The Department of the Navy (DON) has updated its initial guidance on the use of Extensible Markup Language (XML) by issuing new DON XML Naming and Design Rules (NDR). These rules require standardization of XML development and implementation within the DON. More than a coding language, XML is a system for defining languages that provides a means of creating an environment that facilitates and supports adaptable business processes and a net-centric environment.

Standardization of XML throughout the DON is critical for interoperability and will ensure that DON applications and systems are being built on commercial products rather than proprietary government requirements. The NDR is a tool for developing robust enterprise level XML, an approach that allows for a catalog of reusable XML components--elements, attributes, types, schema--that will ensure that XML enhances, rather than detracts from, DON enterprise interoperability.

The result will be an environment that is sustainable, responsive and agile. The NDR in conjunction with DON XML Policy requires program managers to avoid using proprietary extensions or XML schema and other elements that are specific to a vendor's software. "Many program managers and vendors are adding customizations to specifications in an attempt to build market share, which leads to proprietary implementations and expensive middleware solutions," said Robert Green, lead for the DON CIO XML Interoperability and Standards Team.

"We're mindful of that. By prohibiting proprietary extensions as part of the DON XML Policy, specifically articulated in the NDR, we are proactively seeking to ensure that vendors adhere to voluntary consensus standards in their products."