00068: Script contains broken project data source

Error Message

Publishing a successfully executed Python script in ArcMap as a geoprocessing service fails with an error during the analysis process:

Error:
00068: Result <value> contains broken project data source: <value>

Cause

The script contains hardcoded values in the defined variables, which are interpreted as numeric values instead of string values. This may work in the ArcMap Python console, however, the geoprocessing results return string data type values. Hence, the numeric digits in the variables cause a mismatch in the sent and returned parameters. The following code snippet demonstrates the variables definition that causes the error when publishing a geoprocessing service:

ownerBuff='300 Feet'
nhaBuff='1 Miles'

Solution or Workaround

The error can be resolved by redefining the parameter as a string value, and converting any numerical values in the variable. This can be done by using a parameter conversion method, str(). The following code snippet demonstrates a working script using the conversion method:

ownerBuff=str('300 Feet')
nhaBuff=str('1 Miles')