Consider the following scenario:

• You create a merge publication and configure it to enable web synchronization on a computer that is running Microsoft SQL Server 2008 or SQL Server 2008 R2.
• You select a table for the publication. The table has several XML columns, and some XML columns are set to NULL.
• You configure a subscription for the merge publication, and then you initialize the merge replication.

In this scenario, a certain number of the last columns for the subscription table are empty.

For example, you have a table that has three XML columns. The first XML column is NULL in one of the records for the table. However, the second and the third XML columns of this record contain XML data. In this scenario, the last XML column is incorrectly set to an empty string after merge replication occurs.

This issue occurs because of an error in the replication logic for web synchronization.

When a replication occurs, the number of XML columns that are not NULL are counted. However, the replication operation replicates only this number of columns when the XML columns are streamed to the subscriber. Therefore, the remaining columns have an empty string.

In the example that is described in the "Symptoms" section, there are two XML columns that are not null. Therefore, only the first two XML columns are replicated with correct data.

Cumulative update information

SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1

The fix for this issue was first released in Cumulative Update 10 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1. For more information about this cumulative update package, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:Note Because the builds are cumulative, each new fix release contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous SQL Server 2008 fix release. Microsoft recommends that you consider applying the most recent fix release that contains this hotfix. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 hotfixes are created for specific SQL Server service packs. You must apply a SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 hotfix to an installation of SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1. By default, any hotfix that is provided in a SQL Server service pack is included in the next SQL Server service pack.

SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2

The fix for this issue was first released in Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2. For more information about this cumulative update package, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Note Because the builds are cumulative, each new fix release contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous SQL Server 2008 fix release. We recommend that you consider applying the most recent fix release that contains this hotfix. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

SQL Server 2008 R2

The fix for this issue was first released in Cumulative Update 5. For more information about how to obtain this cumulative update package for SQL Server 2008 R2, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:Note Because the builds are cumulative, each new fix release contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous SQL Server 2008 R2 fix release. We recommend that you consider applying the most recent fix release that contains this hotfix. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about web synchronization for merge replication, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) website: For more information about how to configure web synchronization for merge replication, visit the following MSDN website: For more information about the Incremental Servicing Model for SQL Server, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about the naming schema for SQL Server updates, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: