay to reject the listing. On the other hand, if an invalid attribute ID (e.g., for Color, which is not applicable to Men's Jeans) is passed in, you might prefer eBay to drop that attribute and accept the listing.

Attribute Error and Warning Conditions describes how these preferences are applied in different scenarios.

In some cases, eBay's handling of one warning or error condition (such as Invalid Attribute Value Specified) can lead to another condition (such as Required Attribute Missing). This means the warning and/or errors returned may reflect the final error condition in addition to (or instead of) the original problem with the request.

Furthermore, multiple warnings and/or errors can be returned. For example, one warning might state that an invalid value was found, and additional warnings might explain that certain Item Specifics were dropped.

We recommend that you display all user-facing warning and error messags (or your own versions of these messages) to users so that they understand the current state of the request and the steps they need to take to resolve the problem.

After submitting a listing with Item Specifics, we recommend that you use GetItemCall to confirm which attributes were included in the listing and to update your locally stored version of the listing.

Attribute Error and Warning Conditions

The sections below describe various conditions that result in warnings or errors and how eBay handles these situations based on each ErrorHandling preference.

Other attribute and product-related errors can also be returned, but their behavior does not vary according to these preferences. For example, errors related to lookup attributes (used with external product IDs) and site-wide attributes (e.g., return policies) are not controlled by this kind of preference.

Each section identifies error and warning codes that may be associated with each error condition. It also specifies whether the error messages are targeted to the end user or to the application. Please refer to Error Message Strings for the error message text associated with each of these codes.

The warnings and errors are presented in this order:

Problems with category IDs, attribute set IDs, product IDs or version

Attribute Set ID Does Not Match Category ID

Duplicate Set of Attributes Specified

Catalog Product ID Updated

Attribute System Version Changed

Problems with attribute IDs

Duplicate Attribute ID Specified

Unknown Attribute Specified

Pre-filled or Read-Only Attribute Specified

Required Attribute Missing

Required Child Attribute Missing

Parent Attribute Missing

Problems with attribute value IDs or free-text (literal) values

Invalid Attribute Value Specified

Free-Text Attribute Value Missing

Too Many Values Specified

Invalid Date Value Specified

Attribute Set ID Does Not Match Category ID

This occurs when the application passes an attribute set ID that does not match the primary or secondary category ID.

When this occurs, eBay cannot match the attribute set to a category specified in the request, so we cannot properly validate the Item Specifics.

If you specify "BestEffort" (the default) as the error handling preference, eBay attempts to migrate the attributes to the category's current attribute set and list the item (a process called attributes migration). In general, we correct the attribute set ID based on the category and use the attributes as specified in the request, as long as the same attribute and value IDs are valid for that category.

Specifically, we use this logic:

eBay replaces the invalid attribute set ID you specified with the attribute set ID that is currently mapped to the category (the "current attribute set").
eBay uses the attribute IDs and value IDs that you specified in the request, as long as they are valid in the current attribute set:
Drop any attributes and values whose IDs are not present in the current attribute set's meta-data. For example, if the original request included a predefined color value like "Light blue" with ID=123, and the current attribute set only supports "Pale blue" with ID=456, we would not migrate "Light blue" to "Pale blue". However, if pale blue has the same ID as light blue did (123), we would migrate "Light blue" to "Pale blue".
If multiple values were specified for an attribute, but the attribute currently allows only one value, use the first value that was specified in the request. Drop the other values. If the first value's ID is not valid in the current attribute set, drop the attribute.
If an attribute accepts a free-text value constrained by a data type (e.g., a type-in date in the YYYYMMDD format), make sure the value in the request is the correct data type. Drop attributes whose values are invalid data types (this rarely occurs). Note that if the attribute accepts a user-defined string, we treat the value in the request as a plain string (regardless of the original data type) and use it in the listing.
If the item is listed in two categories and both are attributes-enabled:
If two attribute set IDs are passed in (where one or both have invalid IDs), eBay migrates the attributes to the applicable categories as needed.
If only one attribute set ID is passed in and it is invalid, eBay migrates the attributes to the primary category only. In this case, the attribute set may be dropped if all its IDs are invalid for the primary category.

Error Messages

Either warning 5121 or error 5112 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

If a required attribute is missing, a different error will occur and the listing request will fail (see Required Attribute Missing).

