A failure occurred while executing the send pipeline for the port -- Value cannot be null. Parameter name: key

Question

A failure occurred while executing the send pipeline for the port XXXX.XXX.XXXXUpdate.V4. The pipeline component xxxx_HR_Send_Profilexxxxxx_JSON encountered an error in the JSON Encoder stage. The issue appears to be related to a null value being passed for a required parameter named key.

• Error Message: Value cannot be null. Parameter name: key

Answer 1

See the answers on this StackOverflow question. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61589231/biztalk-json-encoder-not-using-the-correct-type

Especially the one about adding a XML Assembler before the JSON Encoder in the pipeline, and making sure you don't have elements of different types using the same name.

Answer 2

This error typically occurs when a required parameter (key) is null. Here’s how to resolve it:

1. Verify the input data to ensure the expected key value is present.
2. Check the pipeline configuration to confirm the key is being populated correctly and ensure message context properties are set properly.
3. Use BizTalk tracking to trace the message and identify where the key becomes null, and set breakpoints in orchestration or custom components to inspect message contents.
4. If using a custom JSON encoder, ensure it handles null keys properly by adding validation or fallback for missing keys.
5. In XML-to-JSON mappings, ensure the key is correctly extracted from the source data.
6. Verify the send port configuration to ensure all required properties, such as routing and encoding, are set.
7. Ensure required context properties like MessageType and Namespace are properly set before passing the message to the encoder.
8. Inspect custom pipeline component code for proper handling of the key parameter, including checking for null values.

By following these steps, you should be able to identify and fix the issue causing the key to be null.