• 05/05/2026
  • 6 minutes to read

eDocuments test capabilities

The eDocuments test framework in Continia Document Output provides a safe, flexible, and realistic way to validate your Continia eDocuments setup before going live. It maintains a clear separation between test and production data, supports multiple types of test environments, and allows you to test onboarding and document exchange across sandbox and on-premises environments with or without the use of test mode – even when you integrate with external test networks like the one provided by Peppol. The eDocuments test framework also offers user-friendly, centralized test mode handling, enabling you to create and handle participations consistently, as well as the ability to check how XML files are handled per company.

Important

The functionality described in this article requires the Enhanced Continia eDocuments feature – introduced in Continia Document Output 2026 R1 (v28) – to be enabled and is not applicable to older versions. For more information, see New Document Output framework.

Testing levels in the Continia Delivery Network

The Continia Delivery Network (CDN) – on which Continia eDocuments is built – operates with three distinct testing levels, each designed for a different purpose and each defining how the environment interacts with external systems:


LevelDescription
ProductionRepresents the live operational stage, reflecting real customer and vendor scenarios. All external communication is active, and onboarding follows the full process, including Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.
Peppol test networkProvides a production‑like testing environment designed for full‑flow testing immediately before go‑live. For this level, the Business Central environment must be a sandbox, and Test Mode must be disabled in the Continia eDocuments Setup. The environment behaves exactly like a production environment, but all external communication is routed to the Peppol test network instead of the live Peppol network.

Any participations created at this stage follow the same onboarding requirements as in production, including KYC verification. This environment is a fully functional mirror of production, making it ideal for final validation before go‑live, including verifying complete document flows in a realistic setting.
Test mode (developer mode)Typically used by developers or partners working in environments with extensions, as this level is intended for development, extension testing, and internal validation. When you copy a production environment to a sandbox environment, test mode is the default. In such cases, all existing participations from the production environment also automatically default to test mode, and the table field Created in Test Mode is enabled.

All external communication related to the Continia Delivery Network is disabled, meaning that documents cannot be exchanged with other environments. Participations created while test mode is active are automatically identified as test‑only and have Created in Test Mode enabled. If test mode is later disabled, all participations that have been created at this stage and have Created in Test Mode enabled are deleted to prevent them from being used in production‑like scenarios.

Note

A single company can operate at only one of these levels at a time. A sandbox environment may be used for both Peppol test network testing and offline test mode (developer mode), but not simultaneously within the same company.

Centralized test mode handling

Test mode handling is managed centrally through the Continia eDocuments Setup, which defines whether the company operates in test mode or not, and determines how participations are handled and whether external communication is permitted. Participations created while test mode is active are marked accordingly and removed automatically when test mode is turned off, ensuring that test‑only data does not carry over into production‑like scenarios. This approach maintains a clean and compliant setup across environments.

When test mode is enabled, you also get the option to upload documents to Document Output using the Upload XML File action. This allows you to check how XML files are handled in the company that they're uploaded in.

For more information on test mode handling and the Upload XML File action, see Setting up Continia eDocuments for Document Output.

Separation of test and production data

The test framework ensures that test data and production data remain clearly separated. Test‑mode participations are isolated from external communication and are removed when the environment transitions out of test mode. This prevents test‑only identities from being carried into production‑like stages and helps maintain a clean separation between test and production data while reducing the risk of unintended use of test identities.