Acceptance Policy

There are two entry points for HART EDD Registration requests. The first entry point is to include the EDD with a Device submission. The second entry point is for a minor update to an existing EDD. Both methods are discussed below.


EDD Registrations will be accepted provided the device (device type, device revision) is already Compliance Registered or concurrent with a Device submission.

  • A new EDD Registration for a Device that is currently HART-Registered (i.e. appears in the Product Registry) is not required to be submitted with a device hardware sample.
  • A manufacturer developing a new Device or a Device Revision must submit the device sample with a corresponding EDD (effective September 1, 2017).  
    • Devices and their corresponding EDD are tested in parallel whenever possible.  The EDD is inspected first.
    • Registration is granted when both the Device and EDD have met the requirements of registration.
  • A manufacturer developing a new Device or a Device Revision will be required to include an FDI Device Package starting on January 1, 2021.  

EDD Revisions will be accepted so long as an EDD for that device type and device revision is already registered.

  • Updates made to EDDs must comply with HART EDD compatibility rules. 
  • Any revision that would indicate a firmware change to the device will fail EDD registration. In this case:
    • The device revision number must increase.  
    • The device revision must be tested and pass conformance testing.


New Purchase Order Policy (January 2023) 


Payment is only accepted via purchase order or credit card authorization.  After the Purchase Order or credit card information is accepted by FieldComm Group, a test date can be scheduled for the campaign. 

If a quotation is required, please request a quotation in your ticket. If you wish to pay by credit card, please notify us so that we can make those arrangements.  


Fees for EDD/FDI testing and registration will be invoiced after the conclusion of the test campaign.  The ticket number will be your reference number on the invoice.


Each submission must include payment for the appropriate fees.  As of January 1, 2023, the minimum requirement on a purchase order for a HART EDD/FDI test campaign are:


- HART EDD/FDI Registration Fee x 1 ($2000 for NEW Device or $500 for EDD Revision or Device Revision EDD) 

- HART EDD/FDI Testing Services Fee x 2 (Two $750 testing fees) 


Most HART EDD/FDI Submissions require FieldComm Group to charge the developer at least two testing services fees.  We will therefore now require two testing fees to be provided on the initial PO that we accept prior to scheduling any work.  This helps prevent delays in scheduling resubmissions while we wait on an updated Purchase Order.  


If additional testing fees are not required, we will NEVER charge them at the end of the test campaign.  See the following submission and resubmission policy for further details and explanation for the additional fee requirement.


Submission and Resubmission Policy (January 2022)


HART EDD and FDI testing fees are charged on a per attempt basis.  Each test attempt requires our test administrator to review the EDD source code to verify it tokenizes without errors, meets current HART Standard Library requirements, and is free of other violations of the HART EDD/FDI registration process.  Most EDD and FDI submissions have at least a few things that need to be fixed before registration can proceed.  This is not unusual.  Because of this, each initial submission is granted one "free" resubmission to correct all errors that are found by the test administrator and reported back to the developer. This "free" resubmission must be returned to the test administrator at FieldComm Group in an expected, timely manner so that all other scheduled EDD/FDI test campaigns can stay on schedule in our lab. 


The developer is therefore given 1 week (5 business days) to correct all reported problems in the initial submission test report.  FieldComm Group will automatically schedule a "free" secondary review of the EDD submission 7-10 days after the initial submission failure report is provided to the developer.  If all reported problems have been corrected as requested by the test administrator during this "free" secondary review, only one testing services fee will be charged for the EDD/FDI test campaign, and registration of the EDD/FDI project will proceed at the appropriate time.  NO FURTHER CHANGES can be made to the EDD source code or project files.  


After this initial resubmission, all future EDD test campaign failures for the current registration campaign will result in the EDD campaign ticket being closed, and a new EDD campaign ticket will be opened requiring an additional testing fee and new EDD Test schedule date. These additional resubmissions will not be rescheduled immediately; they will be rescheduled at a later date at the first available slot in our schedule. These additional resubmission campaigns will not have our policy of 1 "free" resubmission after 5 business days. Every failure after submission 2 will result in a new campaign ticket, testing fee, and scheduled test date for any of the following conditions:


  1. Failure to resubmit EDD on or before the date provided by the EDD test agent.
  2. Additional changes to the source files outside the scope of the test report (i.e., modification of EDD, introducing new features which were not required to fix the indicated issues).
  3. EDD was resubmitted to FieldComm Group more than once to repair indicated failures (i.e., issues)


If your development team will be unavailable during the 5 day fix window, inform the EDD test agent before the EDD test is scheduled. If you do, the agent will work with you to schedule a testing start date that ensures your team will be available. If you do not notify the agent and we do not receive a corrected EDD after this 5 day window, we will close your ticket and you will have to undergo the additional testing fee/scheduling detailed above.




