Getting Started with Arelle: XBRL File Preparation and Validation [EBA XBRL Submissions]

[Pappa Nikko]

Hi, firstly thank you for your understanding, as I do not have prior experience with setting up this type of programme, and I would like to ask a few questions.

I intend to use Arelle through the GUI environment for the submission of forms (e.g. prudential forms, DORA) to the EBA. My operating system is Windows 11 and I am using Arelle version 2.37.53.

So far, I have uploaded—through Help → Manage Packages → Locally—the following:

• EBA XBRL 4.1 Reporting Framework,

• EBA XBRL 4.1 Severity,

• EBA XBRL 4.1 Dictionary.

I have also enabled the “Work Offline” option through Tools → Internet → Work Offline.

My questions are:

1. What is the best and most effective way to create and prepare the XBRL file? Previously, the submission was carried out in Excel format and submitted through the national authority’s XBRL portal, which performed both the conversion into an XBRL file and the validation.

2. What is required in order to have a graphical interface inside Arelle that shows how the XBRL file is structured and completed (rather than just displaying raw XML)?

3. The plug-ins available under Help → Manage Plug-ins → Select (e.g. “Load from Excel”, “Save Loadable Excel”, “Validate EBA/EIOPA”) – are these genuinely helpful and reliable or do they tend to generate errors?

4. How is the file validation process carried out, and what kind of proof or reporting can be extracted (e.g. validation logs, error reports) to provide assurance that the process has been correctly completed?

thank you

[Austin Matherne]

Hi,

Arelle is an XBRL validating processor, which is to say that's it's primarily used to view and validate XBRL reports and taxonomies created by other tools. If you're looking for a tool to create an XBRL report you can find options for certified report creation software on xbrl.org.

Kind regards,

Austin Matherne

[Mike D]

I had similar issues getting started using Arelle for DORA.  As Austin states, Arelle is just a validator - it can tell you if the DORA package is correct, but not create the package for you.  You can do this on your own if you get comfortable with the info on https://www.eba.europa.eu/activities/direct-supervision-and-oversight/digital-operational-resilience-act/preparation-dora-application

Facing a similar problem, we created a custom Excel file to parse our in-house data into tabs that meet the expectations of the DORA validator, which isn't QUITE the same format the ITS specifies - Read The Data Point Model table layout and data point categorisation DORA example.  Both the column numbers (e.g. some are like cxx1 vs. cxx0), the layout, and some columns required by the package for "linking" that are not in the ITS are all in that file.

Then you need to prepare a file.  This has a few pieces.  See Preparing plain csv reporting package for DORA

* A "reports"  directory with:

  * Each output table in its own CSV file with the approprate file name (we use a Macro to save each tab of our master sheet as its own file)

  * 2 additional CSV's for the FilingIndicators and parameters (these are static files - you can see them in the above link and grab them from the DORA sample file.

  * A "reports.json" file, which is a static piece of JSON you can grab from the link above

* A "META-INF" directory which contains

  * A ReportPackage.json file, which again is a static JSON file.

Put all those files in a directory, and create a zipfile out of them following the cryptic file naming convention in the "Preparing plan csv reporting package for DORA" link, and you should have a "validatable" file to run through Arelle.

Building the right output files that use the right lookups, etc., is the hard part - it took a lot of excel logic to get there.  A better programmer than me could probably do this faster with Python or some other scripting language.  

Be warned, Arelle will take a LONG time to fully validate even a medium-complexity DORA Register (takes several days for my fairly beefy VM).  

Also, for some reason, Arelle keeps throwing validation errors from the 5_01 file of the form "x cannot be blank if any of the following are non-blank."  However, I can find no "real" offending rows here.  And since the example file throws the very same errors, I'm suspecting it's an issue in the rules.

Hope this helps!

[Ebuka Emebinah]

Good day all,

I downloaded the arelle folder using this link https://arelle.org/arelle/download/1008/?tmstv=1758890016.

How do I install the package afterwards as I cannot find any file for installation. 

Also, I would like to be able to perform bulk financial analysis on publicly available financial information.

Can anyone please provide information on these?

Many thanks,

Ebuka Emebinah

--

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Arelle-users" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to arelle-users...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/arelle-users/387e716d-e4c6-4b52-8208-2106a71807a4n%40googlegroups.com.

[Austin Matherne]

Hi Ebuka,

The file download you linked to is an exe installer for Arelle. You can launch the executable to install Arelle on Windows.

Kind regards,

Austin Matherne

[Ebuka Emebinah]

Dear Austin,

I have these interfaces.

I don't find an install folder or an executable file amongst the folders

Please advise which file to install.

Thank you

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/arelle-users/4df2327d-be9e-4ab6-9e2e-726d5ec17917n%40googlegroups.com.

[Austin Matherne]

The arelleGUI application file is the executable for launching the graphical user interface.