Compliance Tests

A key objective of data exchange standards in general, and the VEC (Vehicle Electric Container) standard in particular, is to ensure system interoperability and guarantee the accurate interpretation of information. To achieve this, specifications must be as precise as possible, with minimal ambiguity. However, informal definitions are often easily overlooked. Compliance with the rules can only be ensured through formal definitions, which allow for automated, fast, and simple checks across systems.

Current XML schema definitions of the VEC are only effective for verifying the basic syntactic structure. They cannot account for more complex rules, dependencies, or logical relationships. The compliance tests aim to address this gap. By introducing the VEC ontology, the standard gains access to Semantic Web technologies. With these technologies it is possible to formalize previously informal aspects of the VEC specification, reducing potential misinterpretations.

This is an ongoing process, with the rules in the validation suite continually adapted and expanded. Feedback and suggestions for further rule enhancements are highly encouraged.

How it Works

The VEC Compliance Test Suite leverages the VEC ontology, which has been published alongside the model and XML schema since 2024, and consists of several components.

Extensions to the VEC Ontologie

The vec-general-onto.ttl file defines elements and axioms that extend the VEC ontology derived directly from the VEC Model. These definitions primarily aim to simplify rules and queries within the compliance test suite. If these extensions prove useful and provide broader benefits, they may be incorporated into the official VEC ontology at a later stage.

An example of these extensions is the generalization of all VEC elements that have functional keys (see the example below). These definitions ensure that any element with an identification property is classified as vec:Identifiable. This allows us to create a general rule (e.g., for the uniqueness of identifications) for all identifiable elements.

vec:Identifiable a owl:Class .

vec:identification
    rdf:type owl:DatatypeProperty ;
    rdfs:domain vec:Identifiable .

vec:abstractSlotSlotNumber
    rdfs:subPropertyOf
        vec:identification .

vec:contactPointIdentification
    rdfs:subPropertyOf
        vec:identification .

....        

Semantic Rules

The vec-general-shacl.ttl file defines SHACL(Shapes Constraint Language) rules that can not be derived directly from the UML model of the VEC¹. These rules are currently informally specified in the VEC specification or Implementation Guidelines. Each rule includes a custom message containing a rule/test case number (e.g., TC-0001), which corresponds to an identifier found in the Compliance Rules.

vecsh:ToleranceShape rdf:type sh:NodeShape ;
    sh:targetClass vec:Tolerance ;
    sh:property
        [
            sh:path vec:toleranceLowerBoundary ;
            sh:lessThanOrEquals vec:toleranceUpperBoundary ;
            sh:message "TC-0001: 'Tolerance.LowerBoundary' must be less than or equals 'UpperBoundary'."@en
        ] .

Queries

The VEC defines several extension points (e.g., custom properties) for addressing individual requirements or system- and process-specific data. However, these elements are also prone to misuse. Determining whether a particular extension element has been used correctly or incorrectly often requires careful assessment. To assist with this, the Compliance Test Suite includes a set of queries that provide information about the extensions used, as well as their context and content. These queries allow for quick and easy manual evaluation of how extensions have been used.

Execution

All components of the Compliance Test Suite can be downloaded via the link at the bottom of this page. There are two main ways to execute the Compliance Test Suite:

1. All elements (Ontology Extension, Semantic Rules, and Queries) can be used in any RDF environment that supports the relevant technologies. However, this requires the VEC data to be available in an RDF format to validate it within that environment.
2. For easier validation of VEC XML data, you can use 4Soft’s VEC RDF Toolkit, available for free download here. This tool uses the suite definition provided below, runs it on a set of VEC XML files, and generates an Excel report with the results.

Compliance Rules

The table below lists all rules currently contained within the Compliance Test Suite. The set of rules will be continiously extended, so be sure to revisit frequently.