Using Validate Tool

The Validate tool is the canonical PDS4 validator for single labels, collections, and bundles. It provides additional functionality beyond schematic development, and advanced features are still in active development.

If you haven't already installed and configured Validate, you'll find instructions on the Installing and Configuring Validate Tool page on this wiki, as well as included in the download bundle.

Format

The general command format is:

% validate [files] [options]

"Files" can be a single label file name, a directory, or a comma-separated list of both. This list may include absolute and relative paths, wild cards, and file globs. Alternately, the product labels to be validated can be specified as arguments to the -t option.

By default, if validate is given a directory as an argument it will attempt to validate all files ending in either ".xml" or ".XML" with the selected options, and will recurse down through all subdirectories doing the same.

Command Line Options

These options have been grouped by functional areas. All options have both a short and a long form. One or two hyphens can be used for both short and long options interchangeably; long options cannot be truncated. Most options require arguments, but even those that do not can not be globbed. That is, specifying "-Vh" will display only version information, not help information.

Option	Argument	Notes
Program Information
-V, -version	--none--	This option displays the internal code version, the release date, and the core schemas applied by default by this version of validate, in addition to some licensing boilerplate.
-h, -help	--none--	This option displays a command and option summary. It's about 50 lines long, so prepare to scroll.
File Selection
Output Control
Specifying Schemas
Additional Validation
Configuration File