The PICS Tool has been updated to version 2.1.23.0 — See what's new!      [× close]

PICS Tool

≡ Menu
TO START: Drag-and-drop inside this box or browse to open one or more XML PICS files, or a supported ZIP file.
Download resources:
BDB, Cluster, Matter 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.4.1, 1.4.2 Optional endpoint folder for loaded files:

Validation Results

👆️ Click the Validate All button to check all PICS for errors and get the list of testable Test Cases.
🔎︎ Filter All PICS ❌

Test Case List (0 total)

Test Case Description For Certification PICS

🔖︎ Bookmarks

🔆︎
⛶︎
🔝︎
↑
↓
×

PICS Comparison



 Δ Compare Against





Select an original and new PICS to compare.

🔝 Go To Top

↩ Return to PICS Tool
×

PICS Editor

✏
PICS Filename (Click Above to Change)
Cluster Details (Optional)

Name:    Cluster ID:    PICS Root:

To use the generalPICS XML schema, leave all cluster fields blank throughout the form.
Status Flags (Optional)
 O.1
Flagging a status will change its validation behavior from any-of to one-of.
+ New PICS Group


⮪ Test in PICS Tool    💾︎ Save XML    ↻ Reset PICS Editor

PICS Editor Usage Instructions

    Getting Started:

  1. Enter the new XML filename by typing in the top yellow box, to the right of the pencil icon.
  2. If this is a Cluster PICS, enter the cluster name, ID and PICS root details.
    • If no cluster details are entered, the GeneralPICS XML schema will be used.
  3. If optional status groups (O.1, O.2, etc.) will be used, validation behavior can be changed from any-of to one-of by flagging the status.
    • Additional flag options will appear as new status options are created through usage.
  4. Click on + New PICS Group to add your first PICS group to the form.

    5. PICS Groups:

  5. By default, groups are created in PICS item mode. To specify PIXIT items instead, use the radio button selector.
  6. Specify an optional group label (e.g. Zigbee Logical Device Type).
  7. If this group will contain Cluster PICS items, select one of the preset XML tag sections:
    • Usage
    • Server Attributes
    • Server Commands Generated
    • Server Commands Received
    • Client Attributes
    • Client Commands Generated
    • Client Commands Received
    • If a cluster section is not selected, the default PICS or PIXIT group XML tags will be used.
  8. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to reposition PICS groups within the document.
  9. To remove an entire group and all PICS items contained within, use the Delete Group button.
  10. Click on + New PICS Item to add your first PICS item to the group.

    11. PICS Items:

  11. Specify the PICS Item Number – this should be used only once within the document and not used in any other approved PICS templates.
  12. Include an optional description of the technology specification feature.
  13. Include an optional section, paragraph or table reference from the specification document (comma, space or semicolon separated).
  14. Declare the item status. Multiple status fields can be added or deleted.
    • By default, items are set to (M) MANDATORY status.
    • (O) OPTIONAL
    • (X) UNSUPPORTED or DEPRECATED
    • (O.X) GROUPED OPTIONAL
      • O.X status selection will automatically create the next number as an option (e.g. selecting O.1 will create O.2).
      • Each O.X status can be flagged to validate in one-of mode from the menu at the top of the PICS editor form.
  15. Specify an optional status condition. Examples:
    • ZLT1 (Evaluates if ZLT1 is materially supported)
    • NOT(ZLT1) (Evaluates if ZLT1 is materially unsupported)
    • ZLT1 == false (Evaluates ZLT1 as a string)
    • ZLT1 == 2 (Evaluates ZLT1 as a number)
    • ZLT1 < 2 (Evaluates ZLT1 as less-than a number)
    • ZLT1 > 2 (Evaluates ZLT1 as greater-than a number)
    • ZLT1 AND ZLT2 (Multiple conditions with AND operator)
    • ZLT1 OR ZLT2 (Multiple conditions with OR operator)
    • (ZLT1 OR ZLT2) AND (GRC4 OR GRC5) (Nested conditions with OR operator)
    • (ZLT1 OR (ZLT2 AND GRC4) OR GRC5) (Nested conditions with AND operator)
    • ZLT1 AND NOT(ZLT2 OR ZLT3) (Using the NOT operator with a nested condition)
  16. Specify an optional default support value. (Useful for some PIXIT items)
  17. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to reposition PICS items within the group.
  18. To remove a PICS item and all fields contained within, use the Delete Item button.

