EIB Goal Load Fails With Invalid Rich Text Internal Syntax Error
The error Validation error occurred. Invalid Rich Text internal syntax: Unexpected char in markup at 203.
What does "Validation error occurred. Invalid Rich Text internal syntax" mean in Workday EIB?
Workday's Rich Text fields, such as a Goal description, reject certain raw characters in the source text. The most common cause is a literal comparison symbol like >= sitting in the text, because the field parses the string as lightweight markup and an unescaped character breaks that parsing partway through.
Quick fix
Replace or remove the offending special character, typically >= or a similar symbol, in that row's Rich Text field and reload just that row.
Permanent fix
Add a pre-load text-sanitization step, a find/replace pass or a small validation script, that strips or escapes raw comparison symbols out of any field feeding a Rich Text column before the EIB file is generated.
Troubleshooting
- Isolate the failing row and note the character position the error reports, then inspect the source text around that exact position.
- Search that text for raw comparison operators (>=, <=, >, <) or stray ampersands, which are the most common triggers for this specific validation error in Rich Text fields.
- Test the same text after replacing the suspect character with a plain-language equivalent, such as spelling out 'greater than or equal to', to confirm that is the actual cause before touching the rest of the file.
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