In the Schema Editor, you can validate the schema, meta schema, tool map schemas, and data files. Although the Schema Editor provides commands to validate the schema, meta schema, and tool map schemas, these tasks are typically performed by software developers when changes are made to the SmartPlant schema and tool map schemas.
Tool schemas must be validated using the Schema Editor before they are delivered and used with the authoring tool software. Error checking in the Schema Component assumes that the tool map schema validates.
Data validation is typically performed by software vendors who want to successfully communicate in an integrated environment. As data files are generated by authoring tools, they can be validated in the Schema Editor to make sure that they conform to the SmartPlant schema. You can set Schema Editor to automatically validate schemas or data files when objects are created are modified. This helps identify errors and allows you to correct them as immediately.
When you use the Validate commands on the Tools menu, the Schema Editor validates the selected file against the SmartPlant schema and a set of semantic rules. Validating a file performs a series of checks for potential problems with the data. If an authoring tool generates illegal data, the Schema Editor validation creates a list of errors. The Schema Editor automatically sets validation flag to indicate whether a set of objects have been successfully validated with no errors and no modification commands have been executed since the successful validation. This flag is set to True when a full validation is performed and no errors are detected. It is set to False by each and every command that modifies or adds any object in the set of objects.
After validation is complete, the Schema Editor displays validation errors in the Validation Errors and Warnings dialog box for your review. These errors help you diagnose problems with files. To help you more easily diagnose problems, you can filter the errors and warnings you see during validations using the Set Validation Message Filtering command.