We’re running into a very strange issue with our installation of BizTalk Server 2013R2. For only one party, we cannot process EDI messages that have elements with amounts that are decimal with values less than 1; like 0.00 or 0.50, etc.

The messages suspend with the error “Invalid character in data element”. Here is an example of the full error:

Exception thrown from segment 2, progress 33

Inner exception: The batch is being suspended as it either failed schema validation or context properties are not matching batch definition. 

Error: 1 (Field level error)  
SegmentID: HI   
Data element ID: C02205_ValueCodeAmount   
Position in Segment: 3   
Position in Field: 5   
Data Value: 0.00    
6: Invalid character in data element

I have reviewed the agreement settings over and over, and I don’t understand where this is coming from. In the “Validation” screen of the “Transaction Set Settings” section, I verified that “Leading and trailing spaces and zeros policy” is set to “Allowed”. I also confirmed in the XML schema that the element is setup as an xs:string, which should be fine with a decimal character.

The most bizarre thing is that other parties send this type of data, and it works fine. So I have to think it is something with the agreement that’s not setup right, but I poured over every setting and I can’t find what it could be.

Any ideas, suggestions or help would be appreciated!