ONIX Basics: How to become ONIX compliant

The ONIX Basics spreadsheet outlines the mandatory fields for ONIX compliance in Australia. ONIX Basics is available for download (updated October 2008) and is in effect the bible for achieving ONIX compliance in Australia.

What does ONIX Basics provide information on?

The spreadsheet contains information on:

1. Version History: An amendment history of ONIX Basics to enable tracking of any changes to the documentation;
2. Smart Data: The user friendly 'English' version of ONIX with both mandatory and optional fields;
3. ONIX Basics Record: An XML record of the mandatory ONIX elements required to be ONIX compliant in Australia alongwith the optional elements which will provide TitlePage, the APA's Price & Availability database, with a complete set of data; and
4. Code Lists: The code values and description for each code list referred to in ONIX Basics.

What other help and guidelines are there?

EDItEUR, the international body responsible for maintaining ONIX as a standard, has a more comprehensive range of documentation available on its website at www.editeur.org but for the purposes of ONIX compliance in Australia you need only refer to ONIX Basics.

We have just published some more detailed content guidelines specifically for ONIX implementors in Australian dealing with the content of ONIX records, and you may also find it useful to refer to the ONIX <Product> Specification published by EDItEUR and referred to in ONIX Basics.

The APA's Technology Expert Reference Group liaises closely with EDItEUR on the development of ONIX to ensure it continues to reflect the needs of the Australian market and from time to time there will be amendments made to ONIX Basics so please revisit the website to ensure you are using the latest spreadsheet.