Technical reference manual
Do's and Don'ts for Learning Providers
- DO refer to this manual when in doubt about the usage or meaning of an element or attribute;
- DO download the most recent XSD in case the manual is unclear about an element or attribute;
- DO use the Feedback button when such unclarity occurs;
- DO keep identifiers (e.g. <programRun><id>) unique at the orgUnit level, not just at the program level;
- DO validate newly created code using the EDU-DEX validator at https://feeds.edudex.nl/validator/.
- DO provide institute information (see this overview) by inserting a <instituteDataResource> element in your directory feed.
- DON'T use a DOCTYPE declaration: a mixture of DTD and XSD leads to ambiguity;
- DON'T add attributes to elements that are not defined in the XSD; they might be syntactically legal (e.g. xsi based attributes) but could lead to conflicts with the XSD, and hence will not be accepted by the EDU-DEX validator. Specifically the use of xsi:type will be rejected as of 1st October 2020.
- DON'T re-use identifiers (e.g. <programRun><id>); an id that has been published at a given time should only appear in later uploads when it references exactly the same object; additionally, keep identifiers unique at the orgUnit level as mentioned above.
- DON'T change existing identifiers (e.g. <programRun><id>); such an action involves the deletion of an existing id, and the creation of a new one. Very often the result at the receiving end (an LMS or an intermediate partner) is unpredictable and difficult to correct.
- DON'T send a url of your institute information to EDU-DEX in the hope it will be published by magic; instead, use a <instituteDataResource> element as described above.
