ILCD Validation Tool

This tool can be used to validate datasets in the ILCD data format.

Downloads page

Note: Since Version 2.0.0, the tool will automatically check for available updates and update itself. It is no longer necessary to download the tool from here if you are already running version 2.x.

Quick Start Guide

Find a brief introduction on how to use the tool here: Quick Start Guide

Known issues

On macOS Sonoma, background images appear upside down (issue on Github).
Due to a newly introduced restriction in the latest Java runtime, the releases 2.5.1 through 2.5.3 may produce incorrect results. Please make sure you update to 2.5.4 or later.
32bit builds of the application for Windows and Linux are not supported anymore as of Version 2.3.6.

Release Notes

2.9.0

What's new:

When a link to an external file cannot be resolved, an additional warning will be issued with a reminder that file names are always case sensitive and must match exactly.

Profile Updates:

Update EF 3.1 profile to version 3.2.4 due to technical adjustments on build process and dependencies, this version is otherwise identical to 3.2.3 regarding the rules.

2.8.1

Profile Updates:

Update EF 3.1 profile to version 3.2.3 with fixes for correct required document names and UUIDs.

Other:

Update Java runtime.

2.8.0

What's new:

Add a new option for link validation that allows for ignoring references which contain a remote link (disabled by default). This is a change in behavior as before these would always be skipped.
Improve validation options UI.

2.7.0

What's new:

The flow analysis now also reports the direction of the flows (in- and outputs) and differentiates further between elementary and other (product, waste, other) flows.
Cosmetic and performance improvements for flow analysis.
If there are only warnings, the validation will be regarded as successful.

Bug fixes

Misc. bug fixes.

Other

Update Java runtime.

2.6.0

Fix an issue where batch mode would not work due to the change of the Java runtime in 2.5.6.
Fix an issue with a missing theme that would cause the UI to look a bit ugly.
Fix an issue with the auto-update functionality. Please download the latest version via the Downloads page if your auto-update doesn't work, it will work again with subsequent releases.
Update Eclipse Platform to 4.26.

2.5.6

Update EF 3.1 profile to version 3.2.0, adding a check for the rule that only one reference flow is allowed.
Update EF 3.0 profile to version 3.3.0 with the same rule as above.
Update Java runtime.

2.5.5

Update EF 3.0 profile to version 3.2.3 which rolls back the numerical vs. textual DQR checks.
Add EF 3.1 profile.

2.5.4

Raise XML processing limits introduced by recent JRE update to prevent failure of XSLT stylesheet loading.
Fail the current validation if there is an application error.

2.5.3

Speed up loading of composite profiles.
Cosmetic improvements to the display of profile versions in the profile chooser.

2.5.2

Update EF 3.0 validation profile to version 3.2.2 with fix for DQRs checking.

2.5.1

Update EF 3.0 validation profile with refined rules (LCIA results required, text fields must be non-empty, DQRs required for every independent/3rd party review, numerical and textual values of DQRs must match). See the profile change log for details.
Update Java runtime.

2.5.0

In batch mode, it is now possible to optionally generate an analysis that shows which elementary flows are being used by the process datasets to be validated. It shows the number of occurences and optionally the sum of the respective amounts for each elementary flow per process and is based on the elementary flow list from the selected profile.

2.4.4

The summary extraction in batch mode now includes information about resulting processes and reference process for life cycle model datasets.

2.4.3

The summary extraction in batch mode will now also consider any life cycle model datasets if present.
Upgrade log4j from 1.2.x to latest 2.17.1.
Update Java runtime.

2.4.2

Add support for HiDPI displays, update icons and graphics.
Update EF 3.0 and 2.0 profiles to versions 3.1.2 and 2.0.10, respectively, including additional checks for mandatory declaration of compliance systems in EF datasets.

2.4.1

Link validation will generate a warning when a file extension different than PNG or JP(E)G (case insensitive) is used on a file referenced under process:referenceToTechnologyFlowDiagrammOrPicture, process:referenceToTechnologyPictogramme or lcm:referenceToDiagram.
Update EF 3.0 profile to version 3.1.1, which includes additional checks for allowed characters in file names of source attachments.

2.4.0

Add option to generate an additional summary of all processes when validating in batch mode.

2.3.8

Add option to exclude references under "reference to preceding dataset version" from Link validation (defaults to true).

2.3.7

Update EF 3.0 profile to version 3.1.0, it now includes some additional checks for life cycle model datasets a.k.a. eILCD.
Fix issue with line wrapping of profile description.

2.3.6

Fix issue with running the tool on macOS 11 (Big Sur).
Provide native build for macOS on M1.
Update Java runtime.
Note that no 32bit builds of the application for Windows and Linux are not provided anymore.

2.3.5

Bugfixes:

Fix issue with URI resolution for profile specific rules.

2.3.4

Bugfixes:

Fix broken/cut off display of profile description.
Fix possible issue with honoring validation aspect "Profile Specific Rules" in some validation profiles.

2.3.3

Bugfixes:

Fix an issue with loading composite profiles under Windows.

2.3.2

Bugfixes:

Fix duplicate messages for positive messages.
Fix statistics which would not report accurate numbers.

2.3.1

Bugfixes:

A platform specific issue has been fixed where reference objects would not correctly be loaded from profiles on Windows platforms.

