FIX: BizTalk Mapper Creates a Blank Attribute in an Element of the Output Document

The BizTalk Mapper creates a blank attribute in an element of the output document when there is a link created from an optional field in the source schema to a destination field. This occur even if the incoming document does not contain that optional attribute.

For example, if you have an incoming document where the optional BCT05 attribute of the BCT element is not present and the BCT05 attribute is linked to the destination attribute BCT05, the following would occur: BCT05 in the destination document specification is optional. By using the "Incorrect Result" output, if the BCT05 attribute has min/max length that is set to greater than 0, the output document fails to validate against the destination document specification, because the BCT05 attribute incorrectly exists with a length of 0.

This problem occurs when there is a link created from an optional field in the source schema to a destination field. The problem is that the Mapper generates XSLT that creates the destination field and copies the value of the source field. If the source field does not appear in the instance document (because it is optional), a blank destination field is created.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in BizTalk Server 2000. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft BizTalk Server 2000 Service Pack 1a.