    19. Testing and Downloading:

  19. To complete and validate your created PICS in the PICS editor, click Test in PICS Editor
  20. To only download the PICS XML, click 💾︎ Save XML
  21. XML PICS can also be downloaded from the PICS editor after testing
    • All draft XML PICS templates require Author Mode to be enabled in the PICS Tool first before loading.
  22. After closing the PICS editor and returning to the PICS Tool, all data will remain in the PICS editor.
    • PICS editor data will remain until it has been overwritten, or the PICS Tool has been closed or reloaded.
    • Click on Reset PICS Editor to manually clear the PICS form.
  23. To access the PICS editor after returning to the PICS Tool, click on the hamburger (☰) menu icon in the top right of the PICS Tool.
  24. Clicking the Edit PICS button from the PICS Tool will overwrite any existing work in the PICS editor with PICS from the opened file.
↩ Return to PICS Tool
×

PICS Tool – Release Notes

This version of the tool uses a corrected version of the mapping files only for matter 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.4.1 & 1.4.2

v2.1.23.0 (2025.08.04)

v2.1.22.1 (2025.06.03)

v2.1.21.0 (2025.03.21)

v2.1.20.0 (2025.03.13)

v2.1.19.2 (2025.01.24)

v2.1.19.1 (2024.12.16)

v2.1.19.1 (2024.12.16)

v2.1.19 (2024.10.11)

v2.1.18 (2024.09.11)

v2.1.17 (2024.09.10)

v2.1.16 (2024.09.09)

v2.1.15 (2024.09.05)

v2.1.14 (2024.09.04)

v2.1.13 (2024.08.16)

v2.1.12 (2024.08.10)

v2.1.11 (2024.08.09)

v2.1.9 (2024.08.06)

v2.1.8 (2024.04.17)

v2.1.7 (2024.03.11)

v2.1.6 (2024.02.26)

v2.1.5 (2024.02.21)

v2.1.4 (2024.02.15)

v2.1.3 (2024.01.26)

v2.0.2 (2024.01.16)

v2.0.1

v2.0.0

v1.6.4

v1.6.3

v1.6.2

v1.6.1

v1.6

v1.5

v1.4

v1.3.1

v1.3

v1.2

v1.1

v1.0

↩ Return to PICS Tool
×

PICS Tool – User Documentation

Contents

  1. Getting Started
  2. Navigation
  3. Understanding PICS Tables
  4. Validating PICS
  5. Common Errors
  6. Advanced Usage

Getting Started

Introduction video


See above video to get a first impression of how to operate the tool, in this case for Matter, and read on for more details.
TO START: Drag-and-drop inside this box or browse to open one or more XML PICS files, or a supported ZIP file.
Optional endpoint folder for loaded files:
Example – PICS Tool Start Screen
+
<.xml>

To get started with the PICS Tool:

  1. Open the PICS Tool HTML file using a web browser. This user guide is also included within the PICS Tool.
  2. Load XML PICS templates by dragging and dropping one or several files into the gray box within the browser window.
    • Multiple items must be selected as a group; it is possible to select a target endpoint for the group of files which at saving time is represented as a folder. Entire folders containing XML files cannot be loaded.
    • A ZIP file containing endpoints with clusters is supported, as long as the format matches what the PICS Tool will write as ZIP structure, or the behavior is undefined.
    • Unclick (or drop) after the gray box turns blue to load the dragged files.
    • XML files must be stored locally on the machine running the PICS Tool.
    • Files stored in another archive then zip (rar, 7z, tar, etc.) should be unpacked before loading into the tool. The tool is however able to write both zip and tar archives
    • XML text cannot be copy-and-pasted into the PICS Tool.
  3. Alternatively, multiple files may also be opened at once by clicking the "or browse" link to launch a file picker.

Where to find approved XML PICS:

  1. Download from Causeway – Contact help@csa-iot.org if you need access to Causeway.
  2. BDB PICS – https://groups.csa-iot.org/wg/members-all/document/24034
  3. ZCL Cluster PICS – https://groups.csa-iot.org/wg/members-all/document/13407
  4. Download the latest revision of the files above from Causeway
  5. Unzip to a local file on your computer.