2.3.0

What's new:

The EF 3.0 validation profile has been updated with the latest eILCD 2.0 schema.
Support for displaying the changelogs of validation profiles has been added.

2.2.3

What's new:

The EF validation profiles have been updated with a bug fix that prevented execution of profile-specific rules.

2.2.2

What's new:

Performance has been improved for large numbers of validation messages in batch mode.
In batch mode, the Validation Tool version is now shown in the log.
In batch mode, only the file name and parent folder (instead of the full path) are shown in the log for better privacy.
The Java runtime has been updated to the latest version.

2.2.1

What's new:

New validation option to exclude reference objects.
New option to show or hide previous profile versions.
New dialog before the profile list gets cleared.
The Java runtime has been updated to the latest version.

2.1.1

What's new:

In batch mode, no empty sheets will be written into the XLS reports for a leaner experience.

Bugfixes

Fix an issue where invalid (e.g. not well-formed) XML would not be reported in batch mode.

2.1.0

What's new:

Profiles now ship with presets for aspects. When you select a profile, the most relevant aspects will automatically be selected.
Profiles are now nicely sorted by name and version.
The profile description is now shown for each profile.
Outdated profiles can be removed automagically.
The link options "Ignore 'complementing processes'" and "Ignore 'included processes'" are now enabled by default.
Added a nice little splash screen at startup.
A console view can be opened for debugging purposes.
The Java runtime has been updated to the latest version.

Bugfixes

Fixed an issue where automatic update of profiles would fail in some cases.

2.0.1

Bugfixes

Fixed an issue where validation profiles would not be loaded and thus not correctly interpreted, resulting in wrong validation results.

2.0.0

What's new:

Auto-update: the application will watch out for updates and download and install them automagically.
The latest profile updates will be shipped along with these updates.
The release notes are being displayed in a dedicated pane upon launch of a new application version for the first time.
Batch mode: with a new option, available under "Options/General", the validation results for the selected aspects will be written to the file system as a report in XLS format. The resulting report will be written right next to each source folder/ZIP file to be checked.

Bugfixes

Fixed an issue where an error would occur when selecting a profile which had been removed from the file system: newly added profiles are now copied to the internal profile directory.
Links/Orphans validation: an issue where links starting with "https://" weren't treated correctly has been fixed.
numerous other fixes

1.4.2

it is now possible to use different versions of the same profile in parallel
update profiles with latest eILCD 1.0 RC5
fix issue that would prevent start under certain Linux distributions such as Ubuntu

1.4.1

fix an issue that would prevent the application from starting under certain circumstances
include bundled JRE for macOS

1.4.0

add support for life cycle model datasets (eILCD)
introduce options to exclude "included processes" from link checking

1.3.12

fix issue where link validation would not consider the reference given under referenceQuantity in LCIA method datasets
update Java runtime

1.3.11

fix issue where special characters in file/folder names would cause an error
add latest EF profile (v1.0.8e)
update Java runtime

1.3.10

for errors during link validation, include reference origin in error message
add latest EF profile (v1.0.8d)

1.3.9

fix issue with options selection
include selected aspects and options in validation log
add latest EF profile (v1.0.10)

1.3.8

introduce options to exclude reference objects and LCIA method datases from orphaned items validation
reference flows and other reference objects are now by default excluded when validating for links and orphaned items
update Java runtime

1.3.7

replace semicolons in names with commas when copying log to clipboard
fix exception when copying log to clipboard

1.3.6

introduce options to exclude certain objects from link checking

1.3.5

Performance improvements for Advanced Format (XSLT stylesheets) validation
ask for confirmation before displaying very large number of messages

1.3.4

Performance improvements for nomenclature (reference flows) validation
Fixed an issue where a validation profile would not be correctly activated under some circumstances

1.3.3

Fixed an issue where malformed XML files were not correctly processed. Malformed and/or invalid XML files will now be reported as errors.

1.3.2

update profiles with latest reference flow lists for ILCD and ILCD EL (resolve uppercase UUID issue)
update Java runtime

1.3.1

update profiles to latest reference flow lists for ILCD, ILCD EL and Environmental Footprint
differentiate total events count between warnings and errors
location mismatches and unresolvable categories files are now reported as warnings

1.3.0

display statistical information about the validated objects (also added to the ASCII log) (issue ~~#30~~)
optional positive reporting of successfully validated objects (issue ~~#30~~)
clear files, messages, statistics with clear button
use platform specific newline character for "Copy log" function
cosmetic improvements

1.2.6

fix platform issue with category valdiation on Windows

1.2.5

update default profile
other profiles for ILCD EL and EF are now shipped with the tool in the "profiles" folder

1.2.4

Differentiate between errors and warnings (also in copied validation log)
improve behavior of message table columns when resizing app window
update default profile

1.2.3

update default ILCD profile with missing location (EU-28+3) and LCIA methodology (ILCD2011).

1.2.2

add name of offending flows when checking for reference flows
adjust format of the log copied to clipboard for easier post-processing
fix XSLT Stylesheet validation for default ILCD categories
correct issue with default category validation in default ILCD profile
improve behavior of messages table when resizing application window

1.2.1

fix XSLT Stylesheet validation for custom profiles
add "copy entire log to clipboard" feature

1.2.0

update ILCD nomenclature to ILCD reference elementary flows from Oct. 2015
improved captions
display number of validation errors
add "copy to clipboard" feature for validation messages and entire log