How validation works

Validation rules define the conditions that a product's attribute values must meet for each channel. When a value fails a rule, openlane records an error or warning for that attribute on the channel.

A rule for each channel type

A rule belongs to an attribute and is configured separately for each channel type. The same attribute can be required for channels of one type and optional for another, or have a different maximum length. The rule for a channel type applies to all channels of that type, subject to the exceptions described below.

The available checks depend on the attribute type: whether a value is present and its length for text, the number of media items for a media attribute, and whether a primary category is present for categories. The checks for each type are described on its page, starting from Attribute types.

Rules apply to product attributes. Attributes of media, marketing tools and reference entities are not validated.

Errors and warnings

Each rule has a Validation Type:

• with Error, a value that fails the rule is an error. Errors appear in the product's status on the channel, along with their count: for example, a product in production with errors has the status Publishing blocked once its publication date is reached;
• with Warning, the issue is reported as a warning: the product's status shows the warning count, but the product is not blocked.

How you see errors and warnings on the product page and channel pages is described in the Channels section of the Products space.

Exceptions by channel and brand

An exception changes the rule for a single channel of that type. It can apply to all products on the channel or only to products from specific brands: products with no brand, or with a different brand, follow the channel type's rule.

When an exception applies, it replaces the entire rule: only the exception's checks and Validation Type apply. For example, if an attribute is required on all marketplaces except one, you create an exception for that channel with Required deselected. Each channel can have at most one exception per rule.

Exceptions are managed as described in How to manage exceptions to a rule.

When openlane validates a product

openlane validates a product:

• when the product is saved. After bulk edits, imports and other operations that save many products at once, validation takes place later;
• when a media item used by the product changes visibility and the attribute has a rule requiring public media;
• when an administrator runs Validate all products in Admin → Maintenance.

Validation only applies to channels where the product is in production or staging. Errors and warnings are cleared on all other channels. When a product is put into production or staging on a channel, its status on that channel is Validation pending until validation is complete.

Linked products

For product groups, such as kits, the entity type can specify that errors are passed between the group and the product records it contains: with Propagate validation to children, the group's errors are reported on the linked records; with Get validation from children, the group has an error if a linked record has errors. Both settings are described in Entity type settings.

Error classes

The Validation Error Class is a category assigned to the attribute, shared across all channel types. It does not change whether an issue is an error or a warning: it is used to group and filter issues.

• On a channel page, the Overview and Blockers tabs group issues by class. Attributes without a class appear under Other / Unmapped.
• In a channel's product list, the Blocking reason filter shows products with issues in a specific class.

The available classes are the values in the ValidationErrorClass reference data list, in Admin → Reference data.