Data Format Description Language (DFDL) v1.0 Specification
OGF Proposed Recommendation GFD-P-R.174, January 31, 2011


9. DFDL Processing Introduction

A DFDL Parser is an application or code library that can take as input:

It is able to use the DFDL description to interpret the data stream and realize the DFDL Information Model. This information set could then be written out (for example it could be realized as an XML text string) or it could be accessed by an application through an API (for example, a DOM-like tree could be created in memory for access by applications).

Symmetrically, there is a notion of a DFDL Unparser. The unparser works from an instance of the DFDL Information Model, a DFDL annotated schema and writes out to a target data stream in the appropriate representation formats.

Often both parser and unparser would be implemented in the same body of software and so we do not always distinguish them. Collectively they are called the DFDL Processor. The parser and unparser may, of course, be different bodies of software. Conforming DFDL processors may optionally implement an unparser.


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