SDEF Check

USACE SDEF checker and validator for QCS/RMS schedule files.

SDEF Check is a small TypeScript parser, validator, and CLI for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Standard Data Exchange Format (SDEF) used to exchange construction schedules with QCS/RMS.

The goal is simple: catch SDEF problems before QCS/RMS does.

Status: early release. The validator is based on ER 1-1-11 Appendix A plus narrowly scoped Primavera/QCS interoperability rules. It has also been cross-checked structurally against MPXJ's current SDEF reader. It is not an official USACE product.

What it checks

• Fixed-position VOLM, PROJ, CLDR, HOLI, ACTV, PRED, UNIT, PROG, and END records
• Required record groups and record ordering
• The 132-column SDEF envelope and ASCII-only content
• Fixed field positions and required separator columns
• ddmmmyy dates and SDEF numeric formats
• Calendar and activity references
• Duplicate activities, calendars, relationships, unit records, and progress records
• Progress-state rules for actual/early/late dates, remaining duration, and float
• Required precedence records for precedence-diagramming schedules
• Workers-per-day requirements, including 0 when no workers are planned
• The four-character QCS project-ID interoperability failure
• Primavera interoperability checks, including the 36-calendar and 10,000-activity ceilings
• P6 Feature of Work length warnings without pretending the conflicting SDEF/P6 documentation is more precise than it is

CLI

npm install
npm run build
node dist/cli.js path/to/project.sdef

JSON output:

node dist/cli.js path/to/project.sdef --json

Disable the extra Primavera/QCS interoperability checks and validate only the core SDEF rules:

node dist/cli.js path/to/project.sdef --no-p6-interop

Example:

FAIL bad-project-id.sdef — 1 error(s), 0 warning(s)
2 activities · 1 relationships · 1 calendars · 9 records
ERROR   PROJECT_ID_LENGTH (line 2, projectIdentifier): Project Identifier must occupy exactly four characters for QCS interoperability; found 3.
        fix: Pad or change the project ID to four characters before generating/importing SDEF; a short value shifts later fixed-width fields in broken exports.

Library API

import { validateSdef } from "sdef-check";

const result = validateSdef(fileText);

if (!result.valid) {
  console.log(result.diagnostics);
}

The lower-level parser is also exported:

import { parseSdef } from "sdef-check";

const document = parseSdef(fileText);

Development

Requires Node.js 20+.

npm install
npm test

npm test compiles the TypeScript and runs the fixture/regression tests with Node's built-in test runner.

Why this project is deliberately small

SDEF Check is not trying to replace Primavera P6, QCS, RMS, or a scheduling platform. It is a preflight layer: one file in, exact diagnostics out.

That makes it suitable for a CLI, desktop UI, CI check, or embedded validator without changing the core engine.

Licensing

SDEF Check is open source under AGPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE.

Organizations that want to embed, modify, or distribute SDEF Check under proprietary terms can obtain a separate commercial license from Sithix LLC. See LICENSE-STRATEGY.md.

Sources and scope

The implementation is based primarily on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ER 1-1-11, Appendix A (SDEF). Primavera/QCS interoperability diagnostics are kept separate where implementation guidance differs from the core format.

One known documentation ambiguity is Feature of Work: Appendix A's fixed columns, current Oracle conversion guidance, current RMS/P6 guidance, and mature third-party SDEF readers do not all agree on the same effective length. SDEF Check preserves the fixed-column field and reports P6-specific length concerns as interoperability warnings instead of silently truncating data.

A larger corpus of genuine contractor/QCS/RMS exports is still desirable. Public SDEF fixtures are unusually scarce, so issues with reproducible sample files are especially valuable.

Built by Sithix LLC.