Navigation

TO START: Drag-and-drop inside this box or browse to open one or more XML PICS files, or a supported ZIP file.
16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml: Loaded successfully. (209 items loaded)

1 Template Loaded, 209 Items Loaded

☝ Click the Validate All button to check all PICS for errors.
🔎 Filter All PICS

🔖 Bookmarks

16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml
Example – PICS Tool Console and Function Buttons
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
🔆︎
⛶︎
🔝︎
↑
↓

Example – PICS Tool Page Navigation
10
11
12
13
14

Navigating the PICS Tool:

  1. Drag and drop additional XML PICS files into the gray box. Files must be selected as a group, folders cannot be loaded.
  2. You can also drop a ZIP file with a structure like (EP0/file1.xml, EP1/file2.xml), and the XML files in this ZIP will then be loaded.
  3. The console shows import status and any errors that occurred while loading.
  4. Shows how many known PICS templates and unique items have been loaded.
  5. Shortcut button to validate all PICS files at the same time. This will also generate a Test Case list.
  6. Shortcut buttons to save all XML files at the same time, either as ZIP or TAR archive including endpoint folder structure (EP0/file1.xml, EP1/file2.xml, file0.xml) or as individual files.
    • XML files are automatically updated with the new values filled out using the tool.
    • The files will be saved the default browser downloads folder.
    • Duplicate files in the same folder lead to ambiguous results.
  7. Shortcut button to close all open PICS files.
  8. Shortcut button to clear all checkboxes, radio buttons and text fields in all open PICS files.
  9. Apply an item number search filter to all open PICS files.
  10. List of bookmarks to jump to each file loaded into the tool.

    11. Page navigation buttons can be found at the bottom of the PICS tool main page:

  11. Enable high-contrast mode.
  12. Enable compact mode and hide PICS item details.
  13. Jump to the top of the page.
  14. Jump to the top of the PICS file currently focused.
  15. Jump to the bottom of the PICS file currently focused.
    • The PICS file in focus will have a light blue background and thicker border.
    • The last PICS template loaded will be focused automatically.
    • Clicking on a PICS table will bring the PICS file into focus.

Understanding PICS Tables

209 Item(s) Loaded
PICS File: 16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml
PICS Template: 16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml
Template MD5: 7bf86aa0d2395396ec684f7c436c9cdf
Template Status: ✓ Approved – See readme


🔍 Filter PICS
Item: ❌
Validation:

Item NumberFeatureStatusSupport
PIXIT Items
IA2bdbJoinUsesInstallCodeKey: Does the Trust Center policy require all nodes to join using an install code?M : ZLT1
🖱︎ Click to Autofill
✏
N/A   True   False   Yes   No   0x00   0x01
PICS Items
CC1Can the product be stimulated to invoke touchlink commissioning only?O
T/F
Example – PICS Table and Items
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Understanding the PICS Tables:

  1. The PICS table in focus will have a light blue background and border.
  2. The PICS filename is shown at the top of the PICS details.
    • The save-as filename can be changed by clicking on the current filename and editing the text field.
    • If the filename includes a folder name (EP0/picsfile.xml e.g.), this will be used when saving as ZIP/TAR. The folder name will also be added when loading a ZIP file with a folder structure.
  3. Basic PICS information is shown directly below the PICS file heading, including the number of PICS items loaded and the original filename.
    • For Cluster PICS, additional details such as the Cluster ID, name and PICS root will also be shown here.
  4. If the PICS template is known, it's label and MD5 signature will be displayed.
    • All known template descriptions will include one of the following tags:
      • APPROVED: This template can be submitted with a Connectivity Standards Alliance Certified Product application.
      • FUTURE: This template has been released by a balloting group however may not be approved for use with certified products. Check with the certification team or the respective balloting group chair before using an unapproved template.
      • DEPRECATED: This template is outdated and should not be used. The latest approved PICS templates can be found using the links at the top of the user guide and PICS Tool start screen.
      • See readme for a full list of supported PICS templates.
    • If the PICS template signature is unknown, an error will be displayed and the user will be prompted to enter Author Mode. The unrecognized PICS file must then be opened a second time after Author Mode is enabled.

