BMEcat Viewer

When a supplier sends you a BMEcat file, the first thing you need is to actually see what is inside it. This BMEcat viewer opens a BMEcat XML export in your browser and turns the raw <ARTICLE> nodes into a readable list of products, attributes, prices, and classification references — so you can sanity-check a catalog before it ever touches your PIM.

What it checks

The viewer parses the document and surfaces the structure that matters during supplier onboarding:

• BMEcat version and header — detects whether the file is BMEcat 1.2 or 2005, and reads <CATALOG> metadata such as language, currency, and catalog ID.
• Product count and supplier identity — totals the <ARTICLE> records and shows the <SUPPLIER> / <SUPPLIER_PID> so you can confirm you opened the right file.
• Per-article detail — for each product, it lays out the supplier PID, descriptions, ordering details, and <ARTICLE_FEATURES> attribute name/value pairs.
• Price information — reads <ARTICLE_PRICE_DETAILS>, including price type, amount, currency, tax, and any lower-bound quantity.
• Classification references — flags which classification systems are present (ETIM, ECLASS, UNSPSC, or a custom group system) and the class codes assigned to each article.
• Well-formedness and encoding — reports XML parse errors, the declared character encoding, and mismatches that commonly break a MRO or industrial-distribution import.
• Empty and missing fields — highlights articles with no description, no price, or no classification so gaps are visible before you load thousands of furniture or CPG SKUs.

How the BMEcat viewer works

BMEcat is an open XML standard, maintained by the German BME, for exchanging electronic product catalogs between suppliers and buyers. A file is a structured tree: a <HEADER> carrying catalog-level metadata, followed by <T_NEW_CATALOG> (or transaction equivalents) containing one <ARTICLE> per product. Each article nests descriptive fields, ordering and packaging units, price blocks, MIME assets like images and datasheets, and optional classification references that point into systems such as ETIM or ECLASS.

The viewer reads that tree with a standards-compliant XML parser, walks the article nodes, and renders each section into plain-language tables. Because BMEcat 1.2 and 2005 use slightly different element names and nesting, it normalizes both into a single readable view so a distributor receiving files from many manufacturers does not have to memorize which version each supplier used.

For ongoing onboarding at scale — where you need to ingest these files continuously, resolve each article to a canonical product record, map supplier attributes into your taxonomy, and write the result back with provenance — a one-off viewer is only the starting point. That is the job of a canonical product-data layer like Claro, which automates ingestion, matching, classification, and validation across every supplier feed.

Related resources

FAQ

What is a BMEcat file? +

BMEcat is an open XML standard for exchanging electronic product catalogs between suppliers and buyers. A BMEcat file packages catalog metadata in a header followed by one record per product, each carrying descriptions, ordering details, prices, media assets, and optional classification references. It is widely used in industrial distribution, MRO, and B2B supply across Europe.

How do I open a BMEcat XML file? +

A BMEcat file is plain XML, so a text editor will show the raw markup, but it is hard to read at scale. This BMEcat viewer parses the file and renders the products, attributes, and prices as readable tables in your browser. Just paste the XML or load the file — no software install, no upload, and no login.

What is the difference between BMEcat 1.2 and 2005? +

Both are versions of the same catalog standard. BMEcat 2005 expanded and reorganized parts of the schema — for example, refined handling of multi-language content and classification — and uses some different element names and nesting than 1.2. Suppliers in the same industry may still send either version, so the viewer reads both and normalizes them into one consistent display.

Is it safe to view a supplier's BMEcat file here? +

Yes. All parsing runs client-side in your browser, so the file is never transmitted to any server. That keeps confidential supplier pricing and catalog data on your own machine and is also why there is no file-size limit imposed by an upload.

Can a BMEcat viewer validate ETIM or ECLASS classification? +

This viewer shows which classification systems are referenced and the class codes assigned to each article, which is enough to spot missing or empty classifications. To confirm that the codes and features are actually valid against the published ETIM or ECLASS releases, use the dedicated ETIM BMEcat Validator or ECLASS BMEcat Validator linked above.