D365FO ER: Why Your File Won’t break/jump/skip/break Lines (and how to fix it)

David Tellez
Apr 9
2 min read

The drama!

I spent 3 hours debugging this to make work a simple Positive Pay file in CSV.

If you’ve ever built a File (XML or any CSV) in Electronic Reporting and ended up with everything in one single line, welcome to the club!

You try:

"\r\n" → doesn’t work
CHAR(13) + CHAR(10) → sometimes works… sometimes doesn’t
New line node → still broken

And at some point you start questioning your life choices! but hold-on, let’s fix it properly.

The Problem

ER doesn’t behave like a programming language. What you think should create a new line:

"\r\n" or a NEWLINE() function or a Escape character or Adding newline inside a String node or even Using only one Sequence node = everything concatenates into one line

Nothing worked! 😞

I used que Sequence node and told the system that the separator was "," however, ER understand that each time it separated a string or a data is a line jump, so I was having crazy vertical files.

There was no way to add another sequence at a string level and convert it into a line breaker.

So the Line sequence became independent values. I had to find a way to group all the values with in the line as a single string.

Don't eve think in using CONCATENATE as it only concat strings not any other type of value.

so, how did I do that?

What Actually Worked

The solution is structural, not just formula based. You need TWO Sequence nodes!

1. Parent Sequence, this one controls line breaks, it is Type: Sequence, NO DELIMITERS but definitely special character: New line - Windows (CR LF) with this we are telling the system that whatever comes below (another sequence) will be taken as a single value and after that it can break into the next line!

2. Child Sequence, this one contains all the values that I needed on the file! but what was the key? not adding the delimiter on this sequence so the system does not understand a line break.

Instead of that you have to add the comma delimiter as strings

Why This Works?

Because:

Parent Sequence controls row separation
Child Sequence controls field composition
You stop fighting ER’s string limitations

Consultant Tip

If your file:

Works for 1 record but breaks for multiple
Shows \r\n as text
Outputs everything in one line

👉 It’s not your formula — it’s your structure

Everything becomes predictable.

If this saved you 2 hours of debugging, you’re welcome 😄