Binary XML
Encyclopedia
Binary XML refers to any specification which defines the compact representation of XML
(Extensible Markup Language) in a binary format. While there are several competing formats, none has been widely adopted by a standards organization
or accepted as a de facto standard
. Using a binary XML format generally reduces the verbosity of XML documents thereby also reducing the cost of parsing, but hinders the use of ordinary text editors and third-party tools to view and edit the document. Binary XML is typically used in applications where standard XML is not an option due to performance limitations, but the ability to convert the document to and from a form which is easily viewed and edited is valued. Other advantages may include enabling random access
and indexing of XML documents.
The major challenge for binary XML is to create a single, widely adopted standard. The International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) published the Fast Infoset
standard in 2007 and 2005, respectively. The World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) has produced the first draft of the EXI
format specification. Another standard (ISO/IEC 23001-1), known as Binary MPEG format for XML (BiM
), has been standardized by the ISO
in 2001. BiM
is used by many ETSI standards for Digital TV and Mobile TV. The Open Geospatial Consortium
also provides a Binary XML Encoding Specification (currently a Best Practice Paper) optimized for geo-related data (GML).
Alternatives to binary XML include using traditional file compression methods on XML documents (for example gzip
); or using an existing standard such as ASN.1. Traditional compression methods, however, offer only the advantage of compression, without the advantage of decreased parsing time or random access. ASN.1 is being used as the basis of Fast Infoset
, which is one binary XML standard. There are also hybrid approaches (e.g., VTD-XML
) that attach a small index file to an XML document to eliminate the overhead of parsing.
Other projects that have functionality related to (or competing with) binary representations include:
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
(Extensible Markup Language) in a binary format. While there are several competing formats, none has been widely adopted by a standards organization
Standards organization
A standards organization, standards body, standards developing organization , or standards setting organization is any organization whose primary activities are developing, coordinating, promulgating, revising, amending, reissuing, interpreting, or otherwise producing technical standards that are...
or accepted as a de facto standard
De facto standard
A de facto standard is a custom, convention, product, or system that has achieved a dominant position by public acceptance or market forces...
. Using a binary XML format generally reduces the verbosity of XML documents thereby also reducing the cost of parsing, but hinders the use of ordinary text editors and third-party tools to view and edit the document. Binary XML is typically used in applications where standard XML is not an option due to performance limitations, but the ability to convert the document to and from a form which is easily viewed and edited is valued. Other advantages may include enabling random access
Random access
In computer science, random access is the ability to access an element at an arbitrary position in a sequence in equal time, independent of sequence size. The position is arbitrary in the sense that it is unpredictable, thus the use of the term "random" in "random access"...
and indexing of XML documents.
The major challenge for binary XML is to create a single, widely adopted standard. The International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
(ISO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) published the Fast Infoset
Fast Infoset
Fast Infoset is an international standard that specifies a binary encoding format for the XML Information Set as an alternative to the XML document format...
standard in 2007 and 2005, respectively. The World Wide Web Consortium
World Wide Web Consortium
The World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
(W3C) has produced the first draft of the EXI
Efficient XML Interchange
Efficient XML Interchange is a proposed data format from the Efficient XML Interchange Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium...
format specification. Another standard (ISO/IEC 23001-1), known as Binary MPEG format for XML (BiM
BiM
BiM is an international standard defining a generic binary format for encoding XML documents.The technical specifications for BiM are found in: MPEG systems technologies - Part 1: Binary MPEG format for XML It is also known as MPEG-B Part 1.- Overview :BiM addresses a broad spectrum of...
), has been standardized by the ISO
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
in 2001. BiM
BiM
BiM is an international standard defining a generic binary format for encoding XML documents.The technical specifications for BiM are found in: MPEG systems technologies - Part 1: Binary MPEG format for XML It is also known as MPEG-B Part 1.- Overview :BiM addresses a broad spectrum of...
is used by many ETSI standards for Digital TV and Mobile TV. The Open Geospatial Consortium
Open Geospatial Consortium
The Open Geospatial Consortium , an international voluntary consensus standards organization, originated in 1994. In the OGC, more than 400 commercial, governmental, nonprofit and research organizations worldwide collaborate in a consensus process encouraging development and implementation of open...
also provides a Binary XML Encoding Specification (currently a Best Practice Paper) optimized for geo-related data (GML).
