1 Introduction

All formula assertions specifications ([VALUE ASSERTIONS], [EXISTENCE ASSERTIONS] and [CONSISTENCY ASSERTIONS]) define a standard XML-based syntax for validations on XBRL business reports. The technical nature of an assertion is that the assertion is either "satisfied" or "unsatisfied". From a business perspective, not all assertions express rules which have the same level of importance. Consequently there is a need to be able to attach differing severities to assertions and to have these communicated as part of their processing output.

This specification defines three standard severity levels and the syntax for associating them such that an appropriate severity is applied when an assertion is satisfied and when it is not satisfied.

1.1 Background

This specification extends the suite of formula specifications without modifying any existing specifications.

1.2 Relationship to other work

This specification depends upon the XBRL Specification [XBRL 2.1], the XBRL Generic Link Specification [GENERIC LINKS] and the Formula Validation Specification [VALIDATION] which defines assertions. In the event of any conflicts between this specification and the specifications upon which it depends, this specification does not prevail.

1.3 Language independence

The official language of XBRL International's own work products is English and the preferred spelling convention is UK English.

1.4 Terminology

This specification is consistent with the definitions of any of the terms defined in specifications that it depends on.

1.5 Document conventions (non-normative)

Documentation conventions follow those set out in the XBRL Variables Specification [VARIABLES].

1.6 Namespaces and namespace prefixes

Namespace prefixes [XML NAMES] will be used for elements and attributes in the form ns:name where ns is the namespace prefix and name is the local name. Throughout this specification, the mappings from namespace prefixes to actual namespaces is consistent with Table 1.

The prefix column in Table 1 is non normative. The namespace URI column is normative.

Table 1: Namespaces and namespace prefixes

Prefix	Namespace URI
`sev`	`http://xbrl.org/PWD/2014-08-13/assertion-severity`
`seve`	`http://xbrl.org/PWD/2014-08-13/assertion-severity/error`
`eg`	`http://example.com/`
`fn`	`http://www.w3.org/2005/xpath-functions`
`link`	`http://www.xbrl.org/2003/linkbase`
`xbrli`	`http://www.xbrl.org/2003/instance`
`xfi`	`http://www.xbrl.org/2008/function/instance`
`xbrldi`	`http://xbrl.org/2006/xbrldi`
`xbrldt`	`http://xbrl.org/2005/xbrldt`
`xl`	`http://www.xbrl.org/2003/XLink`
`xlink`	`http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink`
`xs`	`http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema`
`xsi`	`http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance`
`gen`	`http://xbrl.org/2008/generic`
`variable`	`http://xbrl.org/2008/variable`
`iso4217`	`http://www.xbrl.org/2003/iso4217`

2 Severity element

A severity is declared by a <sev:severity> element. A severity is an XLink resource.

A defined severity is one of the three instantiations of severity resources published in the linkbase at http://xbrl.org/PWD/2014-08-13/severities.xml. These are the only three instantiations of <sev:severity> which are to be used.

The value for the severity level is conveyed by the value of the @level attribute. The standard values represented are: ERROR, WARNING and OK.

3 Assertion-satisfied-severity relationships

An assertion-satisfied-severity relationship is a relationship between an assertion and one of the defined severity resources expressed by an XLink arc.

An assertion-satisfied-severity relationship MAY be used to associate an assertion with the severity level that should apply when this assertion is satisfied. An assertion may be associated with at most one severity using this relationship, though this same severity can be shared by any number of assertions. Error code seve:multipleSeveritiesForAssertionSatisfied MUST be raised if an assertion is connected to more than one severity using assertion-satisfied-severity relationships.

To declare an assertion-satisfied-message relationship an XLink arc MUST:

have an arcrole value equal to http://xbrl.org/arcrole/PWD/2014-08-13/assertion-satisfied-severity
have an assertion at the starting resource of the arc
have a severity resource at the ending resource of the arc

The arcrole value http://xbrl.org/arcrole/PWD/2014-08-13/assertion-satisfied-severity is declared in the normative schema for messages.

4 Assertion-unsatisfied-severity relationships

An assertion-unsatisfied-severity relationship is a relationship between an assertion and one of the defined severity resources expressed by an XLink arc.

An assertion-unsatisfied-severity relationship MAY be used to associate an assertion with the severity level that should apply when this assertion is not satisfied. An assertion may be associated with at most one severity using this relationship, though this same severity can be shared by any number of assertions. Error code seve:multipleSeveritiesForAssertionUnsatisfied MUST be raised if an assertion is connected to more than one severity using assertion-unsatisfied-severity relationships.

To declare an assertion-unsatisfied-message relationship an XLink arc MUST:

have an arcrole value equal to http://xbrl.org/arcrole/PWD/2014-08-13/assertion-unsatisfied-severity
have an assertion at the starting resource of the arc
have a severity resource at the ending resource of the arc

The arcrole value http://xbrl.org/arcrole/PWD/2014-08-13/assertion-unsatisfied-severity is declared in the normative schema for messages.

5 Validation

The assertion severity relationships described in this specification MUST only be used to link the specified components.

Error code seve:assertionSeveritySourceError MUST be raised if the source of an assertion-unsatisfied-severity relationship or an assertion-satisfied-severity relationship is not an element in the substitution group for <validation:assertion> .

Error code seve:assertionSeverityTargetError MUST be raised if the target of an assertion-unsatisfied-severity relationship or an assertion-satisfied-severity relationship is not one of the defined severity elements.

Appendix A Normative schema

The following is the XML schema provided as part of this specification. This is normative. Non-normative versions (which should be identical to these except for appropriate comments indicating their non-normative status) are also provided as separate files for convenience of users of the specification.

