Localization Interchange File Format TC

OASIS Members Form Technical Committee to Develop Localization Interchange File Format

Commerce One, HP, IBM, Novell, Oracle, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Xerox, and Others Unite on Multi-Lingual Data Exchange Standard

Boston, MA, USA. January 22, 2002,

OASIS, the XML interoperability consortium, today announced its members have formed the OASIS XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF) Technical Committee to advance a specification for multi-lingual data exchange. XLIFF will allow any software provider to produce a single interchange format that can be delivered to and understood by any localization service provider. Supporting the entire localization process, XLIFF will be product independent, open enough to allow the development of tools compatible with an implementer's own proprietary data formats and company culture.

"Currently, software companies deliver resources to localization service providers in a number of disparate file formats. In the case of uncommon or nonstandard file formats, either the company or the service provider has to supply a method for the file to be localized. For a software company with many uncommon or nonstandard files, this requirement becomes a major obstacle," explained Tony Jewtushenko of Oracle, chair of the OASIS XLIFF Technical Committee. "XLIFF will address this situation, streamlining the task of interchanging files through an accepted standard."

Jewtushenko explained, "With our standard, a publisher will be able to use a filter to convert their native file format to an XLIFF file, which will be sent to a localization vendor for translation. When the file is returned, it will be converted back to its original format. This adds considerable value to those who publish software in international markets by making the localization process more robust and efficient."

Initial development of XLIFF was begun by an independent group of localization experts who plan to submit their work to the new OASIS technical committee. Many existing XML formats such as UIML, OpenTag and Translation Memory Exchange (TMX) were used as points of reference in building XLIFF.

Yves Savourel, author of XML Internationalization and Localization, applauded the consolidation under OASIS, saying, "The creation of an OASIS Technical Committee for XLIFF is good news for our industry. XLIFF brings the promise of much greater interoperability between the tools used by customers and providers of localization services. This should lead to more efficient and less costly processes."

Members of the OASIS XLIFF Technical Committee include consortium sponsors, Commerce One, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM, Novell, Oracle, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Xerox, and other OASIS members. Participation remains open to all organizations and individuals interested in advancing localization. Information on joining OASIS can be found on http://www.oasis-open.org/join.

OASIS will host an open mail list for public comment on XLIFF, and completed work will be freely available to the public without licensing or other fees.

About OASIS

OASIS (www.oasis-open.org), a not-for-profit, global consortium, drives the development, convergence and adoption of e-business standards. Members themselves set the OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight, open process expressly designed to promote industry consensus and unite disparate efforts. OASIS is the home for XML conformance, Web services, security, business transactions, electronic publishing, topic maps and other interoperability specifications development.

OASIS has more than 400 corporate and individual members in 100 countries around the world. OASIS and the United Nations jointly sponsor ebXML, a global framework for e-business data exchange. OASIS operates XML.org, a community clearinghouse for XML application schemas, vocabularies and related documents. OASIS hosts The XML Cover Pages, an online reference collection for interoperable markup language standards.

For more information:

Carol Geyer
Director of Communications
OASIS
Email: carol.geyer@oasis-open.org
Voice: +1.978.667.5115 x209

Prepared by Robin Cover for The XML Cover Pages archive. See: "XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF)"; also the announcement of December 17, 2001: "OASIS Technical Committee to Standardize an XML Localisation Interchange File Format (XLIFF)."

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