How do I submit a Device + EDD/FDI Package Registration?

Please open a test campaign request via the Support Portal ticket system


Choose Product Registration, then HART Device (location), and specify if this is a New Device, Device Revision, or Private Label/Rebranding.  See Figure 1 below. 

The ticket should include the Model Name and Device Type Code for the product you wish to submit for testing. The ticket must have a Purchase Order and EDD Source and Documentation attached.


Fig 1. How to classify your product test campaign request



EDD and FDI Companion Tickets

FieldComm Group will generate a companion ticket to track the EDD test campaign activities. There is no need to create a separate ticket for this portion of the product test campaign.

FieldComm Group will generate a companion ticket to track the FDI test campaign activities. There is no need to create a separate ticket for this portion of the product test campaign.

Please follow the instructions below under the "Prepare Your EDD Submission" section, please submit to the companion ticket created for you. 


How do I submit an EDD Revision?

Please open a test campaign request via the Support Portal ticket system


Choose Product Registration, then HART Device (Austin Lab), and specify either EDD Revision (this is most common), FDI Package Revision, or FDI Package & EDD Revision.  See Figure 2 below.  

The ticket should include the Model Name and Device Type Code for the EDD Revision you wish to submit for testing. The ticket must have a Purchase Order and EDD Source and Documentation attached.


Fig 2. How to classify your HART EDD test campaign request



Prepare Your EDD/FDI Submission

An EDD/FDI Submission Template is included in the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit.  


Please follow the following procedure and directory structure as exactly as shown below.  Please DO NOT SUBMIT more files than what is required.  This will assist us in ensuring that we have correctly received all of your files.


This template contains the required directories to use to create your Submission Zip file.  The Submission Zip file must contain the ticket number and YYMMDD date of submission, this is to establish the audit trail of your submission.  

Ticket_xxxxx\yymmdd date of latest EDD submission


EX.  If EDD Registration ticket number is 10002 and submitted on Jan 28, 2022, then the submission is named Ticket_10002 with the first directory with name 220128



Fig 3. Example of naming submission


Zip files larger than 20MB must be uploaded to ShareFile, please use the ticket number as the zip file name. An upload link is provided in the HART EDD Registration Kit.


Note:  Figure 3 directory format is required for ALL EDD Registrations including those associated with active Device Registration campaigns.  This directory structure will be a subset of the device registration submission structure.



1. EDD Source Files (Required)


HART FDI Device Package EDD source must follow the same submission requirements as a HART EDD Registration.  

The same source files submitted will be used to create the legacy *.fm8 as well as the *.fma encoded file used for the FDI Device Package.


There must be only one *.ddl source file.  Additional source (*.dd, *.h) and image files (*.jpg, *gif, *.png) may be included. See Figure 3 below for an example.


A template for the main DDL file (devtypeDevRev.ddl is included in the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit, see Ticket_xxxxx\yymmdd date of submission\DD\.



Fig 4. Example set of EDD Source Files


How do I create EDD Source Files?



2. Configuration File (Required) 

Devices.cfg must have the entry for the Manufacturer and Device Type number. This allows the Tokenizer to resolve the device type symbol in your DD to an integer.


How do I create a Devices.cfg file?



