Python suds library throwing SAXException when updating JIRA issues

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1

I’m working with Python 2.6 and the suds library version 0.3.7 to interact with JIRA 4.0. While retrieving issue data from JIRA is smooth and works without any issues, I face challenges when attempting to update existing issues.

Each time I try to perform an update, I encounter the following error message:

WebFault: Server raised fault: 
org.xml.sax.SAXException: Found character data inside an array element while deserializing

Below is the code that leads to this problem:

>>> service_url = "http://jira.company.com/rpc/soap/jirasoapservice-v2?wsdl"
>>> from suds.client import Client
>>> soap_client = Client(service_url)
>>> token = soap_client.service.login("username", "password")
>>> ticket = soap_client.service.getIssue(token, "PROJ-12345")
>>> ticket.summary
Original ticket summary text
>>> 
>>> soap_client.service.updateIssue(token, "PROJ-12345", [
...     {"id": "summary", "values": ["Updated summary text"]}])

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 2, in <module>
  File "C:\Python26\lib\suds\client.py", line 535, in __call__
    return client.invoke(args, kwargs)
  File "C:\Python26\lib\suds\client.py", line 595, in invoke
    result = self.send(msg)
  File "C:\Python26\lib\suds\client.py", line 630, in send
    result = self.failed(binding, e)
  File "C:\Python26\lib\suds\client.py", line 681, in failed
    r, p = binding.get_fault(reply)
  File "C:\Python26\lib\suds\bindings\binding.py", line 235, in get_fault
    raise WebFault(p, faultroot)
WebFault: Server raised fault: 'org.xml.sax.SAXException: Found character data inside an array element while deserializing'

I’m wondering if anyone has faced a similar issue with XML parsing. What could be the reason behind this error?

2

classic xml serialization bug with suds. change your field value to a string instead of an array - use {“id”: “summary”, “values”: “Updated summary text”} without the brackets. jira’s soap parser is picky about data types and breaks when it gets arrays instead of strings.

3

This SAXException happens when JIRA’s SOAP service gets malformed XML during deserialization. Your field update parameters are probably structured wrong. Don’t pass a dictionary with “values” as an array - just use a single string value directly. JIRA’s SOAP API expects a simple string for the summary field, not an array structure. Try this instead:

soap_client.service.updateIssue(token, "PROJ-12345", [
    {"id": "summary", "values": "Updated summary text"}])

I’ve hit this same issue with older JIRA versions where field value formatting was way stricter. The SOAP service breaks when it gets nested arrays but expects simple values.

4

Had the exact same problem migrating legacy JIRA integrations. The issue is how suds builds the XML payload for field updates. Even though the docs say to use “values” as a property, the SOAP envelope gets corrupted during serialization. What worked for me was switching to a completely different field update structure. Skip the dictionary approach and use suds’ factory method to create proper RemoteFieldValue objects: python field_value = soap_client.factory.create('RemoteFieldValue') field_value.id = 'summary' field_value.values = ['Updated summary text'] soap_client.service.updateIssue(token, "PROJ-12345", [field_value]) This way suds handles the XML serialization correctly and JIRA’s parser doesn’t choke on malformed array elements. The factory method ensures the XML structure matches what JIRA 4.0 expects.