# ValueError read\_raw\_eyelink missing channel name in annotations **URL:** \ **Category:** Support & Discussions\ **Tags:** preprocessing, eyetracking\ **Created:** [February 25, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846 "2025-02-25T17:43:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MargotSteijger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mne.discourse.group/margotsteijger/32/4150_2.png) [@MargotSteijger](https://mne.discourse.group/u/MargotSteijger)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846/1 "2025-02-25T17:43:01Z")
Hi, I recently started using the mne toolbox for the preprocessing of my Eyelink pupil data and for most files this works fantastically, but I have a few files where the read\_raw\_eyelink function gives me the following error: ```python Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/msteijg/Desktop/topstore/2024_vanGaal_FMG-7251_NeuralArousal/Scripts/Scripts_eyetracker/0_preprocess_pupil_block.py", line 260, in res = Parallel(n_jobs=n_jobs, verbose=1, backend='loky')(delayed(load_data)(filename, figs_dir) for filename in tqdm(asc_filenames)) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "/home/msteijg/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/joblib/parallel.py", line 1918, in __call__ return output if self.return_generator else list(output) ^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "/home/msteijg/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/joblib/parallel.py", line 1847, in _get_sequential_output res = func(*args, **kwargs) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "/home/msteijg/Desktop/topstore/2024_vanGaal_FMG-7251_NeuralArousal/Scripts/Scripts_eyetracker/0_preprocess_pupil_block.py", line 82, in load_data raw_et = mne.io.read_raw_eyelink(filename, verbose="CRITICAL") ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ File "/home/msteijg/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/io/eyelink/eyelink.py", line 59, in read_raw_eyelink raw_eyelink = RawEyelink( ^^^^^^^^^^^ File "", line 10, in __init__ File "/home/msteijg/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/io/eyelink/eyelink.py", line 127, in __init__ self.set_annotations(gap_annots + eye_annots) File "", line 12, in set_annotations File "/home/msteijg/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/io/base.py", line 747, in set_annotations new_annotations._prune_ch_names(self.info, on_missing) File "/home/msteijg/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/annotations.py", line 498, in _prune_ch_names _on_missing( File "/home/msteijg/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/utils/check.py", line 1218, in _on_missing raise error_klass(msg) ValueError: At least one channel name in annotations missing from info: xpos_left ``` I checked the asc file that I feed to the function, but the data there looks fine. I think mne doesn’t recognize the channel names, but I can’t find where it gets it from, as xpos\_left is also not present in the asc file that does run normally. I also tried to find other people with this problem, but I couldn’t find anyone with this error while loading pupil data, rather than EEG for example. Anyone know how I can check if this channel is actually missing or if it isn’t read out properly? Many thanks!! The relevant code I use is ```python # Convert edf to asc file os.system('edf2asc {}'.format(edf_filename)) # Load asc as raw object raw_et = mne.io.read_raw_eyelink(asc_filename) ``` - MNE version 1.9.0 - operating system: Linux - Python version 3.12.3 ---
**Author:** ![scott-huberty](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mne.discourse.group/scott-huberty/32/2715_2.png) [@scott-huberty](https://mne.discourse.group/u/scott-huberty)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846/2 "2025-02-25T18:24:12Z")
Hi @MargotSteijger Is there any chance you can share the ASCII file? I developed the `read_raw_eyelink` function, and this would help me to identify the problem! Scott ---
**Author:** ![MargotSteijger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mne.discourse.group/margotsteijger/32/4150_2.png) [@MargotSteijger](https://mne.discourse.group/u/MargotSteijger)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 7:36pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846/3 "2025-02-25T19:36:11Z")
Thanks for your prompt response @scott-huberty ! Here is the link to one of the files that won’t run: [Eyelink\_testfile - Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1z6n8PHWqFVhpzZJAtzl9yXl4HJ0q0j5_?usp=sharing) ---
**Author:** ![scott-huberty](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mne.discourse.group/scott-huberty/32/2715_2.png) [@scott-huberty](https://mne.discourse.group/u/scott-huberty)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 8:12pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846/4 "2025-02-25T20:12:01Z")
Hey @MargotSteijger I think the problem arises because in this recording, the eye that was being tracked switched from left to right midway through the recording, and our reader doesn’t know how to handle that. We’ve seen this before, and I have a PR open to fix the issue: [BUG: read raw eyelink file that switches from binocular to monocular mode by scott-huberty · Pull Request #12847 · mne-tools/mne-python · GitHub](https://github.com/mne-tools/mne-python/pull/12847) I’ll try to find some time in the next week or so to finish that PR. Scott ---
**Author:** ![MargotSteijger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mne.discourse.group/margotsteijger/32/4150_2.png) [@MargotSteijger](https://mne.discourse.group/u/MargotSteijger)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846/5 "2025-02-25T22:13:05Z")
Hi @scott-huberty Thanks so much for having a look at it so fast! I checked the other files that gave this same error and I indeed see that there is a switch in left and right. I would never have thought of this as a potential issue. For now, I’ll write some code to change the word (most seem to flip before the actual experiment started), see if that gives me a (quick and) dirty solution. But I look forward to your fix! Margot ---