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request. The effects can vary depending on whether or not the category contains required attributes.

Table 22-6 Attribute Set ID Does Not Match Category ID 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5121) Error	Warning (5121) Error	Error (5112)	Error (5112)
Listing effect	Replace the attribute set ID with the one that is valid for the category. Drop attribute IDs and value IDs that are invalid for the category. List the item. If required attributes are dropped, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	If all attributes in the category's current attribute set are optional, drop the entire attribute set and list the item. If the attribute set is dropped and the category has required attributes, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

eBay reorganizes the category or merges data from two categories and the corresponding characteristic set ID changes. This occurs after the application has refreshed its local meta-data. For example, this sequence of events occurs:

The application refreshes its local meta-data and these values are applicable for a given category: Category ID = 1, attribute set ID = 1, version = 1.
eBay updates the meta-data and these values are now current: Category ID = 1, attribute set ID = 2, version = 2.
The application passes in the cached attribute set ID (1) in a listing request.
eBay cannot match the attribute set to a category specified in the request and therefore cannot determine how to validate the Item Specifics. With the "Best Effort" preference (the default), we will attempt to migrate the attributes in the request to the current attribute set and then proceed with validation. With all other preferences, no attribute migration will occur.

Duplicate Set of Attributes Specified

This occurs when the application passes two attribute sets with the same attribute set ID value in the same request.

When this occurs, eBay cannot determine which variation of the attribute set the seller intended to include in the listing.

Error Messages

Either warning 5127 or error 5118 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages, but they indicate a problem with the application itself.

If a required attribute is missing, a different error will occur (see Required Attribute Missing).

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request. The effects can vary depending on whether or not the category contains required attributes.

Table 22-7 Duplicate Set of Attributes Specified 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	AbortOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5127) Error	Warning (5127) Error	Error (5118)	Error (5118)
Listing effect	Drop both duplicated attribute sets and list the item. If the attribute set is dropped and the category has required attributes, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Drop both duplicated attribute sets and list the item. If the attribute set is dropped and the category has required attributes, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

The application does not validate that each attribute set ID is unique within the attribute set passed in the request.

Attribute Set ID Does Not Match Product ID

This occurs when the application passes a valid product ID but the request also includes an attribute set (where additional editable attributes were specified) that is inconsistent with the product ID.

Error Messages

Either warning 5130 or error 12018 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request.

Table 22-8 Catalog Product Does Not Match Attribute Set 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5130)	Warning (5130)	Error (12018)	Error (12018)
Listing effect	Drop the attribute set that does not match the product and list the item.	Drop the attribute set that does not match the product and list the item.	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

The seller selects a valid product ID but tries to add additional Item Specifics that are not in the same characteristic set that is associated with the product.
eBay merges meta-data in two categories and makes an existing product ID obsolete after the application has refreshed its local meta-data.

Catalog Product ID Updated

This occurs when the application passes an old product ID and a mapping to the new ID exists in the eBay system.

Note: eBay makes an effort to minimize such changes to product IDs. Please also note that if you specify a product ID that eBay does not recognize (including a very old product ID that is not mapped to a current product ID in the system), this is treated as a "product not found" error (12024) instead. eBay's response to this error condition is not affected by the error handling preference you specify.

Error Messages

Either warning 5119 or error 5123 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request.

Table 22-9 Catalog Product ID Updated 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5119)	Warning (5119)	Error (5123)	Warning (5123)
Listing effect	List the item	List the item	Reject the listing.	List the item.

Common Causes

A portion of the product data (such as the Additional Information section) changes on eBay. Such a change triggers a new version of the product, which in turn causes a portion of the ID string to change.
The seller searched for Pre-filled Item Information previously and is now using the same product ID for another listing, but the ID has changed on eBay since the original product search was performed.
The seller is relisting an existing item and the product ID has changed on eBay since the item was originally listed.
The application uses GetItemCall to download an existing item with Pre-filled Item Information and attempts to use the response data in a new listing, but the product ID has changed on eBay since the downloaded item was originally listed.
Within the application, the seller schedules the item to be listed at a future date, but the product ID changes on eBay by the time the application submits the listing.

Attribute System Version Changed

This occurs when the application passes an attribute system version number that is older than the current version number on the eBay site.