NOTE: (non-normative) Following the schema maintenance policy of XBRL International, it is the intent (but is not guaranteed) that the location of non-normative versions of these schemas on the web will be as follows:

While any schema is the most current RECOMMENDED version and until it is superseded by any additional errata corrections a non-normative version will reside on the web in the directory http://www.xbrl.org/2008/ - during the drafting process for this specification this directory should contain a copy of the most recent published version of the schema at http://xbrl.org/PWD/2014-08-13/assertion-severity.xsd.
A non-normative version of each schema as corrected by any update to the RECOMMENDATION will be archived in perpetuity on the web in a directory that will contain a unique identification indicating the date of the update.

<link:definition>

assertion severity for satisfied evaluations

</link:definition>

<link:usedOn>

gen:arc

</link:usedOn>

</link:arcroleType>

<link:definition>

assertion severity for unsatisfied evaluations

</link:definition>

<link:usedOn>

gen:arc

</link:usedOn>

</link:arcroleType>

</appinfo>

</annotation>

</restriction>

</simpleType>

</extension>

</complexContent>

</complexType>

</element>

</schema>

Appendix B References

CONSISTENCY ASSERTIONS: XBRL International Inc.. "XBRL Value Assertions 1.0"
Victor Morilla, and Geoff Shuetrim.
(See http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/consistencyAssertions/REC-2009-06-22/consistencyAssertions-REC-2009-06-22.html)
EXISTENCE ASSERTIONS: XBRL International Inc.. "XBRL Existence Assertions 1.0"
Victor Morilla, and Geoff Shuetrim.
(See http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/existenceAssertions/REC-2009-06-22/existenceAssertions-REC-2009-06-22.html)
GENERIC LINKS: XBRL International Inc.. "XBRL Generic Links 1.0"
Mark Goodhand, Ignacio Hernández-Ros, and Geoff Shuetrim.
(See http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/gnl/REC-2009-06-22/gnl-REC-2009-06-22.html)
VALIDATION: XBRL International Inc.. "XBRL Validation 1.0"
Victor Morilla, and Geoff Shuetrim.
(See http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/validation/REC-2009-06-22/validation-REC-2009-06-22.html)
VALUE ASSERTIONS: XBRL International Inc.. "XBRL Value Assertions 1.0"
Victor Morilla, and Geoff Shuetrim.
(See http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/valueAssertions/REC-2009-06-22/valueAssertions-REC-2009-06-22.html)
VARIABLES: XBRL International Inc.. "XBRL Variables 1.0"
Phillip Engel, Herm Fischer, Victor Morilla, Jim Richards, Geoff Shuetrim, David vun Kannon, and Hugh Wallis.
(See http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/variables/REC-2009-06-22/variables-REC-2009-06-22.html)
XBRL 2.1: XBRL International Inc.. "Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) 2.1"
Phillip Engel, Walter Hamscher, Geoff Shuetrim, David vun Kannon, and Hugh Wallis.
(See http://www.xbrl.org/Specification/XBRL-RECOMMENDATION-2003-12-31+Corrected-Errata-2008-07-02.htm)
XLINK: W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). "XML Linking Language (XLink) Version 1.0"
Steve DeRose, Eve Maler, and David Orchard.
(See http://www.w3.org/TR/xlink/)
XML NAMES: W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). "Namespaces in XML 1.0 (Second Edition)"
Tim Bray, Dave Hollander, Andrew Layman, and Richard Tobin.
(See http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml-names/)
XML SCHEMA STRUCTURES: W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). "XML Schema Part 1: Structures Second Edition"
Henry S. Thompson, David Beech, Murray Maloney, and Noah Mendelsohn.
(See http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-1/)

Appendix C Intellectual property status (non-normative)

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to XBRL International or XBRL organizations, except as required to translate it into languages other than English. Members of XBRL International agree to grant certain licenses under the XBRL International Intellectual Property Policy (www.xbrl.org/legal).

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and XBRL INTERNATIONAL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

The attention of users of this document is directed to the possibility that compliance with or adoption of XBRL International specifications may require use of an invention covered by patent rights. XBRL International shall not be responsible for identifying patents for which a license may be required by any XBRL International specification, or for conducting legal inquiries into the legal validity or scope of those patents that are brought to its attention. XBRL International specifications are prospective and advisory only. Prospective users are responsible for protecting themselves against liability for infringement of patents. XBRL International takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it has made any effort to identify any such rights. Members of XBRL International agree to grant certain licenses under the XBRL International Intellectual Property Policy (www.xbrl.org/legal).

Appendix D Acknowledgements (non-normative)

This document could not have been written without the contributions of many people.

Appendix E Document history

Date	Author	Details
20 March 2014	Richard Ashby	Initial draft based on discussion on the FWG.
07 May 2014	Richard Ashby	Constrained the available severity levels to a strict enumeration defined in the schema.
15 May 2014	Richard Ashby	Added introduction text. Added error codes for validation of source and targets of assertion severity relationships.
26 June 2014	Richard Ashby	Reference three standard severity resources in published linkbase, to prevent authors from instantiating multiple severity elements with the same level but undefined differences in meaning.

Appendix F Errata corrections in this document

This appendix contains a list of the errata that have been incorporated into this document. This represents all those errata corrections that have been approved by the XBRL International Formula Working Group up to and including 13 August 2014. Hyperlinks to relevant e-mail threads may only be followed by those who have access to the relevant mailing lists. Access to internal XBRL mailing lists is restricted to members of XBRL International Inc.

No errata have been incorporated into this document.

Assertion Severity 1.0

Public Working Draft 13 August 2014

Status

Abstract

Table of Contents

Appendices

Table

Definitions

Error codes