EDIFACT encoder in Logic App escapes whitespaces in all string literal values

Question

EDIFACT encoder in Logic App escapes whitespaces in all string literal values

Strömberg Johannes 0

We have a couple of logic apps which outputs EDIFACT messages using the EDIFACT encoder but for some reason it's adamant in it's escaping of whitespaces in string literals. We have used schemas from BizTalk and we've set up the following in the integration account agreement:

Apply UNA Segment - Checked

Character Sets and Separators - UNB1.1 - UNOC

Parameter	Value
Input type	Blank (we tried "Char" but it didn't save that choice)
Component Separator	:
Data Element Separator	+
UNA3 (Decimal Notation)	Comma
UNA4 (Release Indicator)	?
UNA5 (Repetition Separator)	whitespace
Segment Terminator	'
Suffix	None

No validation is active

We've had this solution running in BizTalk 2020 for years now and it's been fine, but running it in a Logic App it has this escaping issue. Example:

Output from BizTalk:

STS+1+3::87:All Ok. Status is green'

Output from Logic Apps (same input file):

STS+1+3::87:All? Ok.? Status? is? green'

How can we get the same behavior in Logic Apps as we had in BizTalk (i.e stop it from escaping whitespaces in string literals)?

Rakesh Mishra 3,955 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-11T16:29:12.28+00:00
Hi @Strömberg Johannes ,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here.

Logic Apps is correctly inserting the EDIFACT release indicator (UNA4, your ?) before every character that your agreement declares as a separator (in your case you configured the repetition separator UNA5 as a whitespace). Because you told the encoder that the space is a separator, the encoder escapes spaces in data by prefixing them with the release indicator — which is exactly the All? Ok.? Status? is? green you see.

Please try below and share your findings.

Don’t use whitespace as the repetition separator (UNA5).
Reason: UNA5 is the repetition separator — if it’s set to a space, any space in a free-text data element is treated as a repetition separator and therefore must be escaped. Remove the whitespace value or choose a non-conflicting character (or leave UNA5 unset) so ordinary spaces are not treated as separators.

Only generate a UNA segment when you need non-standard separators. The docs say to use the UNA segment only if your interchange uses non-standard separator characters; if you don’t need a custom repetition separator, don’t set it / don’t apply UNA. This avoids making space a special character.

How to change it in the portal (where to click — per docs):

Open your Integration Account → Agreements → edit the relevant agreement.

Under the agreement’s Send / Character Sets and Separators section, change the UNA/Repetition Separator (UNA5) — either clear it (no char) or set a safe single character that will not appear in free-text. Save the agreement.

Test using the EDIFACT encode action (after changing agreement): use the Encode to EDIFACT message by agreement name action in your Logic App and verify output. The EDIFACT connector/encode action is documented in the Logic Apps EDIFACT guide.

If the trading partner requires a space as repetition separator

If the partner actually insists on a space as the repetition separator, you have two unpleasant choices (both non-standard and partner-specific):

Pre-escape or transform free-text content so it does not contain raw spaces (ugly and likely unacceptable), or

Agree with the partner to use a different repetition separator (recommended) so free text does not need escaping.
Strömberg Johannes 0 Reputation points

2025-12-12T10:55:34.89+00:00
Just so I get this straight, by the looks of things after digging around in various EDI implementations from big companies around the globe as well as going over the official specifications from UNECE and GS1 I've found this out:

UNECE defines UNA5 as "Reserved for future use" and it should have a whitespace.

GS1 in their EANCOM standard defines UNA5 as a data repetition separator (where the suggest an asterisk as the default value)

In all the documentation from the companies I've looked at, they all adhere to the UNECE standard as their base where they use the whitespace in UNA5 as basically not in use, but reserved for future use. And in the rest of their specifications whitespaces aren't escaped or released.

Does this mean the Azure is implementing GS1/EANCOM rather than UNECE standards?
And conversely, does this mean that Microsoft BizTalk Server is implementing UNECE standards and not GS1/EANCOM?

Just trying to wrap my head around why we have different outcomes from the different products although we use the same schemas.