Synopsis
When updating a text attribute in a contact profile in the Mapp Engage user interface, you may receive the error:
Text contains illegal special characters
This happens when the value includes one or more restricted characters, including:
",:;<>[]\€£°¨
Cause
The field component used to display and update custom text attributes is shared across two contexts:
internal system user workflows
the default customer profile change page, which can be exposed to authenticated recipients
Because the same component is used in public-facing profile update pages, character restrictions are enforced to reduce the risk of storing input that could break email or landing page formatting or be misused for code injection or cross-site scripting (XSS).
These restrictions apply in the internal user interface as well. As a result, system users cannot enter restricted characters into text attributes through the contact profile edit feature.
Workarounds
If a field already contains a restricted character, or if you need to add one, you cannot make that change directly in the contact profile edit feature.
Use one of the following methods instead:
A data import
An API call using the Engage REST or SOAP web services