    PICS Table Controls:

  5. Validate PICS – Validate all the items in the table above.
  6. Download PICS – Download an updated XML with your new PICS support values.
  7. Reset PICS – Clear all checkboxes, radio buttons and text fields in the table above.
  8. Close PICS – Remove the opened PICS file from the tool, any changes will not be saved.
  9. Edit PICS* – Open the existing PICS in the PICS editor window to make changes. (*Author Mode Only – See Advanced Usage)
  10. Filter PICS by item number or validation status.

  11. PICS Table Columns:

    • Validation Result – The gray dot will turn green, yellow or red upon validating to indicate success or warning.
    • Item Number – Unique PICS Item Number.
      • Items with duplicate item numbers will be shown as read-only and an error will be output to the console.
    • Feature – The description of the item.
    • Status – The support requirement of the item.
    • Support – The user input value relating to the device support of the feature.
      • See BDB Specification Document for abbreviations and symbols used in the Support column.
  12. PIXIT and PICS items will be grouped into categories as specified in the PICS XML.

    13. PIXIT and PICS items have different types of answer fields:

  13. PIXIT – An answer must be selected from the autofill menu or typed into the text box.
    • Selecting N/A for a PIXIT item is equivalent to leaving the answer blank.
  14. PICS – An answer must be true or false.

Validating PICS

209 Item(s) Loaded
PICS File: 16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml
PICS Template: 16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml
Template MD5: 7bf86aa0d2395396ec684f7c436c9cdf
Template Status: ✓ Approved – See readme


❌ Validated 3 items with 1 warning and 1 error
🔍 Filter PICS
Item: ❌
Validation:

Item NumberFeatureStatusSupport
PICS Items
IA5bdbSecondaryChannelSet: What is the secondary channel set?M
T/F
IA6bdbTCLinkKeyExchangeAttemptsMax: What is the maximum number of attempts a node will try to exchange its Trust Center link key?Dependency ZLT2 has not been met.
Dependency ZLT3 has not been met.
ZLT2 : M
ZLT3 : M
T/F
ZLT4 ⚫ Select One (O.1)Can the node switch between ZLT1 and ZLT2 types under application control.At least one O.1 item must be supported.
O.1
T/F
Example – PICS Validation Results
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

How to Validate your PICS:

  1. Following validation, there will be a summary message for the entire PICS file.
  2. To re-run the validation routine, click the Validate PICS button.
    • There is also a Validate All button at the top of the page to validate all loaded PICS files at once.
    • Note: You may download the PICS XML with the changes you've made in the tool regardless of the validation result.
  3. PICS items can be filtered by validation status once the items have been validated.
  4. Each item will be evaluated based on template-provided status and user-input support values.
    • See BDB Specification Document for abbreviations and symbols used in the Support column.

    The color bar in the left column of each PICS Table row will turn green, yellow or red to indicate validation results of each PICS Item:

  5. Green Dot: Passed validation and requires no review.
  6. Yellow Dot: Inconclusive result and may require manual review.
  7. Red Dot: Incorrectly answered and manual review is required.

  8. Additional error feedback may follow the PICS item description after validation

Common Errors

TO START: Drag-and-drop one or more XML PICS files inside the gray box
BDB_PICS_in_Non_XML_Format.docx: This is not a valid XML file. If this file is stored inside a ZIP archive, try unpacking the archive to a folder first.
16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml: Validated 222 items with 2 warnings and 34 errors.
Example – Import and Validation feedback will be shown in the console at the top of the page.

Common errors during import of PICS:

    BDB_PICS_in_Non_XML_Format.docx: This is not a valid XML file. If this file is stored inside a ZIP archive, try unpacking the archive to a folder first.
  1. Only valid XML files will be processed – PICS in .docx and .pdf formats are not supported.

    2. 16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml: Loaded unsuccessfully. This XML PICS template is unapproved and has not been tested with this tool. To test new or updated PICS documents, please enable author mode and try again.
  2. PICS templates which have been modified from the approved configuration will fail to load without enabling author mode. To test draft PICS or changes to PICS items, first enable author mode using the link at the bottom of the page or within the error message.
    • Modified templates include any changes to item numbers, status or conditions. Changes made to the user-input support column will not be considered when the tool determines if the template has modified from its approved state.
    • Some templates may be supported by this tool but are not approved for use with Connectivity Standards Alliance Certified programs. See readme for a full list of supported PICS templates and their approval status.