Error Messages

Warning 5109 will be returned, regardless of the preference you specify. This is an application-facing message.

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request.

Table 22-10 Attribute System Version Changed 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5109)	Warning (5109)	Warning (5109)	Warning (5109)
Listing effect	List the item.	List the item.	List the item.	List the item.

Common Causes

The version changes on eBay after the application refreshes the meta-data. The following kinds of changes might trigger the creation of a new version (these are examples only and might not exist in any actual meta-data):
A new attribute (e.g., Brand) is added to the Women's Clothing characteristic set.
A new value (e.g., Apple) is added to the Brand attribute in the Digital Cameras characteristic set.
Category 300 is now mapped to characteristic set 28 instead of characteristic set 27. (As a result, characteristic set 28 could have some different attributes and values from 27).
The application has downloaded an existing item by using GetItemCall and is using the item's existing attribute data in a new listing (and the only change to the specified data is the version).
Within the application, the seller schedules the item to be listed at a future date, but the version changes on eBay by the time the application submits the listing.

Duplicate Attribute ID Specified

This occurs when the application specifies the same ID for two or more attributes in the same request. For example, the seller specifies two separate color attributes (one with a value of Blue and one with a value of Yellow).

When this occurs, eBay cannot determine which variation of the attribute the seller intended to include in the listing.

Note that this not the same as specifying two different values for a single-value attribute (see Too Many Values Specified).

Error Messages

Either warning 5122 or error 13020 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

If a required attribute is missing, a different error will occur (see Required Attribute Missing).

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request. The effects can vary depending on whether or not the attribute is required.

Table 22-11 Duplicate Attribute ID Specified 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5122) Error (13020)	Warning (5122) Error	Error (13020)	Error (13020)
Listing effect	Drop both instances of the attribute and list the item. If the attribute is dropped and it is required for the category, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Drop the attribute set and list the item. If the attribute set is dropped and the category has required attributes, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

This occurs when the application does not validate that each attribute ID in the request is specified only once within its attribute set.

Unknown Attribute Specified

This occurs when the application passes an attribute ID eBay does not recognize.

Error Messages

Either warning 5116 or error 5125 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request.

Table 22-12 Unknown Attribute Specified 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5116)	Warning (5116)	Error (5125)	Warning (5116)
Listing effect	Drop the attribute and list the item.	Drop the attribute and list the item.	Reject the listing.	Drop the attribute and list the item.

Common Causes

The user specifies an attribute ID (e.g., for Color) that is no longer defined in the characteristic set.

Pre-filled or Read-Only Attribute Specified

This occurs when the application passes an ID for an attribute that is identified as pre-filled or read-only in the characteristic set. (This is handled in the same manner as Determining Whether the User Can Choose an Attribute Value.

Error Messages

Either warning 5116 or error 5125 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request.

Table 22-13 Pre-filled or Read-Only Attribute Specified 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	AddItemCall: Warning (5116) ReviseItemCall and RelistIemCall: No warning	AddItemCall: Warning (5116) ReviseItemCall and RelistIemCall: No warning	Error (5125)	AddItemCall: Warning (5116) ReviseItemCall and RelistIemCall: No warning
Listing effect	Use the pre-filled attribute instead and list the item.	Use the pre-filled attribute instead and list the item.	Reject the listing.	Use the pre-filled attribute instead and list the item.

Common Causes

The user specifies an attribute that is identified as a pre-filled default attribute in the GetProductSellingPagesCall response.
The read-only status of the attribute changes on eBay from type 0 or type 2 (editable) to type 1 (read-only) after the application updates its cached product meta-data or defines a scheduled item with Pre-filled Item Information.
The user specifies a category that identifies a distinct manufacturer and model for a US eBay Motors passenger vehicle, and then attempts to also specify a Manufacturer or Model attribute in the Item Specifics section of the listing.
The seller is relisting the item without updating the Item Specifics. The attribute was editable when the original item was listed, but it has become a type 1 attribute since then.

Required Attribute Missing

This occurs when an attribute that is required for the category is not specified in the request or it has been dropped as a result of other errors (see Common Causes).

Error Messages

Error 5000 will be returned, regardless of the preference you specify. This is a user-facing message.

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this situation based on the error preference you pass in the listing request.

