I have submitted dozens of g.g applications with spaces in the file name
attachments and never had a problem.....until earlier this month.

Without going through all the details of my two week ordeal with the g.g
help desk folks, here's the bottom line that resolved the problem and
finally got the application submitted:

We removed the spaces and special characters from the pdf file names and
the app was still rejected.  We emailed the entire app to the g.g help
desk person (and his supervisor).  They went through the entire package
and could find nothing wrong with it.  They finally escalated the
problem to their IT research staff.

After two weeks, the solution:   The original WORD document must be free
of all spaces and special characters, BEFORE converting the file to a
PDF file.  Evidently, if you remove the spaces and special characters
after creating the PDF file, those spaces and special characters are
still embedded in the PDF file somewhere and can cause the app to be
rejected.

My best to the list,
Rich

Richard Chiriatti, CRA
Associate Director
Office of Sponsored Programs
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
9 Cambridge Center, Room 209
Cambridge, MA  02142-1401
Phone: (617) 258-5018
Fax: (617) 258-8848
E-mail: xxxxxx@wi.mit.edu

SUBSCRIBE RESADM-L Martina Tsai wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> I know I'm testing my luck here so just wondering what your experiences are
> with the following:
>
> Based on the NIH guidelines, all attachments must be provided to NIH in PDF
> format, filenames must be included with no spaces or special characters, and
> a .pdf extension must be used.
>
> Have you run into many troubles with attachment files with spaces or special
> characters? Yes, we've got 1 or 2 errors about this before, but just
> wondering if you experience any difficulties when you don't follow this
> guideline closely for NIH submissions.
>
> As always, thanks for sharing.
>
> Martina
>
> Martina Tsai, CRA
> Sponsored Projects Services (SPS)
> University at Buffalo
> 402 Crofts Hall
> Buffalo, New York 14260-7016
> Email: xxxxxx@buffalo.edu
> Website: http://www.research.buffalo.edu/sps
> Phone: 716.645.5000 ext 1127
> Fax: 716.645.2760
>
>
> ======================================================================
>  Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
>  subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
>  via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
> ======================================================================
>

--
Richard Chiriatti, CRA
Associate Director
Office of Sponsored Programs
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
9 Cambridge Center, Room 209
Cambridge, MA  02142-1401
Phone: (617) 258-5018
Fax: (617) 258-8848
E-mail: xxxxxx@wi.mit.edu

======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================