W3C and OASIS Jointly Issue New Web Standard for Industrial Graphics.Cooperation brings broad expertise to WebCGM 2.0 http://www.w3.org/ -- Today W3C (World Wide Web Consortium, www.w3.org) An international industry consortium founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee to develop standards for the Web. It is hosted in the U.S. by the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT (www.csail.mit.edu/index.php). and OASIS have published WebCGM 2.0, a new industry standard for technical illustrations in electronic documents. WebCGM, which is widely deployed in the defense, aviation, architecture, and transportation industries, has reached new levels of interoperability thanks to this joint effort between OASIS and W3C. "Today, industrial designers reap the benefits of the cooperative work between W3C and OASIS," announced Dr. Steve Bratt, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of W3C. "When the developer and designer communities asked for new features and improvements in this critical technology, our organizations combined efforts and expertise, and provided WebCGM 2.0. " "WebCGM demonstrates the benefits that can be realized when standards organizations work together for the good of the marketplace," said Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS. "The result of this collaboration between OASIS and W3C is a single open standard for CGM (1) (Computer Graphics Metafile) An ISO/IEC standard format for 2D graphics images introduced in 1987. Primarily a vector graphics format for technical illustrations and geophysical visualizations, CGM also supports raster graphics and text. on the Web that has been approved by the membership of both our organizations. This degree of endorsement assures implementers around the world that they can adopt WebCGM with confidence." WebCGM Provides Industrial-Grade Web Graphics Computer Graphics Metafile (graphics, file format) Computer Graphics Metafile - (CGM) A standard file format for storage and communication of graphical information, widely used on personal computers and accepted by desktop publishing and technical illustration systems. MIME type: image/cgm. , or CGM, is an ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. standard for a tree-structured, binary graphics format that has been adopted especially by the technical industries (defense, aviation, transportation, etc) for technical illustration in electronic documents. As the Web emerged as the environment for sharing and creating documents, it became apparent that the best way to use CGM on the Web needed to be clarified, particularly for interactivity such as hyperlinks and hotspots. WebCGM finds significant application especially in technical illustration, electronic documentation, and geophysical data visualization. It unifies potentially diverse approaches to CGM utilization in Web document applications, and therefore represents a significant interoperability agreement amongst major users and implementers of the ISO CGM standard. OASIS and W3C Work Together to Build WebCGM 2.0 W3C published the first WebCGM Recommendation, Version 1.0, in 1999. CGM Open, an independent group created to advance adoption of WebCGM, was incorporated into OASIS not long afterward. As users began demanding more features and improvements, it became apparent that there was both interest and support for a WebCGM 2.0. To get that work formally underway, OASIS and W3C signed a Memorandum of Understanding A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a legal document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action and may not imply a legal commitment. , making it possible for both organizations to work together on the creation of a new standard. This also allowed for the best range of participation from both the OASIS WebCGM Technical Committee and W3C WebCGM Working Group. WebCGM 2.0 Provides New API, and Fulfills Goals WebCGM 2.0 adds a DOM (API) specification for programmatic access to WebCGM objects, and a specification of an XML XML in full Extensible Markup Language. Markup language developed to be a simplified and more structural version of SGML. It incorporates features of HTML (e.g., hypertext linking), but is designed to overcome some of HTML's limitations. Companion File (XCF XCF eXperimental Computing Facility (graphics software for Irix SGI; file extension) XCF Cross-System Coupling Facility XCF X-Ray Crystallography Facility XCF Xenos Christian Fellowship XCF Xilinx Constraint File XCF Xml Companion File ) architecture, for externalization The ability to easily connect to and transfer information between business partners. Increasingly, information systems are designed to make their data available to outside partners and customers. This type of collaboration is expected to be a vital part of IT in the 21st century. See EDI. of non-graphical metadata. WebCGM 2.0 also builds upon and extends the graphical and intelligent content of WebCGM 1.0. The design criteria for WebCGM aim at a balance between graphical expressive power on the one hand, and simplicity and implementability on the other. A small but powerful set of standardized metadata elements supports the functionalities of hyperlinking and document navigation, picture structuring and layering, and enabling search and query of WebCGM picture content. WebCGM 2.0 has been approved as an OASIS Standard and as a W3C Recommendation, signifying the highest level of ratification within both organizations. About OASIS OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is a not-for-profit, international consortium that 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. The consortium produces open standards for Web services, security, e-business, and standardization efforts in the public sector and for application-specific markets. Founded in 1993, OASIS has more than 5,000 participants representing over 600 organizations and individual members in 100 countries. For more information see http://www.oasis-open.org About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C] The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term growth for the Web. Over 400 organizations are Members of the Consortium. W3C is jointly run by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory  It has been suggested that and be merged into this article or section. (MIT MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology CSAIL CSAIL Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT)CSAIL Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab ) in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM ERCIM - European Research Consortium on Informatics and Mathematics. An association of European research organisations promoting cooperative research on key issues in Information Technology. ) headquartered in France and Keio University in Japan,and has additional Offices worldwide. For more information see http://www.w3.org/ |
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