Pipe character Issue

[nlynch91]

Hi All,

We've noticed that many users are encountering issues with the pipe character (|), and it appears to be coming through ExpenseIt. We're experiencing the same issue, while users are able to submit their expense reports without any problems, an error is triggered when the data reaches our invoicing system due to pipe.

I've come across the idea of implementing a validation rule to address this. Just to confirm, would this function as a hard stop, requiring users to remove the expense line containing the pipe character and re-add it manually? That feels a bit tedious for end users.

An alternative approach could be to raise awareness around this issue, for example, encouraging users to scribble out or obscure the pipe character on receipts before uploading them to Concur.

That said, I'm open to additional suggestions if anyone has a more streamlined or user-friendly solution.

Cheers,

Niall 

[peterbohlman]

How is the pipe hitting your invoicing system? Is it coming over in an extract file, via a custom report or? If it's from a standard extract file (SAE) or a custom file, Support should be able to work with you to have those removed in the file creation process, IIRC. 

[GrantC]

Hi @nlynch91,

@peterbohlman is correct that the best option is to log a support ticket. In the tools that generate the SAE there is an option for how to handle pipes in the raw data. At a high level, the options are to leave the pipes as-is, strip them out, or enclose them in other characters such as double-quotes. 

Support can talk you through the options in detail and then make the change that is best for you.

Thanks,

[peterbohlman]

Thanks, I was pretty sure I remembered that option from long, long ago. Hopefully that's how the pipe is getting into their system, if it's via Reporting or API, it's an entirely different issue. 

[kseronio]

We were having the same issue with Concur invoices and expense reports feeding to our ERP and causing issues because users had used the pipe delimited character. I opened a Concur support case, and they added pipe validation on all the text fields. Meaning if anyone entered a pipe delimited character then a red error will pop up after leaving that field. Please see Concur article 000072801. Hope this helps!