PRE-VALIDATION

Pre-validation. The syntactic and semantic check performed by the sender before transmitting an EDI message.

Definition

Pre-validation is the quality step where an EDI sender verifies locally that their message complies with the target standard before sending it to the partner. The check covers syntax (ISO 9735 for EDIFACT, X12 separators, XSD for UBL), semantics (cardinalities, mandatory qualifiers, valid UNCL or DE codes), and business rules (Schematron for PEPPOL BIS, X12 TR3 business rules). Pre-validation drastically reduces downstream rejection rate.

Origin

Pre-validation became widespread with PEPPOL and Phax/Helger's Schematron-based tools between 2015 and 2020. OpenPEPPOL maintains downloadable official validation kits, CEN/CENELEC publishes business rules for EN 16931, ASC X12 publishes its TR3s. Modern validators (validator.peppol.eu, ediverse.io tools) apply these rules before sending, locally or via API.

Example in context

A biller emitting a PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 invoice typically runs a three-stage pre-validation chain: (1) UBL 2.1 XSD validation for XML syntax, (2) EN 16931 Schematron validation for European semantics, (3) PEPPOL BIS Schematron validation for additional PEPPOL rules. If any single stage fails, the invoice is not sent. Errors are returned with their identifier (BR-31, BR-CO-15) and XPath location in the document.

Related terms

• Schematron — rule language used in PEPPOL pre-validation.
• EN 16931 — norm whose Schematrons form the pre-validation.
• MIG — document formalising pre-validation rules between partners.