Keywords: error, unexpected error, special character error, Cloud 9 error, can't save
Summary
If you're getting an 'Unexpected Error Has Occurred' in Cloud 9 when opening a chart, changing a patient status, or saving a change, a special character in the patient record is usually the culprit. This article explains where to look for it, why it happens, and how to fix it.
Identifying the Error
The error will generally happen when you open a chart, or try to save a change for a patient. It will say: 'An unexpected error has occurred. Your error has been logged, please try again. If the error persists, please contact Support.' It will look like the screenshot below.
The usual culprit for this error is a special character in a field on the patient chart within Cloud 9. Special characters should be avoided in Cloud 9 as much as possible for this reason. If you run across this error, there are a few places you can look in the patient chart to try to identify where the special character is located.
First check in Edit > Patient > Relationships Tab. Look at all the relationships names, and addresses. Oftentimes this is where you will find the special character that is causing an error.
Check the patient's address, and name fields. We want to avoid ~ or ` or any other special characters, especially in name fields.
Check the Edit > Patient > Referrals/Professionals tab. Sometimes it can be located in the referral or general dentist profile.
Why Do These Errors Occur in Cloud 9?
The most common cause is diacritics. Adding diacritics (or accent marks) or special characters to a patient or responsible party's name(s), addresses, related parties, professionals, or referrals will trigger the error when accessing patient accounts.
The most common diacritics include:
- Acute Accent (é)
- Grave Accent (è)
- Circumflex (ê)
- Diaeresis or Umlaut (ë)
- Tilde (ñ)
- Cedilla (ç)
The error could also be a result of a conversion. If your previous software had a name or address or special character in a field, and it carried over, it can end up in a field that Cloud 9 would normally not let you save it in. Cloud 9 will usually stop you from saving special characters, but not always—so it's best to avoid them in name and address fields whenever possible.
Fixing the Special Character Error
Once you've found the special character, you can't fix it from the patient chart level. You'll need to go to Edit > Setup > People, search for the affected chart in the upper right search bar, select the person profile, and click 'Edit' to make the change.
Here are a few examples of where the error can show up and how to fix each one.
Example 1: Special character in an address
In the example below, the error is caused by a tilde in the address field: 123 St in La Cañada. Trying to fix it directly in the patient record won't work.
To fix it, navigate to Edit > Setup > People, search for the patient, check the tick box next to their name, and click 'Edit.' Make the correction, save, then go back to the patient record and exit without saving. When you reopen the chart, the error and special character will be gone.
Example 2: Special character in a Title
If a title like Dr. & Mrs. converted over from another software, the ampersand can trigger the error.
To fix it, go to Edit > Setup > Titles, check the tick box next to Dr. & Mrs., and click 'Edit.' Change it to Dr. and Mrs., then save. Exit the patient record without saving and reopen — the error will be gone.
Example 3: Special character in a Professional's name
Special characters in a doctor or professional's name on the Edit > Patient > Professionals tab can also cause this error and can't be fixed from that tab directly. (screenshot below says Dr. Cloud 9#%& Doctor.)
Since the doctor profile shows 'P' for Person, navigate to Edit > Setup > People, search for the name, check the tick box, click 'Edit,' remove the special characters, and save. GIF below showing the steps.
If you find the error but are unable to fix it, please contact us at Support we are happy to assist! If you are getting this error but not finding any special characters, please still reach out to us at one of the methods below. We will be happy to review this with you to find the solution to the problem.
As always, if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to reach out to Cloud 9 Support by emailing us at cloud9support@planetdds.com, or chatting us online using the chat bubble on the lower right at https://cloud9support.planetdds.com/hc/en-us, or giving us a call during our business hours of 8:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST at the 1.800.394.6050 option 2.