Table 22-14 Required Attribute Missing 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Error (5000)	Error (5000)	Error (5000)	Error (5000)
Listing effect	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

The seller does not notice that the attribute is marked as required and does not select a value for it. The application does not validate that all required attributes are filled in.
A new required attribute was added on eBay since the last time the application updated its cached meta-data.
The seller specifies an invalid value for a required attribute. Based on the error handling preference (e.g., BestEffort), eBay drops the attribute with the invalid value (see Invalid Attribute Value Specified). The required attribute is now missing.
The seller specifies an invalid value for an optional attribute. Based on the error handling preference (e.g., Legacy), eBay drops the entire attribute set (see Invalid Attribute Value Specified). However, another attribute in the same attribute set is required for the category. The required attribute is now missing because all attributes were dropped.
The attribute was originally optional but became required on eBay since the last time the application updated its cached meta-data or defined the item data.
When revising or relisting the item, the seller removes the required attribute from the item.
When revising or relisting the item, the application sends only the attributes that have changed instead of sending in the full attribute set again, and the required attribute is missing from the request.

Required Child Attribute Missing

This occurs when the seller does not fill in an attribute that became required as a result of selecting another attribute. See Child Required-Status Dependencies (Type 5: Value-to-Meta-data) for information about this type of dependency.

Error Messages

Either warning 5131 or error 5000 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this situation based on the error preference you pass in the listing request.

Table 22-15 Required Child Attribute Missing 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5131)	Warning (5131)	Error (5000)	Error (5000)
Listing effect	Drop the parent attribute and list the item.	Drop the attribute set and list the item.	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

A new required attribute is added or an existing optional attribute becomes required in the meta-data since the last time the application refreshed its cached meta-data.
The seller does not notice that the attribute is required as a result of the seller selecting another attribute. The application does not validate the attribute selections before submitting the listing to eBay. For example, the Face Value characteristic for Tickets is initially hidden from the user, and it is not required in order to list the item. However, if a certain Venue State/Province is specified, the Face Value attribute becomes required.
When revising or relisting the item, the seller removes the required attribute from the item.
When revising or relisting the item, the application sends only the attributes that have changed instead of sending in the full attribute set again, and the required attribute is missing from the request.

Parent Attribute Missing

This occurs when the application passes an attribute that is a dependent child of another attribute, but the parent attribute is not specified in the request. See Child Attribute Visibility Dependencies (Type 4: Value-to-Attribute) for information about this type of dependency.

In this case, eBay cannot determine whether the child attribute is valid. For example, within the Tickets characteristic set, Face Value is required and only valid when certain Venue State/Province values are selected; otherwise, Face Value is not allowed. If no parent attribute is specified, eBay cannot determine whether Face Value is allowed.

Error Messages

Error 5115 will be returned, regardless of the preference you specify. This is a user-facing message.

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request.

Table 22-16 Parent Attribute Missing 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Error (5115)	Error (5115)	Error (5115)	Error (5115)
Listing effect	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

eBay changes the parent attribute ID after the application refreshes its cached meta-data.
The application is not using the Item Specifics SYI XSL stylesheet and one of the following occurs:
The application passes in a child attribute (e.g., City=San Francisco) and expects eBay to determine the appropriate parent state automatically. However, the defined parent-child dependency relationships dictate that you must first specify a state in order for eBay to validate a city.
The seller clears or changes the parent attribute after selecting the child attribute, but the application does not update the child attribute accordingly.
The application specifies a valid child attribute and a valid parent attribute ID, but specifies a parent value ID that does not exist in the meta-data.

Invalid Attribute Value Specified

This occurs when the application does one of the following:

The application passes a value ID hat is not associated with the attribute in the characteristic set.
The application passes a free-text string that does not pass the stated validation rules. For example. See Summary of the Available Validation Rules for validation rules that could trigger this kind of warning or error.

Error Messages

Either warning 5124 or error 5028 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

If a required attribute is missing, a different error will occur (see Required Attribute Missing).

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows the way eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request. The effects can vary depending on whether or not the category has required attributes.