3. Readme (Required)

This is a text file that holds at least the identifying data for the DD. This should be a text file consisting of at least the following 5 lines of information:

  • Manufacturer ID number (hexadecimal)
  • Expanded Device type number (hexadecimal)
  • Device revision (hexadecimal)
  • DD revision (hexadecimal)
  • DD Release date (yymmdd) (i.e. the date you have given to this source submission)
Include any special information or device status that FieldComm Group needs to know in order to register your Device Description.   
  • If there are changes required to the Standard DDs, the manufacturer must document the changes and request approval via Support Ticket in advance of the EDD submission.  
  • All deviations from standards must have an approved supportive document (Ticket#, CR#, AR# or Policy #) which was approved prior to the submission date. This includes REDEFINE of standard variables or commands, ADD enumerations or bit enumerations, and including Universal Commands or Common Practice Commands which are defined by HART Protocol Specifications but have not been released in the Standard DD Library. 
  • EDDs without support for the maintenance_root_menu and/or offline_root_menu must submit a statement in the Readme.txt that these menus are not supported per WG PD10013. FDI Device Packages must include all root menus.
  • The submitted source shall not produce any errors when built by the current version of the Tokenizer, else this will cause the test campaign to fail, resulting in the invoicing of the testing services fee. 
  • Errors produced by host simulator software must be resolved prior to submitting the EDD for testing at FieldComm Group, else this will cause the test campaign to fail, resulting in the invoicing of the testing services fee.  
  • Errors discovered after the test campaign has concluded that result in source code changes must be submitted as a new DD Revision as a new and separate submission.
A template ReadMe.txt file is included in the HART EDD Registration Kit, see \Forms\.

4. HART EDD Exhibit (Required)
This is an Excel document (HART EDD Exhibits.xls) which records the information necessary for registration.
A template is included in the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit, see \Forms\.



5. Test Files


  • Host Interoperability Logs (Optional)
This is not a requirement for FieldComm Group registration.
SDC-625 and RRTE Logs are not required for HART EDD Registrations.  However, for purposes of interoperability, the EDD and FDI Device Package must be developed and tested in the FDI IDE.  Developers are encouraged to thoroughly test the menus and methods of their projects in the RRTE.  

  • Host Application Test Files (Optional)
This is not a requirement for FieldComm Group registration.


Each host manufacturer may require test files that will allow them to test your EDD for proper operation and compatibility with their host application.  Some examples of hosts that accept test files include the 475 handheld, AMS, PDM, PRM, Fieldmate, and EHiDTM.  FieldComm Group recommends pre-testing your EDD on all targeted host applications, however no host manufacturer test files should be sent to FieldComm Group.  If you wish to provide those test files to any specific host manufacturer, please contact them directly.



6. FDI Project File (Required)

The FDI Project File (fdi.project) is used to create the FDI Device Package.

A placeholder is included in the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit, see \FDI\, to replace with the actual project file.


Note: If FDI does not pertain to your Device Integration campaign, please leave FDI directory empty (see Fig 5)


Fig 5. if FDI is not Supported



7. FDI Device Package (Required)

The FDIX file that matches the device hardware.  See this support article for help with filename conventions.

A placeholder is included in the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit, see \FDI\, to replace with the actual .fdix file.

Note: If FDI does not pertain to your Device Integration campaign, please leave FDI directory empty (see Fig 5)


8. Device Package Conformance Test Report (Required)

The FDI Package Conformance Test Tool (DPCTT) performs automated conformance testing of FDI Device Packages. 

A placeholder is included in the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit, see \FDI\, to replace with the actual .pdf Test Report

Note: If FDI does not pertain to your Device Integration campaign, please leave FDI directory empty (see Fig 5)


9. FDI Documentation

The following FDI Documentation is required for all FDI Device Package submissions.  These files must be completed and submitted along with all other files above.  


These files can be found in the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit, see \Forms\. 


  • Device Package Registration Request Form (Required)
The FDI Device Package Registration Request Form must be fully filled out and included in the submission.
A template is included in the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit, see \Forms\.


  • FDI Usability Style Guide Assessment Results

Implementation of the FDI Usability Style Guide is currently optional, however, if it is supported the FDI Usability Style Guide Assessment Results must be included in the submission. 


  • Device Hardware

The FDI Device Package must be tested with a live device.

Please do not send the device until FieldComm Group directs you to do so.  Our lab has limited space, so all registrations involving device testing must be scheduled beforehand.


Where do I send my device?


Please see the HART EDD FDI Registration Kit., Device Shipping Instructions. Device hardware must be sent to our Austin, Texas, USA facility.


Refer to the Product Registration Overview for all policies surrounding testing and registration of products.