W3C Drafts for XML Interchange (EXI): Format, Best Practices, Primer

W3C's Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Working Group recently published
three documents. First Public Working Drafts have been issued for
"Efficient XML Interchange (EXI) Best Practice" and "Efficient XML
Interchange (EXI) Primer." An updated WD is available for the "Efficient
XML Interchange (EXI) Format 1.0" specification. Efficient XML
Interchange (EXI) is a very compact representation for the Extensible
Markup Language (XML) Information Set that is intended to simultaneously
optimize performance and the utilization of computational resources.
The EXI format uses a hybrid approach drawn from the information and
formal language theories, plus practical techniques verified by
measurements, for entropy encoding XML information. Using a relatively
simple algorithm, which is amenable to fast and compact implementation,
and a small set of data types, it reliably produces efficient encodings
of XML event streams. The event production system and format definition
of EXI are presented. The "Best Practices" document provides explanations
of format features and techniques to support interoperable information
exchanges using EXI. While intended primarily as a practical guide for
systems architects and programmers, it also presents information suitable
for the general reader interested in EXI's intended role in the expanding
Web. The "EXI Primer" a non-normative document intended to provide an
easily readable technical background on the Efficient XML Interchange
(EXI) format. It is oriented towards quickly understanding how the EXI
format can be used in practice and how options can be set to achieve
specific needs. Section 2 "Concepts" describes the structure of an EXI
document and introduces the notions of EXI header, EXI body and EXI
grammar which are fundamental to the understanding of the EXI format.
Additional details about data type representation, compression, and
their interaction with other format features are presented. Section 3
"Efficient XML Interchange by Example" provides a detailed, bit-level
description of a schema-less example. More Information See also the W3C Efficient XML Interchange Working Group: Click Here