write_checked_invoice.py

The Python file of the “An invoice that asks before it claims” example. The library reads the invoice as it stands and names, clause by clause, everything between it and Factur-X. Two things stand in the way, then one, then none — and only then is a file written.

Python 318 lines

What this example is for

Every other document here reaches a standard by declaring it: the file says it is Factur-X, and it is written as Factur-X. Declaring is easy; being right is not. A document can name an invoice it never attached, claim a level of detail the XML inside it does not follow, and sit in a container the standard does not allow — and go out saying all three, to come back refused by the accounting department it was sent to.

What this example shows

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"""Creates an electronic invoice and asks the document what stands in its way.

The Python twin of the `write_checked_invoice` example in Rust: the same
document, through the binding rather than through the library directly.

Every other example reaches a standard by declaring it. This one asks first.
`Document.check` reads the document as it stands, writes nothing, changes
nothing, and hands back everything known here to stand between it and the
standard named — all of it at once, each finding citing the clause it comes from.

The invoice is composed the way a caller first writes it, with three things wrong
that only a report can name: it claims no archival standard, it names an invoice
it never attached, and it claims a profile the XML does not carry. The first two
hide the third, because a file that is not there cannot be read; so each round
prints what came back, puts it right, and asks again. Nothing is written while
anything stands.

An empty report is not a certificate. It says that nothing this library knows to
look for is in the way, which is not the same as conforming: `veraPDF` says
whether the file conforms, and `scripts/check_pdfa.sh` asks it.

The page is written in the language `HQF_PDF_LANG` names. The XML is not: it is
read by an accounting system rather than by a person, and the same file goes to a
buyer in any country. What the terminal says is not either — it is the library's
own report, in the words the library states its clauses in.

Usage: python examples/write_checked_invoice.py [out.pdf] [font.ttf]
       HQF_PDF_LANG=fr python examples/write_checked_invoice.py
"""

from __future__ import annotations

from dataclasses import dataclass
from pathlib import Path

import _language
import _licence
import _out

import hqf_pdf

# When the invoice was issued. The library never reads the clock — a document that
# stamped itself with the time would be a different file on every build — so the caller
# says when, and here the caller is an example.
ISSUED = "2026-07-14T09:30:00+02:00"

# The part of the archival standard an electronic invoice belongs in.
CONTAINER = hqf_pdf.PdfA.A3B

# The profile the caller claims before reading the XML.
CLAIMED_AT_FIRST = hqf_pdf.InvoiceProfile.En16931

# The profile the XML states under `GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter`.
CARRIED = hqf_pdf.InvoiceProfile.Basic

# The version of the Factur-X specification the XML follows.
SPECIFICATION = "1.0"

# The name the standard has reading software look the XML up by, and the name
# `Attachment.invoice` carries it under.
INVOICE_FILE_NAME = "factur-x.xml"

