Geologic Data Transfer Using XML

XML is a popular standard for structured-data transfer using plain text. The tag-set and structures must be defined for each particular application, such as geology. Developing the tag-set thus requires design of an application-domain data-model, which is then serialised as a schema document. A general data-model for geospatial information has been developed and standardised through ISO. The feature model suits a database-oriented datastore, in contrast to the conventional map-oriented "coverage" approach. An XML encoding of the model, the Geography Markup Language (GML), has been developed through the OpenGIS Consortium's (OGC) implementation program. GML provides generic components for the description of "features", including geometry and patterns for building application-specific feature-types. We are developing the eXploration and Mining Markup Language as an ISO compatible XML encoding for geologic data by making it an "application" of GML. Web technology New computing platforms The emergence and popularity of the World Wide Web has led to rapid developments in computing platforms. Important components that have been particularly affected include: user interfaces – the browser is now used to host the interface of many new applications; client-server architectures – stateless communication over http is the dominant low level protocol; data representations – information is carried in “markup”, and interpreted by the client. The new tools are finding application in traditional desktop settings as well as in webhosted processing. Such uniform use of the internet protocols reinforces the fact that the resources that are available to a user are no longer restricted to what is on their local disk or workplace LAN, but extend across the internet. In this environment, developers working in a particular technical domain can plan to leverage the platform by focussing their effort at a higher level, stitching together generic components, and only doing low-level development where domain specific expertise is needed. For example, back-end interfaces to databases are standardised, and the application of access restrictions to information, perhaps involving financial transaction processing, are generic e-business components for which standard tools and products can be used. But the content of the information that is transported between services (datastore, processing application, etc) must embody the