Table 22-17 Invalid Attribute Value Specified 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5124) Error	Warning (5124) Error	Error (5028)	Error (5028)
Listing effect	Drop the attribute and list the item. If the attribute is dropped and it is required for the category, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Drop the attribute set and list the item. If the attribute set is dropped and the category has required attributes, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

The application did not enforce a parent-child dependency specified in the characteristic set. For example, the seller selected San Francisco as a city in New York state.
The attribute value ID changed on eBay since the last time the application updated its cached meta-data. For example, the color purple is replaced with the color violet. Or the unit of measure for CPU Speed is changed from Mhz to Ghz.
The application downloaded an existing item and is using the same attribute value ID when revising or relisting the item or listing a new item based on the existing item's data, but the ID changed on eBay since the downloaded item was originally listed.
The seller scheduled the item within the application to be listed at a future date, and the value ID or parent attribute's meta-data changed on eBay since the local item was created.
The application passes a a free-text string that does not pass the stated validation rules. For example:
An incoming US phone number does not match the expression ###-###-####.
A specified URL does not match the valid URL syntax.
An invalid character is sent in as a decimal (e.g., thousands) separator.
An alphabetical string (e.g., "none") is specified instead of a numeric value.
HTML is entered in a string attribute that accepts only plain text.
See Summary of the Available Validation Rules for additional situations.

Free-Text Attribute Value Missing

This occurs when the application does not specify a literal string value for a free-text attribute.

The behavior in this case is similar to the behavior of Invalid Attribute Value Specified, but the Legacy preference returns a warning instead of an error.

Error Messages

Either warning 5124 or error 5028 will be returned, depending on the preference you specify. These are user-facing messages.

If a required attribute is missing, a different error will occur (see Required Attribute Missing).

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request. The effects can vary depending on whether or not the category has required attributes.

Table 22-18 Free-Text Attribute Value Missing 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5124) Error	Warning (5124) Error	Error (5028)	Warning (5124) Error
Listing effect	Drop the attribute and list the item. If the attribute is dropped and it is required for the category, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Drop the attribute set and list the item. If the attribute set is dropped and the category has required attributes, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Reject the listing.	Drop the attribute and list the item. If the attribute is dropped and it is required for the category, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).

Common Causes

The seller selected a free-text attribute but did not specify a literal value string for it (or specified a value ID other than "-3").
A prohibited word is used in a free-text attribute as the value. (See Offensive Material in the eBay Web site online help.)

Too Many Values Specified

This typically occurs when the application specifies multiple value fields for an attribute that accepts only one value.

Error Messages

Message 5114 is returned for warnings and errors, regardless of the preference you specify. This is a user-facing message.

If a required attribute is missing, a different error will occur (see Required Attribute Missing).

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows the way eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request. The effects can vary depending on whether or not the category has required attributes.

Table 22-19 Too Many Values Specified 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5114) Error	Warning (5114) Error	Error (5114)	Error (5114)
Listing effect	Drop the attribute and list the item. If the attribute is dropped and it is required for the category, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Drop the attribute set and list the item. If the attribute set is dropped and the category has required attributes, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Possible Causes

The application presented a value list as a multi-select attribute (e.g., using check boxes) instead of a single-select attribute (e.g., using radio buttons).

Invalid Date Value Specified

This occurs when the application specifies no value or a non-numeric value for a date field or does not specify the date as separate year, month, and day fields (as applicable).

Error Messages

Message 5030 is returned for warnings and errors, regardless of the preference you specify. This is a user-facing message.

If a required attribute is missing, a different error will occur (see Required Attribute Missing).

Error Handling Preference Effects

The table below shows how eBay handles this scenario based on the error preference you pass in the listing request. The effects can vary depending on whether or not the category has required attributes.

Table 22-20 Invalid Date Specified 

	BestEffort	AllOrNone	FailOnError	Legacy
Severity	Warning (5030) Error	Warning (5030) Error	Error (5030)	Error (5030)
Listing effect	Drop the attribute and list the item. If the attribute is dropped and it is required for the category, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Drop the attribute set and list the item. If the attribute set is dropped and the category has required attributes, reject the listing (see Required Attribute Missing).	Reject the listing.	Reject the listing.

Common Causes

The attribute's date format changed on eBay since the last time the application updated its cached meta-data.
The seller entered the date but did not use a supported ISO format.
The application downloaded an existing item and is using the same date format when revising or relisting the item or listing a new item based on the existing item's data, and the date format changed on eBay since the downloaded item was originally listed.
The seller scheduled the item within the application to be listed at a future date, and the date format changed on eBay since the local item was created.