diff -r 9d0189350187 roundup/cgi/actions.py
--- a/roundup/cgi/actions.py	Tue Apr 24 17:40:55 2012 +0200
+++ b/roundup/cgi/actions.py	Thu Apr 26 17:54:14 2012 +0200
@@ -1035,6 +1035,12 @@
         columns = request.columns
         klass = self.db.getclass(request.classname)
 
+        # check if all columns exist on class
+        # the exception must be raised before sending header
+        props = klass.getprops()
+        for name in columns:
+            props[name]
+
         # full-text search
         if request.search_text:
             matches = self.db.indexer.search(