# The invoice, as a machine reads it: a Factur-X BASIC profile document, which carries
# the billed lines as well as the header. A real invoice carries more, and carries it
# under the same rules.
INVOICE_XML = """<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice
    xmlns:rsm="urn:un:unece:uncefact:data:standard:CrossIndustryInvoice:100"
    xmlns:ram="urn:un:unece:uncefact:data:standard:ReusableAggregateBusinessInformationEntity:100"
    xmlns:udt="urn:un:unece:uncefact:data:standard:UnqualifiedDataType:100">
  <rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext>
    <ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter>
      <ram:ID>urn:cen.eu:en16931:2017#compliant#urn:factur-x.eu:1p0:basic</ram:ID>
    </ram:GuidelineSpecifiedDocumentContextParameter>
  </rsm:ExchangedDocumentContext>
  <rsm:ExchangedDocument>
    <ram:ID>2026-0207</ram:ID>
    <ram:TypeCode>380</ram:TypeCode>
    <ram:IssueDateTime>
      <udt:DateTimeString format="102">20260714</udt:DateTimeString>
    </ram:IssueDateTime>
  </rsm:ExchangedDocument>
  <rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction>
    <ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem>
      <ram:AssociatedDocumentLineDocument>
        <ram:LineID>1</ram:LineID>
      </ram:AssociatedDocumentLineDocument>
      <ram:SpecifiedTradeProduct>
        <ram:Name>Rendering engine licence</ram:Name>
      </ram:SpecifiedTradeProduct>
      <ram:SpecifiedLineTradeAgreement>
        <ram:NetPriceProductTradePrice>
          <ram:ChargeAmount>12400.00</ram:ChargeAmount>
        </ram:NetPriceProductTradePrice>
      </ram:SpecifiedLineTradeAgreement>
      <ram:SpecifiedLineTradeDelivery>
        <ram:BilledQuantity unitCode="C62">1</ram:BilledQuantity>
      </ram:SpecifiedLineTradeDelivery>
      <ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement>
        <ram:ApplicableTradeTax>
          <ram:TypeCode>VAT</ram:TypeCode>
          <ram:CategoryCode>S</ram:CategoryCode>
          <ram:RateApplicablePercent>20.00</ram:RateApplicablePercent>
        </ram:ApplicableTradeTax>
        <ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementLineMonetarySummation>
          <ram:LineTotalAmount>12400.00</ram:LineTotalAmount>
        </ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementLineMonetarySummation>
      </ram:SpecifiedLineTradeSettlement>
    </ram:IncludedSupplyChainTradeLineItem>
    <ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement>
      <ram:SellerTradeParty>
        <ram:Name>HQF Development</ram:Name>
        <ram:SpecifiedLegalOrganization>
          <ram:ID schemeID="0002">752492777</ram:ID>
        </ram:SpecifiedLegalOrganization>
        <ram:PostalTradeAddress>
          <ram:CountryID>FR</ram:CountryID>
        </ram:PostalTradeAddress>
      </ram:SellerTradeParty>
      <ram:BuyerTradeParty>
        <ram:Name>Northwind Trading SARL</ram:Name>
      </ram:BuyerTradeParty>
    </ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeAgreement>
    <ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeDelivery/>
    <ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement>
      <ram:InvoiceCurrencyCode>EUR</ram:InvoiceCurrencyCode>
      <ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementHeaderMonetarySummation>
        <ram:TaxBasisTotalAmount>12400.00</ram:TaxBasisTotalAmount>
        <ram:TaxTotalAmount currencyID="EUR">2480.00</ram:TaxTotalAmount>
        <ram:GrandTotalAmount>14880.00</ram:GrandTotalAmount>
        <ram:DuePayableAmount>14880.00</ram:DuePayableAmount>
      </ram:SpecifiedTradeSettlementHeaderMonetarySummation>
    </ram:ApplicableHeaderTradeSettlement>
  </rsm:SupplyChainTradeTransaction>
</rsm:CrossIndustryInvoice>
"""

# The invoice's number, which the page shows and the XML carries under `ram:ID`. One
# number, written once on each side.
NUMBER = "2026-0207"

# Who issued the invoice, on the page and in the XML both.
SELLER = "HQF Development"

# What each of the three billed lines comes to, in the order they are set. These are the
# figures the XML totals, so they read the same wherever the page is read.
AMOUNTS = ["12 400.00 EUR", "2 480.00 EUR", "14 880.00 EUR"]

# How many characters a billed line runs to: its label, a space, the leader dots, a
# space, then its amount. The dots take whatever is left, so the amounts end on the same
# character however long the label before them is.
LINE_CHARS = 58

# The size each line of the page is set at, in points, in the order they are drawn.
SIZES = [16.0, 10.0, 11.0, 11.0, 11.0, 12.0]

# How far in from the left edge of the sheet every line is set, in points.
LEFT = 72.0


@dataclass(frozen=True)
class Words:
    """Every word the page is written in, in one language.

    What is not language stays out of it: the invoice's number, the seller's name
    and the three amounts read the same wherever the page is read, and so does
    every word of the XML.
    """

    # What stands before the invoice's number, at the head of the page and in the
    # document's own title.
    number_label: str
    # What the file says it holds.
    subject: str
    # What stands before the seller's name.
    issued_by: str
    # The line that gives the day it was issued and the term it falls due in.
    dates: str
    # What each billed line is called, in the order `AMOUNTS` prices them.
    items: tuple[str, str, str]

    def title(self) -> str:
        """What the page is headed by, which is also what the file says of itself."""
        return f"{self.number_label} {NUMBER}"

    def lines(self) -> list[str]:
        """The lines the page shows, which say what the XML says."""
        lines = [self.title(), f"{self.issued_by} {SELLER}", self.dates]
        for item, amount in zip(self.items, AMOUNTS):
            dots = max(LINE_CHARS - len(item) - len(amount) - 2, 0)
            lines.append(f"{item} {'.' * dots} {amount}")
        return lines


