MapThat – Error Processing Request?

By David Crowther

Question:

What is causing the ‘Error Processing Request’ message in MapThat?

Answer:

The answer is there can be many reasons why you are getting the ‘Error Processing Request’ message when you use MapThat. This is simply a generic message that the ‘End User’ will see if a problem occurs.

The reasons for this message can be summarised into the following categories:

• Configuration Issue – for example you may have created an Information Bubble and it is referencing a field name that does not exist in the source table, or you have a THEME associated to a Layer that has values that again do not match the fields in the source table.
• Spatial Geometry – many issues can be related to the integrity/validity of the source spatial data. This existing FAQ discusses how to check for and make Geometry Valid.
• https://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/115002814585-MapThat-Admin-Geometry-Make-Valid-Error-Message
• Server Issues – many tools within MapThat require the server to be correctly configured. For example the routing tools will require access to the Google Routing API and the Excel Loader requires various database engines and or drivers to run correctly. This FAQ helps with the Excel Loader issue.
• https://www.cadlinecommunity.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/207659139-MapThat-Admin-Excel-Loader-Errors

When these errors occur the End User will simply see the ‘Error Processing Request’ message which doesn’t provide you as the administrator with much detail to fix these issues.

In order to better debug these problems you have two options.

1 – Access the physical server machine. Now you can open MapThat using the LOCALHOST URL, recreate the error (e.g. open the Layer that has the issue) and now a more detailed message will be shown e.g.

2 – MapThat Error Log Table. Each time that an error occurs within MapThat a record is written into the VE_ErrorLog table. Open Sql Server Management Studio and select from this table and you will see the error message in full detail within the Exception Message field.

Now you have the full details of the error message you can resolve the issue more easily.