Members Approve XLIFF 1.2 as OASIS Standard

["Carol Geyer" <carol.geyer@oasis-open.org>]

Members Approve XML Localisation Interchange File Format (XLIFF) 1.2 as OASIS
Standard
http://www.oasis-open.org/news/oasis-news-2008-02-11.php 

IBM, Lionbridge, Oracle, Red Hat, SAP, and Others Collaborate on Open Standard
for Interoperability between Localization Tools 


Boston, MA, USA; 11 February 2008 - OASIS, the international open standards
consortium, today announced that its members have approved the XML Localisation
Interchange File Format (XLIFF) version 1.2 as an OASIS Standard, a status that
signifies the highest level of ratification. Developed through an open process
by the OASIS XLIFF Technical Committee, the new standard defines a vocabulary
for storing localizable data and carrying it from one step of the localization
process to another.

"XLIFF enables interoperability between tools throughout the digital content
localization lifecycle. It provides publishers with a standard data interchange
container that can be understood by any localization provider," noted Tony
Jewtushenko, who co-chairs the OASIS XLIFF Technical Committee with Bryan
Schnabel.

"XLIFF is a powerful and concise format for content that needs to be
translated," said Schnabel. "Until now, we've had to develop custom mechanisms
for data providers and translators to accomplish localization. With XLIFF, we
have an open standard that is efficient, predictable, and transferable for tool
makers and localization service providers, as well as for content owners."

The new standard defines how to mark up and capture localizable data that can
interoperate with different processes or phases without loss of information.
Tool-neutral, XLIFF supports the entire localization process, including common
software, document data formats and markup languages. It provides an
extensibility mechanism to allow the development of tools compatible with an
implementer's data formats and workflow requirements. The extensibility
mechanism supports controlled inclusion of information not expressly defined in
the specification.

"OASIS members have succeeded in reducing the complexity of localizing software
by providing a standard, XML-based, end-to-end resource container," explained
James Bryce Clark, director of standards development at OASIS. "Software and
documentation publishers can extract content into XLIFF and localize it-over
and over again-using shrink-wrapped solutions, customized tools or even
automated enterprise workflow systems. XLIFF's built-in support for Computer
Aided Translation technologies such as translation memory and machine
translation add even greater process efficiency."

Successful use of XLIFF 1.2 was verified by Lionbridge, the Localization
Industry Standards Association (LISA),  the University of Limerick Localisation
Research Centre (LRC), and SDL, in accordance with eligibility requirements for
all OASIS Standards. XLIFF was developed under the Royalty-Free on RAND Terms
Mode of the OASIS Intellectual Property Rights Policy, which generally requires
committee participants to license their Essential Claims using royalty-free
elements. 

To encourage widespread adoption, the OASIS XLIFF Technical Committee continues
its work defining implementation guides for some of the most commonly used
resource formats (HTML, Java Resource Bundles, and Gettext PO Files).
Participation in the Committee remains open to all government agencies,
companies, non-profit groups, academic institutions, and individuals. Archives
of the work are publicly accessible, and OASIS offers a mechanism for public
comment. 

Support for the XLIFF OASIS Standard

Comtech 
"The XLIFF standard is a vital part of the translation tool kit, supporting our
efforts to move XML-based structured content seamlessly through the translation
process," said JoAnn T. Hackos, PhD, president, Comtech Services and chair of
the OASIS DITA Translation Subcommittee.

Lionbridge
"As an early adopter and promoter of XLIFF, Lionbridge continues to strongly
embrace XLIFF as an open standard for the localization industry. As usage
increases, our customers appreciate the flexibility of the native XLIFF support
provided within Logoport today. After many years of domination by proprietary
formats, the XLIFF standard facilitates interoperability in a fragmented
localization tools industry, providing customers and practitioners with the
freedom to choose their language tools," said Eric Blassin, vice president,
Language Technology, Lionbridge.   

SAP
"One important factor for SAP's success in the marketplace is our broad
experience with globalization, internationalization, localization and
translation of our solutions. We congratulate the working group for another
important milestone," said Michael Bechauf, Vice President, Industry Standards
at the Global Ecosystem and Partner Group, SAP. 


Additional information:

OASIS XLIFF Technical Committee
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/xliff

XLIFF FAQ
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/xliff/faq.php

Cover Pages Technology Report
http://xml.coverpages.org/xliff.html


About OASIS:

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drives the development, convergence, and adoption of open standards for the
global information society. A not-for-profit consortium, OASIS advances
standards for SOA, security, Web services, documents, e-commerce, government
and law, localisation, supply chains, XML processing, and other areas of need
identified by its members. OASIS open standards offer the potential to lower
cost, stimulate innovation, grow global markets, and protect the right of free
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http://www.oasis-open.org


Press contact:

Carol Geyer
OASIS Director of Communications
carol.geyer@oasis-open.org
+1.978.667.5115 x209 (office)
+1.941.284.0403 (mobile)