WxML Overview

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Overview

The WeatherObjects Markup Language (WxML) provides an open standard for defining the interactive products displayed by our software. The current version of the WxScope Plugin uses WxML as the basis for its map and graph products. Future OCS software packages will also use WxML, making it one of the common building blocks that ties all of the software together. Over time, WxML will be extended to allow new products to be defined and new features to be exploited while maintaining backward compatibility. WxML is based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML), and should look familiar to anyone who has written HTML.

Objectives

The following objectives are guiding the design of WxML:

Define a text-based open standard for specifying maps, graphs, and eventually other products for our software, and establish this standard as the "lingua franca" of all our future software efforts.

Provide for growth without disruption. The format should allow the addition of new elements (the products that appear on maps and graphs), new objects (new contexts for elements other than maps and graphs), and new data sources (file formats, CGI calls, database integration). Expansion in these and other areas should be possible without sacrificing backward compatibility.

At a minimum, support the original functionality of WxScope maps and graphs in the first version of the standard, and add support for additional functionality moving forward.

Request for Comments

The primary goal of WxML is to make our plugins and other custom software more accessible and useful to everyone within OCS. I welcome your efforts to identify problem areas and things that I've overlooked. If you have any suggestions or comments, please share them with me in person or through email.