Dowling College Advisement System

Dowling College Advisement System - Reference

Error Messages and Possible Solutions

Below are all errors that can occur in typical system usage. If you get an error other than one listed below, please copy all text given in the message, and e-mail it to one of the system's maintainers (e-mail addresses can be found here). Please be very specific; describe in as much detail as you can what you were doing and what happened. This will be help us to improve the advisement system and hopefully remove the error completely.

Errors that can happen on any page in the advisement system.

Message Displayed	"You must enable cookies in your browser before using the advisement system."
Happens	On any page in the advisement system.
Solution	Your browser either does not support cookies, or has them disabled. Please see your browser documentation on how to enable cookies. The cookie the advisement system leaves on your computer is automatically deleted when you logout of the system.

Message Displayed	"You must login to the system prior to viewing this page."
Happens	On any page in the advisement system.
Solution	You have not logged in to the advisement system yet. Logging in means entering your user id and password. You will be redirected to the Login page. When redirected, please enter your user id and password and click submit.

Message Displayed	"You must specify your preferences prior to viewing this page."
Happens	On any page in the advisement system.
Solution	You have successfully logged into the system, but have not yet specified your preferences (such as major, minor, etc.). You will be redirected to the Input page. When redirected, pleases enter your preferences and click submit.

Errors that can happen after you submit your username and password (on the first page).

Message Displayed	"User Id must be 9 characters long."
Happens	After you submit your user name and password on the Login page.
Solution	The user id must be 9 characters (digits) long. You will be redirected to an appropriate page. When redirected, enter a valid user id that is 9 characters long.

Message Displayed	"Password must be 6 characters long."
Happens	After you submit your user name and password on the Login page.
Solution	The password must be 6 characters (digits) long. You will be redirected to an appropriate page. When redirected, enter a valid password that is 6 characters long.

Errors that can happen after you submit your preferences such as major, minor, etc. (on the second page).

Message Displayed	"You must specify a major in your preferences."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	You didn't select a major. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, be sure to select a major from the Major dropdown box.

Message Displayed	"You must specify a minor in your preferences."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	You didn't select a minor. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, be sure to select a minor from the Minor dropdown box.

Message Displayed	"You must specify a different major and minor in your preferences."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	The major and minor you chose were exactly the same. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, be sure to select a diffrent major and minor from the correct dropdown boxes.

Message Displayed	"You must specify a different major and second major in your preferences."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	The major and second major you chose were exactly the same. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, be sure to select a diffrent major and second major from the correct dropdown boxes. (You may leave second major as "none" if you don't have a second major)

Message Displayed	"You must specify a different minor and second major in your preferences."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	The minor and second major you chose were exactly the same. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, be sure to select a diffrent minor and second major from the correct dropdown boxes. (You may leave second major as "none" if you don't have a second major)

Message Displayed	"Selected major and minor cannot be chosen together."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	The major and minor you have selected cannot be chosen together under the rules of the Dowling catalog. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, be sure to select a diffrent major or a diffrent minor from the correct dropdown boxes. (You may leave second major as "none" if you don't have a second major)

Message Displayed	"Selected second major and minor cannot be chosen together."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	The second major and minor you have selected cannot be chosen together under the rules of the Dowling catalog. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, be sure to select a diffrent second major or a diffrent minor from the correct dropdown boxes. (You may leave second major as "none" if you don't have a second major)

Message Displayed	"You must specify a number of CORE credits needed that is not negative. If you are a transfer student, leave this field blank."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	You cannot possibly take a negative number of CORE classes, so a negative value for this field doesn't make any sense. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, enter a number of CORE credits needed that is not negative. If you are not a transfer student, or if you don't know how many you need to take, leave this field blank.

Message Displayed	"The number of CORE credits you entered was invalid."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	All characters entered into the "CORE credits needed" text box must be digits. You will be redirected to the Input page again. When redirected, enter a valid number for the number of CORE credits you need to take. If you are not a transfer student, or if you don't know how many you need to take, leave this field blank.

Message Displayed	"Unable to retrieve your transcripts. Please make sure your user id and password are correct and try again."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	The user id and password you entered were not recognized by Banner, another of the school's systems which holds your transcript information. You probably just typed in the wrong number in either the user id or password field. You will be redirected to the Input page again. Retry entering your user id and password. If it still doesn't work, go to the Dowling web site, and try to view your online transcripts. If you recieve an error message there as well, you should also recieve appropriate instructions on how to activate your Banner account. When you account is activated, you should be able to successfully use the advisement system also.

Message Displayed	"Unable to retrieve your transcripts at this time. The server containing your transcript information is currently unavailable."
Happens	After you submit your preferences on the Input page.
Solution	After a certain time of day, the Banner system holding student transcripts goes offline. The system is usually reactivated the next morning. Try to login to the system the following day. If you still recieve this error, see the Dowlng web site for information when the system will be back up.

Return to Main User Documentation Page