Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

rsantiago — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 16:10:40 GMT

Hi everyone,

I am a new HubSpot user and I am having issues in uploading my list.

I have a list that consists of Korean characters and when i uploaded it in HubSpot, the the property "First Name" (Which was in Korean characters), the value only showed "??????".

Is there a way for HubSpot to automatically translate the foreign characters into English? If yes, how do we do that? If no, what would you suggest for me everytime i will import a list with a foreign character?

Hoping for your inputs!

Thank you!

Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

roisinkirby — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 16:49:13 GMT

Hey @rsantiago could you confirm if you are using a csv. file from Excel or Google Sheets in this case?

Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

rsantiago — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 16:51:21 GMT

Hi Roisinkirby,

I am using a CSV (Comma Delimited) excel sheet.

Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

roisinkirby — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 10:26:34 GMT

Thanks for following up @rsantiago. Excel can be a little tricky when it comes to downloading CSV. files with special charactes. This help article guides you step by step on how to format and save your excel document to preserve these characters: How to include special characters in your import file

Second to this, I'd reccommend using Google Sheets for documents such as these - they tend to be more successful for imports of this kind!

Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

OlaCarlander — Tue, 04 Feb 2020 14:30:31 GMT

Hi, that link only takes us to a page where it states that I need utf-8 files for IMPORT. How can I get Unicode characters at EXPORT from Hubspot?

Thanks,

Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

GrowthArchitect — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 16:36:51 GMT

Hi,

I wrote some custom code to overcome this issue (it automatically amends first name & can easily be changed for last name)

const axios = require("axios");

exports.main = async (event) => {
const secretKey = "enter your key here";

console.log("Secret Key Retrieved:", secretKey);
console.log("Input Fields:", JSON.stringify(event.inputFields));

const contactFirstName = event.inputFields.firstname;
if (!contactFirstName) {
console.error("No value provided for contact first name.");
throw new Error("Contact first name is missing. Cannot update the contact.");
}

console.log("Raw Input:", contactFirstName);

const decodeHtmlEntitiesAndUnicode = (str) => {
if (!str) return str;

console.log("Before Decoding:", str);

// HTML Entities Map
const htmlEntities = {
"À": "À",
"Á": "Á",
"Â": "Â",
"Ã": "Ã",
"Ä": "Ä",
"Å": "Å",
"Æ": "Æ",
"Ç": "Ç",
"È": "È",
"É": "É",
"Ê": "Ê",
"Ë": "Ë",
"Ì": "Ì",
"Í": "Í",
"Î": "Î",
"Ï": "Ï",
"Ð": "Ð",
"Ñ": "Ñ",
"Ò": "Ò",
"Ó": "Ó",
"Ô": "Ô",
"Õ": "Õ",
"Ö": "Ö",
"Ø": "Ø",
"Ù": "Ù",
"Ú": "Ú",
"Û": "Û",
"Ü": "Ü",
"Ý": "Ý",
"Þ": "Þ",
"ß": "ß",
"à": "à",
"á": "á",
"â": "â",
"ã": "ã",
"ä": "ä",
"å": "å",
"æ": "æ",
"ç": "ç",
"è": "è",
"é": "é",
"ê": "ê",
"ë": "ë",
"ì": "ì",
"í": "í",
"î": "î",
"ï": "ï",
"ð": "ð",
"ñ": "ñ",
"ò": "ò",
"ó": "ó",
"ô": "ô",
"õ": "õ",
"ö": "ö",
"ø": "ø",
"ù": "ù",
"ú": "ú",
"û": "û",
"ü": "ü",
"ý": "ý",
"þ": "þ",
"ÿ": "ÿ",
""": '"',
"'": "'",
"&": "&",
"<": "<",
">": ">",
" ": " ",
"©": "©",
"®": "®",
"¥": "¥",
"€": "€",
"£": "£",
"¢": "¢",
"°": "°",
"±": "±",
"÷": "÷",
"×": "×",
"µ": "µ",
"·": "·",
"¶": "¶",
"§": "§",
"«": "«",
"»": "»",
"¼": "¼",
"½": "½",
"¾": "¾",
"": "",
"¿": "¿",
"¬": "¬",
};

// Replace HTML Entities
let decodedStr = str;
for (const [entity, char] of Object.entries(htmlEntities)) {
const entityWithoutSemicolon = entity.replace(/;$/, "");
[entity, entityWithoutSemicolon].forEach((variant) => {
if (decodedStr.includes(variant)) {
console.log(`Entity Found: Replacing ${variant} with ${char}`);
decodedStr = decodedStr.replace(new RegExp(variant, "g"), char);
}
});
}

// Replace Unicode References (ş and ş)
decodedStr = decodedStr.replace(/&#(\d+);/g, (_, code) => {
console.log(`Unicode Found: Replacing &#${code}; with ${String.fromCharCode(code)}`);
return String.fromCharCode(code);
});

decodedStr = decodedStr.replace(/&#x([0-9a-fA-F]+);/g, (_, hexCode) => {
console.log(`Unicode Found: Replacing &#x${hexCode}; with ${String.fromCharCode(parseInt(hexCode, 16))}`);
return String.fromCharCode(parseInt(hexCode, 16));
});

console.log("After Decoding:", decodedStr);
return decodedStr;
};

const decodedFirstName = decodeHtmlEntitiesAndUnicode(contactFirstName);
console.log("Decoded First Name:", decodedFirstName);

const contactId = event.inputFields.contactId;
if (!contactId) {
console.error("Contact ID is missing.");
throw new Error("Contact ID is required to update the contact.");
}

const hubspotApiUrl = `https://api.hubapi.com/crm/v3/objects/contacts/${contactId}`;
const hubspotHeaders = {
Authorization: `Bearer ${secretKey}`,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
};

try {
const response = await axios.patch(
hubspotApiUrl,
{
properties: {
firstname: decodedFirstName,
},
},
{
headers: hubspotHeaders,
}
);

console.log("Contact updated successfully:", response.data);
} catch (error) {
console.error(
"Error updating contact:",
error.response ? error.response.data : error.message
);
throw new Error("Failed to update contact");
}

return {
outputFields: {
decodedFirstName,
},
};
};

topic Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot. in Lists, Lead Scoring & Workflows

Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

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Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.

Re: Foreign characters when uploading a list in HubSpot.