Oracle Error Message
ORA-01178: file string created before last CREATE CONTROLFILE, cannot recreate
Reason for the Error
Attempted to use ALTER DATABASE CREATE DATAFILE to recreate a datafile that existed at the last CREATE CONTROLFILE command. The information needed to recreate the file was lost with the control file that existed when the file was added to the database.
Solution
Find a backup of the file, and recover it. Do incomplete recovery to time before file was originally created.