XML encoding rules (XER) for ASN.1
The standardized XML Encoding Rules (XER) allow ASN.1 specifications (modules) to
be used as ASN.1 schemas against which XML documents can be validated. As a result,
the ASN.1 language now competes with other XML schema languages, but it has some
additional benefits over them.
|
|
Mapping from XML Schemas to ASN.1 modules
This standardized mapping takes as input any schema written in
XML Schema and produces an ASN.1 module containing a set of type definitions
in such a way that there is a one-to-one correspondence between ASN.1 abstract values
and valid XML instances.
ASN.1 standardized encoding rules such as DER (a canonical encoding that allows
digital signatures and encryption) or PER (to very efficiently transmit data over
a radio channel), or even specific encoding rules that are described in
ECN, can then be used.
One big benefit of using a binary encoding is speed. Decoding a binary stream improves
performance by a factor 100 or more. Another benefit is size: a binary encoding
may save up to 80% or even more relative to corresponding XML text.
|
|
Fast Web Services
Fast Web Services is a standard that specifies ASN.1 SOAP messages which carry the
same semantics as W3C SOAP messages. This is an extension to the provision of Web
services using W3C SOAP messages, without any change to the functionality of W3C
SOAP and service description languages.
The main change is to the use of compact and easily-processed binary encodings of
XML data, rather than character encodings. The use of Fast Web Services (with the
ASN.1 SOAP messages encoded using the ASN.1 Packed Encoding Rules, PER) allows applications
to provide Web services using messages that require less network bandwidth and less
processing power (and hence provide a higher transaction processing rate) than use
of the character encoding of XML data.
|
|
Fast Infoset
Fast Infoset is a standard that specifies a representation of an instance of the
XML Information Set using ASN.1 binary encodings. It provides an alternative to
W3C XML syntax as a means of representing instances of the W3C XML Information Set.
This representation generally provides smaller encoding sizes and faster processing
than an XML representation. Fast Infoset specifies the use of several techniques
that minimize the size of the encodings and that maximize the speed of creating
and processing those encodings.
|
|
ASN.1 Mailing list
Any questions related to ASN.1/XML (but not to any particular ASN.1 tool) can be
sent to asn1@asn1.org.
|
|