Alternatives to binary XML include using traditional file compression methods on XML documents (for example gzip
Gzip
Gzip is any of several software applications used for file compression and decompression. The term usually refers to the GNU Project's implementation, "gzip" standing for GNU zip. It is based on the DEFLATE algorithm, which is a combination of Lempel-Ziv and Huffman coding...
); or using an existing standard such as ASN.1. Traditional compression methods, however, offer only the advantage of compression, without the advantage of decreased parsing time or random access. ASN.1 is being used as the basis of Fast Infoset
Fast Infoset
Fast Infoset is an international standard that specifies a binary encoding format for the XML Information Set as an alternative to the XML document format...
, which is one binary XML standard. There are also hybrid approaches (e.g., VTD-XML
VTD-XML
Virtual Token Descriptor for eXtensible Markup Language refers to a collection of cross-platform XML processing technologies centered around a non-extractive XML, "document-centric" parsing technique called Virtual Token Descriptor...
) that attach a small index file to an XML document to eliminate the overhead of parsing.
Adoption
Projects and file formats which use binary XML include:- BiMBiMBiM is an international standard defining a generic binary format for encoding XML documents.The technical specifications for BiM are found in: MPEG systems technologies - Part 1: Binary MPEG format for XML It is also known as MPEG-B Part 1.- Overview :BiM addresses a broad spectrum of...
Standard, from the ISOInternational Organization for StandardizationThe International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
, developed by the MPEG working group - Fast InfosetFast InfosetFast Infoset is an international standard that specifies a binary encoding format for the XML Information Set as an alternative to the XML document format...
, a standard published by ISO/IEC and ITU-T - Efficient XMLEfficient XML InterchangeEfficient XML Interchange is a proposed data format from the Efficient XML Interchange Working Group of the World Wide Web Consortium...
from AgileDelta, Inc., selected as the basis for the W3C Standard for Binary XML (EXI) - Extensible Binary Meta LanguageExtensible Binary Meta LanguageExtensible Binary Meta Language is a generalized file format for any kind of data, aiming to be a binary equivalent to XML. It provides a basic framework for storing data in XML-like tags...
(EBML) from MatroskaMatroskaThe Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks in one file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows... - Wireless Binary XML (WBXMLWBXMLWAP Binary XML is a binary representation of XML. It was developed by the WAP Forum and is now maintained by the Open Mobile Alliance as a standard to allow XML documents to be transmitted in a compact manner over mobile networks and proposed as an addition to the World Wide Web Consortium's...
) - .NET Binary Format: XML Data Structure http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc219210(PROT.10).aspx
- Binary NUX (BNUX) format by NUX project
- XMill, schema-independent non-queriable XML compression format
- XGrind, homomorphic queriable XML compression format
- XQueC, non-homomorphic queriable XML compression format
Other projects that have functionality related to (or competing with) binary representations include:
- VTD-XMLVTD-XMLVirtual Token Descriptor for eXtensible Markup Language refers to a collection of cross-platform XML processing technologies centered around a non-extractive XML, "document-centric" parsing technique called Virtual Token Descriptor...
from XimpleWare and VTD-XML project - Protocol BuffersProtocol BuffersProtocol Buffers are a serialization format with an interface description language developed by Google. The original Google implementation for C++, Java and Python is available under a free software, open source license....
from Google - Data Distribution ServiceData Distribution ServiceData distribution service for real-time systems is a specification of a publish/subscribe middleware for distributed systems created by the Object Management Group in response to the need to standardize a data-centric publish-subscribe programming model for distributed systems.- History :A few...
from OMGObject Management GroupObject Management Group is a consortium, originally aimed at setting standards for distributed object-oriented systems, and is now focused on modeling and model-based standards.- Overview :... - Cocoa/NeXTSTEP Property listProperty listIn the Mac OS X, iOS, NeXTSTEP, and GNUstep programming frameworks, property list files are files that store serialized objects. Property list files use the filename extension .plist, and thus are often referred to as p-list files....
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