{"record":{"id":"f26eaea560c25ccc","repo":"instructure/canvas-lms","slug":"improper-status-status-for-abstract-course-abstract-course","errorCode":null,"errorMessage":"Improper status \"#{status}\" for abstract course #{abstract_course_id}","messagePattern":"Improper status \"#(.+?)\" for abstract course #(.+?)","errorType":"exception","errorClass":"ImportError","httpStatus":null,"severity":"error","filePath":"lib/sis/abstract_course_importer.rb","lineNumber":52,"sourceCode":"    end\n\n    class Work\n      attr_accessor :success_count, :abstract_courses_to_update_sis_batch_id, :roll_back_data\n\n      def initialize(batch, root_account, logger)\n        @batch = batch\n        @root_account = root_account\n        @abstract_courses_to_update_sis_batch_id = []\n        @roll_back_data = []\n        @logger = logger\n        @success_count = 0\n      end\n\n      def add_abstract_course(abstract_course_id, short_name, long_name, status, term_id = nil, account_id = nil, fallback_account_id = nil)\n        raise ImportError, \"No abstract_course_id given for an abstract course\" if abstract_course_id.blank?\n        raise ImportError, \"No short_name given for abstract course #{abstract_course_id}\" if short_name.blank?\n        raise ImportError, \"No long_name given for abstract course #{abstract_course_id}\" if long_name.blank?\n        raise ImportError, \"Improper status \\\"#{status}\\\" for abstract course #{abstract_course_id}\" unless /\\Aactive|\\Adeleted/i.match?(status)\n        return if @batch.skip_deletes? && status =~ /deleted/i\n\n        course = AbstractCourse.find_by(root_account_id: @root_account, sis_source_id: abstract_course_id)\n        course ||= AbstractCourse.new\n        unless course.stuck_sis_fields.include?(:enrollment_term_id)\n          course.enrollment_term = @root_account.enrollment_terms.find_by(sis_source_id: term_id) || @root_account.default_enrollment_term\n        end\n        course.root_account = @root_account\n\n        account = nil\n        account = @root_account.all_accounts.find_by(sis_source_id: account_id) if account_id.present?\n        account ||= @root_account.all_accounts.find_by(sis_source_id: fallback_account_id) if fallback_account_id.present?\n        course.account = account if account\n        course.account ||= @root_account\n\n        # only update the name/short_name on new records, and ones that haven't been changed\n        # since the last sis import\n        course.name = long_name if long_name.present? && (course.new_record? || !course.stuck_sis_fields.include?(:name))","sourceCodeStart":34,"sourceCodeEnd":70,"githubUrl":"https://github.com/instructure/canvas-lms/blob/1c9f0bb8013ed69c4f2efe11fd483025469b7e6c/lib/sis/abstract_course_importer.rb#L34-L70","documentation":"Canvas SIS abstract course importer validates that each abstract course row's 'status' column is 'active' or 'deleted'. If the value doesn't match /\\Aactive|\\Adeleted/i (case-insensitive prefix match at start of string), add_abstract_course raises ImportError. This guards against silently creating courses with an unrecognized workflow state from a malformed SIS CSV.","triggerScenarios":"Calling AbstractCourseImporter::Importer#add_abstract_course with a status value that is nil, blank, misspelled (e.g. 'actve', 'deactivated'), or starts with other text (e.g. ' completed', 'inactive'). Note the regex only anchors the start, so 'deleted_permanently' passes but 'unpublished' fails.","commonSituations":"SIS CSV export scripts emitting non-Canvas status enums; whitespace/BOM prefixing the status cell; locale-translated status values; upstream systems using 'pending' or 'inactive' states.","solutions":["Check the SIS CSV 'status' column for the failing abstract_course_id and set it to exactly 'active' or 'deleted' (leading text matters; case is ignored).","Strip whitespace/BOM from status before calling add_abstract_course.","Map source-system statuses to Canvas's two allowed values before import.","If the value is legitimately different, extend the regex in lib/sis/abstract_course_importer.rb to accept it."],"exampleFix":"// before\nimporter.add_abstract_course('C101', 'CS101', 'Intro CS', 'inactive')\n// after\nimporter.add_abstract_course('C101', 'CS101', 'Intro CS', 'active')","handlingStrategy":"validation","validationCode":"def valid_sis_status?(s)\n  %w[active deleted].any? { |ok| s.to_s.strip.downcase.start_with?(ok) }\nend\nraise ArgumentError, \"bad status\" unless valid_sis_status?(status)","typeGuard":null,"tryCatchPattern":"begin\n  importer.add_abstract_course(id, short, long, status)\nrescue SIS::BaseImporter::ImportError => e\n  logger.warn(\"skipping abstract course #{id}: #{e.message}\")\nend","preventionTips":["Whitelist statuses to active/deleted before building SIS rows","Strip whitespace/BOM from all CSV string fields","Map source-system status enums to Canvas values in one converter module"],"tags":["sis","validation","csv-import"],"backgroundTag":"invalid-enum-value","analyzedSha":"1c9f0bb8013ed69c4f2efe11fd483025469b7e6c","analyzedAt":"2026-09-15T20:33:18.891Z","contentChangedAt":"2026-09-15T20:33:18.891Z","schemaVersion":2},"datasetVersion":"2026-09-23T02:17:17.105Z"}