Open Systems and Standards for Software Product Development
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CHAPTER 5 Data Interchange Standards Data Interchange Services define common formats and semantics to facilitate the exchange of information and data between applications independent of the com- puter platforms, programming languages, and operating systems. This section dis- cusses standards in widespread use according to their respective category: • Graphics data interchange standards are used to compress raster and vector graphics formats. The raster format uses pixel encoding to store an image, and vector format uses a set of commands that an application employs to display an image [1]. Graphics data interchange standards covered in this chapter include Computer Graphics Metafile (CMG), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) File Interchange Format (JFIF), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), and Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). Unlike the other graphics data interchange standards discussed in this chapter, the Graphics Interchange For- mat (GIF) is not an open standard; however, its widespread use on the Internet makes it worthwhile to cover here. • Digital audio and video standards are used to define interfaces to control elec- tronic music devices or compress audio and video data. This section discusses the Musical Instrument Data Interface (MIDI) and Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) standards. • Spatial data interchange standards such as those provided by OpenGIS and discussed below are defined to support application display, manipulation, and other geographically oriented functions. • The word processing data interchange standard covered is the Standard Gen- eralized Markup Language (SGML). However, Rich Text Format (RTF) and Portable Document Format (PDF) are also covered because they are so widely supported, even though they are not open standards. RTF is used in many word processing systems, and numerous word processing files are converted to PDF for display on the Web. 5.1 Computer Graphics Metafile Name. Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM). Purpose. To generate compressed high-quality digital vector, raster, or hybrid (vector and raster) graphics pictures. 73 74 Data Interchange Standards History. ANSI published an early CGM specification in 1986 (ANSI X3.122-1986). In 1999, ISO/IEC JTC I/SC 24 published an updated CGM interna- tional standard (ISO/IEC 8632:1999). CGM is a proven format for technical illus- trations used in electronic technical documents, geographic visualization, and two-dimensional drawings [2]. While ISO/IEC JTC I/SC 24 published the CGM standard, ISO/IEC JTC I/SC 24 worked in conjunction with W3C and CGM Open Consortium to develop the WebCGM Profile, which was based on the CGM ISO/IEC 8632:1999 Version 1, 2, 3, and 4 specifications. WebCGM was released as a WC3 recommendation to support CGM for scalable two-dimensional Web-based document applications [3, 4]. Standards Organizations. ISO/IEC JTC I/SC 24 is responsible for the CGM inter- national standard ISO/IEC 8632:1999. W3C has been releasing updates to WebCGM as W3C recommendations. Status. W3C and CGM Open Consortium are jointly developing the WebCGM specification. Obtaining the Specifications. The CGM specifications can be purchased from the ISO Store by selecting their “Search and Buy Standards” option at http://www. iso.ch/iso/en/prods-services/ISOstore/store.html for: • ISO/IEC 8632-1:1999 – Part 1: Functional specification; • ISO/IEC 8632-3:1992 – Part 2: Character encoding; • ISO/IEC 8632-3:1999 – Part 3: Binary encoding; • ISO/IEC 8632-4:1999 – Part 4: Clear text encoding. The WebCGM specification can be downloaded from the W3C Web site at http:// www.w3.org/TR/REC-WebCGM/. URL. For more information about WebCGM, refer to http://www.cgmopen.org/ webcgm/index.html. Vendors. The CGM Open Consortium maintains a list of vendor products at http://www.cgmopen.org/webcgm/products.html. Other Sources of Information. • “CGM – Computer Graphics Metafile,” http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip 128-2.htm, Graphics File Formats, October 4, 2003; • “Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM),” FIPS PUB 128-2, NIST, September 1, 2003. 5.2 Graphics Interchange Format As mentioned in the introduction, GIF is not an open standard, but because its use is so pervasive, a discussion of GIF is provided. Name. Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). 