**Author:** ![MargotSteijger](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mne.discourse.group/margotsteijger/32/4150_2.png) [@MargotSteijger](https://mne.discourse.group/u/MargotSteijger)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 2:08pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846/6 "2025-02-26T14:08:21Z")
Hi @scott-huberty, I have another fun case that crashes the function 😅 This time, half way through the file, the HTARGET option of Eyelink was turned on so there are more columns to deal with. Just dropping the error and a link to the file here. Seems like a less easy fix than replacing some words (which worked for the eye flipping btw!) File: [Eyelink\_htarget - Google Drive](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CCWVqqeWfsOf0p-t8CrkriqO2xLB80Cq?usp=sharing) ```python TypeError Traceback (most recent call last) File ~/Desktop/topstore/2024_vanGaal_FMG-7251_NeuralArousal/Scripts/Scripts_eyetracker/0_preprocess_pupil_block.py:258 0 File ~/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/joblib/parallel.py:1918, in Parallel. __call__ (self, iterable) 1916 output = self._get_sequential_output(iterable) 1917 next(output) -> 1918 return output if self.return_generator else list(output) 1920 # Let's create an ID that uniquely identifies the current call. If the 1921 # call is interrupted early and that the same instance is immediately 1922 # re-used, this id will be used to prevent workers that were 1923 # concurrently finalizing a task from the previous call to run the 1924 # callback. 1925 with self._lock: File ~/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/joblib/parallel.py:1847, in Parallel._get_sequential_output(self, iterable) 1845 self.n_dispatched_batches += 1 1846 self.n_dispatched_tasks += 1 -> 1847 res = func(*args, **kwargs) 1848 self.n_completed_tasks += 1 1849 self.print_progress() File ~/Desktop/topstore/2024_vanGaal_FMG-7251_NeuralArousal/Scripts/Scripts_eyetracker/0_preprocess_pupil_block.py:82, in load_data(filename, figs_dir) 74 subj = os.path.basename(filename).split('_')[0] 75 #ses = os.path.basename(filename).split('.')[0] 76 #run = os.path.basename(filename).split('_')[-2] 77 (...) 80 # load pupil data: 81 # try: ---> 82 raw_et = mne.io.read_raw_eyelink(filename) 83 # except Exception as e: 84 # print(e) 85 # print(filename) 86 # return filename 88 raw_et._data[np.isnan(raw_et._data)] = 0 File ~/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/io/eyelink/eyelink.py:59, in read_raw_eyelink(fname, create_annotations, apply_offsets, find_overlaps, overlap_threshold, verbose) 29 """Reader for an Eyelink ``.asc`` file. 30 31 Parameters (...) 55 ``'BAD_ACQ_SKIP'``. 56 """ 57 fname = _check_fname(fname, overwrite="read", must_exist=True, name="fname") ---> 59 raw_eyelink = RawEyelink( 60 fname, 61 create_annotations=create_annotations, 62 apply_offsets=apply_offsets, 63 find_overlaps=find_overlaps, 64 overlap_threshold=overlap_threshold, 65 verbose=verbose, 66 ) 67 return raw_eyelink File :12, in __init__ (self, fname, create_annotations, apply_offsets, find_overlaps, overlap_threshold, verbose) File ~/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/io/eyelink/eyelink.py:104, in RawEyelink. __init__ (self, fname, create_annotations, apply_offsets, find_overlaps, overlap_threshold, verbose) 101 fname = Path(fname) 103 # ======================== Parse ASCII file ========================== --> 104 eye_ch_data, info, raw_extras = _parse_eyelink_ascii( 105 fname, find_overlaps, overlap_threshold, apply_offsets 106 ) 107 # ======================== Create Raw Object ========================= 108 super(). __init__ ( 109 info, 110 preload=eye_ch_data, (...) 113 raw_extras=[raw_extras], 114 ) File ~/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/io/eyelink/_utils.py:55, in _parse_eyelink_ascii(fname, find_overlaps, overlap_threshold, apply_offsets) 52 _validate_data(raw_extras) 54 # ======================== Create DataFrames ======================== ---> 55 raw_extras["dfs"] = _create_dataframes(raw_extras, apply_offsets) 56 del raw_extras["sample_lines"] # free up memory 57 # add column names to dataframes and set the dtype of each column File ~/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/io/eyelink/_utils.py:281, in _create_dataframes(raw_extras, apply_offsets) 279 # dataframe for samples 280 df_dict["samples"] = pd.DataFrame(raw_extras["sample_lines"]) --> 281 df_dict["samples"] = _drop_status_col(df_dict["samples"]) # drop STATUS col 283 # dataframe for each type of occular event 284 for event, label in zip( 285 ["EFIX", "ESACC", "EBLINK"], ["fixations", "saccades", "blinks"] 286 ): File ~/pip3_analysis/lib/python3.12/site-packages/mne/io/eyelink/_utils.py:341, in _drop_status_col(samples_df) 339 # we know the first 3 columns will be the time, xpos, ypos 340 for col in samples_df.columns[3:]: --> 341 if samples_df[col][0][0].isnumeric(): 342 # if the value is numeric, it's not a status column 343 continue 344 if len(samples_df[col][0]) in [3, 5, 13, 17]: TypeError: 'NoneType' object is not subscriptable ``` ---
**Author:** ![scott-huberty](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/mne.discourse.group/scott-huberty/32/2715_2.png) [@scott-huberty](https://mne.discourse.group/u/scott-huberty)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846/7 "2025-02-26T15:41:16Z")
Aha 😅 thanks for sharing @MargotSteijger !! So it seems that we _can’t_ assume that the channels present in an EyeLink file are static throughout the recording, which is indeed fun… I’ll set aside some time to see how easy this is to patch, in the next week or so. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/mne/original/1X/85cc6bd2b69cb698a166dc6d880fb550510d0144.jpeg) [@system](https://mne.discourse.group/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://mne.discourse.group/t/valueerror-read-raw-eyelink-missing-channel-name-in-annotations/10846/8 "2025-03-05T15:41:27Z")
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