    My-Modified-BDB-XML-PICS.xml: Conditional status item ‘( (IA2==true) AND BKN2))’ is invalid and has been converted to ‘(IA2==true AND BKN2)’
  3. Conditional status items must contain balanced parenthesis. If the conditional statement is invalid, the tool will interpret the statement with parenthesis removed.

Common errors during validation of PICS:

    16-02800-001-PRO_BDB-BDB-XML-PICS.xml: Validated 222 items with 2 warnings and 34 errors.
  1. A summary will be given with the number of errors and warnings for each PICS file validated.

    2. Failure Errors
    All failure errors must be addressed prior to the PICS being submitted for product certification.

    ❌ Support for this item is mandatory.
  2. A mandatory item must be supported in all use cases.

    3. ❌ A condition has been met which makes this item mandatory: ZLT1
  3. A use case has been identified that now requires this item to be supported.

    4. ❌ An item with status O.1 must be supported.
  4. At least one item within an O.x status group must be supported.

    5. ❌ A condition has been met which makes this item prohibited: ZLT1
  5. This item cannot be supported with the selected configuration.

    6. ❌ Support for this item requires support for the following: S.S
  6. Cluster server and client items must be supported as a group.

    7. Advisory Warnings
    Advisory warnings are provided for context relating to item support requirements.

    ⚠ Support for this item may not be needed.
  7. A PICS item is supported without a clearly defined reason.

    8. ⚠ Review all supplementary notes before supporting this item.
  8. A supplementary note on an item has altered the normal validation behavior.

    9. ⚠ Review all supplementary CCBs before supporting this item.
  9. Some mandatory items may be rendered optional in some cases by known CCBs.

    10. ⚠ This item is a duplicate. Check the item description and category before enabling support.
  10. All duplicate items should be double-checked to confirm the correct item is being supported.

    11. ⚠ Duplicate dependency item found, only the first item will be evaluated: G.C.C00.Tx
  11. Items which depend on the support of another item will only validate against the first item found.

    12. ⚠ The following dependency item could not be found and will be evaluated as false: S.S
  12. Dependency items from other PICS files which have not been loaded (usually related to the Scenes cluster) will be evaluated as if they are not supported.

Advanced Usage

Author Mode and PICS Editor

  • Author Mode allows the user to load unrecognized PICS templates and use the PICS editor to revise or create new XML PICS documents.
  • To enable author mode, click the "Enable Author Mode" link at the bottom of the start screen. A message will be displayed at the top of the page to indicate that Author Mode is enabled.
  • Once Author Mode has been enabled, it can only be turned off by reloading the PICS Tool.
  • The PICS editor can be accessed by opening the main menu at the top right of the PICS Tool. Opening the PICS Editor will automatically enable author mode.
  • Existing XML PICS files can be edited by first opening in the PICS Tool, and then clicking the Edit PICS button.
  • Further instructions for PICS editor usage will be found in the PICS editor window.
  • For debugging purposes, enabling author mode will show a Save JSON button at the top of the PICS next to Save All. PICS can be validated and saved as a JSON to be reloaded later in the same state.

Save TCList

  • Save TC List allows you to save the validated PICS to a JSON file for easy use outside the PICS Tool of the list of test cases.

PICS Merge Mode

  • PICS Merge Mode allows you to merge an existing PICS into a new PICS version. This feature is in beta and it remains your responsibility to check the resulting PICS for errors before submitting/using for certification purposes.
  • To enable (or disable) merge mode, click the "Enable Merge Mode" link at the menu. A message will be displayed at the top of the page to indicate that Merge Mode is enabled.
  • Now, when opening a PICS file with the exact same Path plus Filename as a PICS that is already loaded:
  • For each PICS item, the value of the PICS item in the newly loaded file will be applied if it exists.
  • For example: if you loaded a new empty PICS "EP0/Base.xml", enable merge mode, select Endpoint 0, and then load "Base.xml" that was already pre-filled, the merge feature will merge the values of this file.
  • Important caveats: the filename and endpoint must match; the feature will for example not merge "ep0/base.xml" with "ep1/base.xml" or "ep0/base1.xml" with "ep0/base.xml".
  • You are still required to manually check all PICS items against your Device and validate accordingly: this feature is meant to assist with merging older versions but does not perform any other checks.

For additional support, please email certification@csa-iot.org.

🔝 Go To Top

↩ Return to PICS Tool