5.3 Joint Photographic Experts Group File Interchange Format 75 Purpose. To support color raster images that would support high-resolution graphics on a variety of graphics hardware and provide the format for an exchange mechanism [5]. GIF employs a lossless method of compression, which means that it does not lose any data when the compression algorithm is applied [6]. History. CompuServe developed the first GIF specification which was released in 1987, and has made subsequent updates to the specification [1]. However, since GIF implementations employ a version of the Lempel Ziv Welch (LZW) data com- pression and decompression algorithm that Unisys developed and patented, the software is not free. Unisys has held the licensing for GIF software that implements the LZW algorithm since 1985 in the United States and in many other countries as well (see the URL provided in the status section to determine whether the Unisys LZW patent still applies). GIF files are distinguished by the suffix “.GIF.” At the time this book was written, Unisys continued to hold the patent for GIF. Licensing Organization. As mentioned in the history section, Unisys holds the patent for the LZW algorithm used for the GIF compression encoders and decoders. Status. Although GIF is limited to a maximum of 256 colors, it is extremely popu- lar and used extensively. At the time this book was written, the Unisys patent had expired in the United States (see the following Unisys URL for details: http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/lzw/). The gnu.org Web page monitors the GIF developments at URL http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html. Obtaining the Specifications. The GIF 89a specification can be downloaded at http://www.w3.org/Graphics/GIF/spec-gif89a.txt. URL. Refer to URL: http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/lzw/ for current details on GIF. Vendors. Numerous vendors support this specification, including word processing packages such as Microsoft Word. Other Sources of Information. • Moan, C., “The GIF Controversy: A Software Developer’s Perspective,” http://www.cloanto.com/users/mcb/19950127giflzw.html, June 20, 2004. • “What’s a GIF or JPEG?” http://www.radix.net/~tpa/index.html, October 4, 2003. 5.3 Joint Photographic Experts Group File Interchange Format Name. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) File Interchange Format. It is officially listed as a joint ITU and ISO standard as: ITU-T T.81 | ISO/IEC 10918-1 [7]. Purpose. To generate a 16-bit and 24-bit compressed high-quality image file for display purposes [8]. JPEG uses a lossy compression algorithm, meaning that to 76 Data Interchange Standards achieve the high compression rate, it degrades the image to a certain extent [8]. JPEG is used extensively for high-resolution photographic images. History. JPEG defined the JPEG compression algorithm. The de facto file format for JPEG compressed images was originally called the JPEG File Interchange For- mat (JFIF), but over time the name became JPEG. JPEG submitted the JPEG draft specification to ISO and it was approved as an ISO standard by ISO/IEC. JPEG sub- mitted the draft JPEG 2000 specification later and this was approved by ISO/IEC and ITU [7]. Standards Organization. The JPEG compression algorithm was developed by JPEG (http://www.jpeg.org/). Status. JPEG 2000 addresses all parts of the JPEG standard, including Part 1 – The Core, which was published by the ISO SC29/WG1 Committee as an international standard; nine more parts are under development [7]. JPEG 2000 employs state-of- the-art compression techniques based on wavelet technology, and its architecture provides the flexibility for a wide range of applications, from digital cameras to medical imaging and other sectors [7]. Obtaining the Specifications. The draft JPEG 2000 can be downloaded at http://www.jpeg.org/public/fcd14495p.pdf. The published version of JPEG 2000 can be purchased from the ISO IEC Web Store by selecting their “Search and Buy” option at URL: https://domino.iec.ch/webstore/webstore.nsf. URL. http://www.jpeg.org/jpeg_about.html. Vendors. Vendors that provide JPEG software and listed by the JPEG Standards Group are listed below [9]: • AutoGraph International, Inc.; • Aware, Inc.; • Cloanto; • Imagepower; • Integrated Silicon Systems—silicon cores for JPEG VLSI; • Lead Technologies—imaging toolkits; • Luratech – Lurawave, soon with JPEG 2000; • Pegasus Imaging Corporation; • ZORAN compression software. 5.4 Musical Instrument Digital Interface Name. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI). Purpose. To define a family of digital interfaces for controlling electronic music devices such as synthesizers. 5.5 Motion Picture Experts Group Layer 3 77 History. The MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) has published a number of MIDI specifications in keeping with its primary focus of producing standards for the companies that manufacture MIDI hardware and/or software products. Standards Organization. The MMA is composed of a number of companies that work together to define standards for compatible MIDI products. Since 1985, MMA has developed 11 major specifications for MIDI standards, which, when implemented, created new products and markets [10]. In addition, the IEEE Stan- dards Association (IEEE-SA) has begun working on a standard to enable MIDI transmission over the Internet or a LAN environment named IEEE P1639 [11]. Status. MMA has defined an Extensible Music Format (XMF) as part of the MIDI formats (http://www.midi.org/xmf/index.shtml). Obtaining the Specifications. The specifications can be downloaded at http:// www.midi.org/about-midi/specshome.shtml. URL. http://www.midi.org/about-midi/aboutmidi3.shtml. Vendors. MMA identifies the following MIDI product vendors (http://www. midi.org/about-midi/aboutmidi3.shtml): • Yamaha Corporation, U.S. (http://www.yamaha.com/); • Korg USA; • Cakewalk; • Edirol; • Evolution; • Bitheadz; • Madwaves; • Steinberg. 5.5 Motion Picture Experts Group Layer 3 Name.