Validate, print and send
Lesson 21 of 22 7 min read
Use the Message Details screen to validate a message, fix what validation finds, print a PDF copy, send it, and troubleshoot a failure.
A Pending message has not gone anywhere yet. This is your chance to catch problems before
your customer's system does. In this lesson you'll validate a message, fix it, send it, and
learn where to start when one fails.
Open Message Details
From Messages, click the magnifying glass (View more info) on the message. The Message Details screen shows its key details and gives you three actions: Validate, Print and Send.
Validate
Click Validate. Supply Lens checks the message and shows the results in the Validation section. Any issues are listed so you can edit the message and fix them.
A message that passes looks like this:
Validate even on the Test network
Validation is the quickest feedback you'll get. Make it a habit before every send, live or test. If you can't understand or fix an error, the Support Team can help.
Click Print to see the message as a PDF in your browser. It's handy for your own records, or to email a human-readable copy to a customer's accounts team who asks for one.
Send
Click Send on a valid message. A notification tells you the message has been added to the
queue to be sent. Once it has gone, its status changes to Sent.
When a message fails
Start with the error shown on the message in the Peppol dashboard. Most problems are one of three things:
| Missing mandatory fields | A field the document type requires is empty. Edit the message, or fix your metadata if it should have been filled in automatically. |
|---|---|
| Incorrect identifiers | A sender or receiver identifier is wrong. Check your Participant and the trading partner's details. |
| Unsupported document types | The receiver can't accept that kind of document. |
Updating the underlying data usually resolves the problem. If the issue relates to network delivery or validation rules, the Supply Lens team can help diagnose and correct it.
Fix the source, not just the message
If a mandatory field came from your metadata, fixing it only on this message means the next invoice will fail the same way. Correct the metadata too.
Ashby Joinery validates INV-2041
Ashby's office manager opens INV-2041 and clicks Validate. The Validation section lists
one issue: a mandatory field is missing. She edits the message, fills it in, and validates
again: this time it passes. She prints a PDF for the job file. Happy with the test, she
creates the live version on the Live network, validates it, clicks Send, and a few moments
later the status shows Sent. Because the missing field was a payment term the council always
needs, she also adds it to her metadata.
Recap
- Open Message Details from the magnifying glass on a message.
- Validate lists every issue; edit, then validate again until it passes.
- Print shows the message as a PDF; Send adds a valid message to the queue and it becomes
Sent. - Most failures are missing mandatory fields, incorrect identifiers or unsupported document types.
- Fix the underlying data (often metadata), and contact Support for network or validation-rule issues.
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