NIST CAN HELP YOUR COMPUTER SPEAK FLUENT XML.

An Internet language called XML is rapidly becoming one of the most popular languages in the world.

Incorporated into many Internet web pages--particularly those involved in electronic commerce-XML is a language that describes information in a way that allows computers to exchange information and automatically act on it. Consequently, it can speed up automation of certain processes.

NIST computer scientists recently completed a major expansion of software tests that allow people to make sure that their XML systems conform to voluntary industry standards. This lets people check their systems to ensure they can communicate flawlessly with other systems that use XML. In addition to the XML tests, NIST computer scientists have released software tests for the Document Object Model. The DOM is an application programming interface for XML and HTML that lets people or computers dynamically access and update web pages.

NIST teamed up with OASIS, an industry consortium, to expand and refine the XML conformance testing program. OASIS members include many of the nation's leading computer hardware and software companies.

The XML Conformance Test Suite and a companion test suite for DOM contains more than 4,000 test files. It can be downloaded from the World Wide Web at www.nist.gov/xml/.