Technology
Schematron
Definition
Schematron is a rule-based validation language for XML documents, based on XPath expressions. In the context of XRechnung and EN 16931, Schematron rules are used to perform content-level plausibility checks that go beyond pure schema validation (XSD). The official Schematron rules for XRechnung are maintained by KoSIT and are part of the open-source Validator.
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Related terms
XRechnungXRechnung is the German standard for structured electronic invoices in public sector procurement (B2G). It is based on the European standard EN 16931 and is available in two syntaxes: UBL 2.1 and UN/CEFACT CII. Since 27 November 2020, federal public buyers have been required to accept electronic invoices in XRechnung format, and state and municipal authorities have been progressively included.EN 16931EN 16931 is the European standard that defines the semantic data model of a core invoice. It specifies the mandatory and optional fields (Business Terms), their meaning, and the validation rules that apply to all conforming electronic invoices in the EU. Nationally implemented standards such as XRechnung, ZUGFeRD (EN 16931 profile), and Factur-X must comply with this standard.UBL (Universal Business Language)UBL (Universal Business Language) is an OASIS-standardised XML vocabulary for business documents, including invoices, orders, and delivery notes. UBL 2.1 is one of the two permitted syntaxes for EN 16931-compliant invoices and is used for XRechnung as well as Peppol BIS Billing 3.0, among others. UBL invoices use the namespace `urn:oasis:names:specification:ubl:schema:xsd:Invoice-2`.CII (UN/CEFACT Cross Industry Invoice)CII stands for Cross Industry Invoice and is the UN/CEFACT XML document format for invoices. It is one of the two syntaxes permitted by EN 16931 alongside UBL and forms the basis of ZUGFeRD and Factur-X. CII documents use the namespace `urn:un:unece:uncefact:data:standard:CrossIndustryInvoice:100`.KoSIT (Coordination Office for IT Standards)The Coordination Office for IT Standards (KoSIT) is an institution of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen that develops and maintains IT standards for public administration on behalf of the IT Planning Council of Federal and State Governments. KoSIT is responsible, among other things, for maintaining the XRechnung standard, the open-source Validator tool, and operating the national Peppol infrastructure in Germany.