# The page in English.
ENGLISH = Words(
    number_label="Invoice No.",
    subject="An electronic invoice, measured before it was claimed",
    issued_by="Issued by",
    dates="Issued 14 July 2026 — due within 30 days",
    items=("Rendering engine licence", "VAT at 20 %", "Total due"),
)

# The page in French.
FRENCH = Words(
    number_label="Facture n°",
    subject="Une facture électronique, mesurée avant d'être revendiquée",
    issued_by="Émise par",
    dates="Émise le 14 juillet 2026 — payable sous 30 jours",
    items=("Licence du moteur de rendu", "TVA 20 %", "Total à payer"),
)

# Every language the example is written in. A language is added by writing its own set
# of words and naming it here.
WORDS = {_language.ENGLISH: ENGLISH, _language.FRENCH: FRENCH}


def facts(words: Words, profile: hqf_pdf.InvoiceProfile) -> hqf_pdf.Metadata:
    """The facts the document states about itself, naming the invoice it carries
    and claiming ``profile`` for it."""
    return hqf_pdf.Metadata(
        title=words.title(),
        author=SELLER,
        subject=words.subject,
        producer="hqf-pdf",
        created=ISSUED,
        invoice=hqf_pdf.Invoice(INVOICE_FILE_NAME, profile, SPECIFICATION),
    )


def invoice_page(handle: hqf_pdf.FontHandle, words: Words) -> hqf_pdf.Page:
    """The page a person reads, saying what the attached XML says."""
    content = hqf_pdf.Content()

    top = 760.0
    for line, size in zip(words.lines(), SIZES):
        content.draw_text(handle, size, LEFT, top, line)
        top -= size * 2.0

    page = hqf_pdf.Page.a4()
    page.set_content(content)
    return page


def print_report(asked: str, report: hqf_pdf.Report) -> None:
    """Print what ``report`` holds: the clause each finding cites, what it says,
    and the one thing it is about where it names one."""
    if report.is_empty():
        print(f"{asked}: nothing known here stands in the way")
        return
    print(f"{asked}: {len(report)} in the way")
    for finding in report.findings:
        if finding.subject is None:
            print(f"  {finding.clause}: {finding.what}")
        else:
            print(f"  {finding.clause}: {finding.what}{finding.subject}")


def main() -> None:
    language = _language.from_environment()
    words = _language.words_of(WORDS, language)

    # A named file is written as named; the default one carries the language, so the two
    # languages do not overwrite each other in `tmp/`.
    out = _out.output_path(
        Path(_language.file_name("checked_invoice.pdf", language)).stem
    )

    # The profile the document claims, which is what it is measured against: a report
    # answers the claim that was made, not the one that should have been.
    claimed = CLAIMED_AT_FIRST

    document = hqf_pdf.Document()
    document.set_license(_licence.licensed())
    document.set_metadata(facts(words, claimed))

    handle = document.add_font(hqf_pdf.Font.from_path(_out.font_path()))
    document.add_page(invoice_page(handle, words))

    report = document.check(hqf_pdf.Standard.invoice(claimed))
    print_report("as first composed", report)

    # An invoice belongs in a document claiming the third part of the archival standard,
    # and the file it names is one it carries. What the attachment *is* to the document
    # has no sensible default: `Data` is right for the profiles that carry part of the
    # invoice, and `Alternative` for those that carry all of it. This one is BASIC,
    # which carries part.
    document.set_conformance(CONTAINER)
    document.attach(
        hqf_pdf.Attachment.invoice(
            INVOICE_XML.encode(), hqf_pdf.Relationship.Data, ISSUED
        )
    )

    report = document.check(hqf_pdf.Standard.invoice(claimed))
    print_report("once the file is carried and the standard claimed", report)

    # The XML states the profile it keeps to, and the document says what the XML states.
    claimed = CARRIED
    document.set_metadata(facts(words, claimed))

    report = document.check(hqf_pdf.Standard.invoice(claimed))
    print_report("once the profile is the one the XML carries", report)

    # The archival standard is a second claim, and a claim nobody asked about is a claim
    # nobody measured.
    archival = document.check(hqf_pdf.Standard.archival(CONTAINER))
    print_report("against the archival standard now claimed", archival)

    if not report.is_empty() or not archival.is_empty():
        raise SystemExit("something still stands in the way, and nothing is written")

    written = document.write(out)
    print(f"wrote {out} ({written} bytes)")


if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()