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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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Standards

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Flagship messages

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Tools

Factur-X / ZUGFeRD Extractor

Extract the embedded CII XML invoice from a PDF/A-3 hybrid file (Factur-X 1.0.7 / ZUGFeRD 2.3), 100 % client-side. No upload, no logs.

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How it works

A hybrid Factur-X (French, FNFE-MPE) or ZUGFeRD (German, FeRD) invoice is a PDF/A-3 (ISO 19005-3) file embedding an XML attachment that follows the UN/CEFACT Cross-Industry Invoice (CII) schema. The extractor proceeds in five steps:

  1. Read the PDF header: the %PDF-1.x signature is checked and the PDF version is recorded.
  2. Locate the xref: the startxref pointer is followed to the classic cross-reference table (ISO 32000-1 §7.5.4). Each entry gives the offset of an indirect object.
  3. Navigate Catalog → Names → EmbeddedFiles: the trailer points to /Root (the catalog) which exposes a name tree /Names/EmbeddedFiles enumerating attachments (ISO 19005-3 §6.8). A fallback reads the catalog /AF (Associated Files) array.
  4. Extract the XML stream: the file specification (/Type /Filespec) references a stream /Type /EmbeddedFile. When the filter is /FlateDecode (the common case), the browser decompresses via DecompressionStream('deflate').
  5. Detect the profile: the CII XML carries its URN at ExchangedDocumentContext/GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter/ID. That ID determines the profile: MINIMUM, BASIC WL, BASIC, EN 16931, EXTENDED or XRECHNUNG.

Supported conformance profiles

The six profiles defined by Factur-X 1.0.7 (FNFE-MPE) and ZUGFeRD 2.3 (FeRD) are recognised, along with the German XRechnung CIUS (KoSIT). The profile URN is extracted from the embedded XML and surfaced verbatim in the report.

  • MINIMUM — urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:minimum. Header data only, Factur-X only.
  • BASIC WL — urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:basicwl. Without Lines, no item-level data.
  • BASIC — urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:basic. EN 16931 subset, minimum required to qualify as a tax invoice.
  • EN 16931 — urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017. European core norm (formerly “COMFORT” in ZUGFeRD 1.0).
  • EXTENDED — urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#conformant#urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:extended. EN 16931 plus industry extensions.
  • XRECHNUNG — …urn:xeinkauf.de:kosit:xrechnung_3.0. CIUS mandated by the German public sector.

Limitations

The extractor is intentionally minimal — its goal is to surface the XML, not to replace a full PDF parser:

  • Encrypted PDFs (/Encrypt) are not supported.
  • Cross-reference streams (PDF 1.5+) are not parsed: we only handle the classic xref table. Every reasonable Factur-X / ZUGFeRD emission chain emits a classic xref for PDF/A compatibility.
  • Object streams (/ObjStm) are not supported.
  • Only the /FlateDecode (zlib) filter is decoded. Other rarely-used filters (/ASCII85Decode, /LZWDecode…) return E_PDF_PARSE_FAILED.
  • The extractor does not validate the extracted XML — it only detects the profile. Use the EN 16931 validator or the PEPPOL validator to validate the extracted XML.

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Last updated: May 16, 2026