Data Format Description Language (DFDL)

Data Format Description Language (DFDL) is a modeling language from the Open Grid Forum that is used to define the structure of general text and binary formatted data in a way that is independent of the data format. It is based on XML Schema 1.0.

DFDL is a way of describing the data. It is not a data format. DFDL can describe any data format, including:
DFDL schema files use XML Schema objects, and annotations on those objects to define the data.

DFDL is not intended to be used to model XML documents. Use normal XML Schema files to model XML.

For a simple example, see Example DFDL schema.

Support for DFDL

Support for DFDL in this product includes:

Not all features of DFDL are supported; see Unsupported features for a list.

Further information about DFDL

For more information about DFDL, including tutorials, see the Open Grid Forum web site. The Data Format Description Language (DFDL) v1.0 Specification contains errata; see Errata for details.

Copyright IBM Corporation 2011Copyright IBM Corporation 2011.

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