XML-RPC data types for Qworum, version 1.0 Draft

Abstract

This specification defines an XML vocabulary for XML-RPC data types.

Table of contents
  1. Introduction
    1. Purpose
    2. Requirements
  2. Concept
  3. The http://qworum.net/xmlrpc namespace
  4. Data types
    1. The int and i4 types
    2. The boolean type
    3. The string type
    4. The double type
    5. The dateTime.iso8601 type
    6. The base64 type
    7. The struct type
    8. The array type
  5. Appendices
    1. References
    2. Revision history
    3. Copyright and disclaimer

1. Introduction

1.1. Purpose

The core Qworum specification uses XML [XML] for representing data. Yet XML data can be difficult to manipulate by the programming languages that are used to implement services. In order to address this issue, the present specification leverages the XML-RPC [XML-RPC] specification, and defines a particular XML vocabulary that can easily be deserialized into native programming language constructs.

1.2. Requirements

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [Keywords].

2. Concept

Qworum services MAY use the XML vocabulary defined in the present specification for representing data. Such data MAY be:

3. The http://qworum.net/xmlrpc namespace

The XML elements defined in this specification have the http://qworum.net/xmlrpc namespace [XMLnamespaces].

4. Data types

4.1. The int and i4 types

int and i4 data types represent a four-byte signed integer. Examples: 


<int xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>-12</int>
<i4 xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>-12</i4>

4.2. The boolean type

The boolean data type represents a boolean value. It contains 0 (for false) or 1 (for true). Example: 


<boolean xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>1</boolean>

4.3. The string type

The string data type represents a string of characters. Example: 


<string xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>hello world</string>

4.4. The double type

The double data type represents a double-precision signed floating point number. Example: 


<double xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>-12.214</double>

4.5. The dateTime.iso8601 type

The dateTime.iso8601 data type represents a date/time value. Example: 


<dateTime.iso8601 xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>1998-07-17T14:08:55</dateTime.iso8601>

4.6. The base64 type

The base64 data type represents a base64-encoded binary. Example: 


<base64 xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>eW91IGNhbid0IHJlYWQgdGhpcyE=</base64>

4.7. The struct type

A struct contains members and each member contains a name and a value. Here's an example of a two-element struct: 


<struct xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>
   <member>
      <name>lowerBound</name>
      <value><i4>18</i4></value>
   </member>
   <member>
      <name>upperBound</name>
      <value><i4>139</i4></value>
   </member>
</struct>

structs can be recursive, any value may contain a struct or any other type, including an array, described below.

4.8. The array type

An array contains a single data element, which can contain any number of values. Here's an example of a four-element array: 


<array xmlns='http://qworum.net/xmlrpc'>
   <data>
      <value><int>12</int></value>
      <value><string>Egypt</string></value>
      <value><boolean>0</boolean></value>
      <value><int>-31</int></value>
   </data>
</array>

array elements do not have names.

You can mix types as the example above illustrates.

arrays can be recursive, any value may contain an array or any other type, including a struct, described above.

5. Appendices

5.1. References

[XML] Tim Bray, Jean Paoli, C. M. Sperberg-McQueen, Eve Maler, François Yergeau, Extensible Markup Language (XML), W3C Recommendation
[XML-RPC] Dave Winer, XML-RPC specification
[Keywords] Bradner, B., Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels, RFC 2119
[XMLnamespaces] Tim Bray, Dave Hollander, Andrew Layman, Richard Tobin, Henry S. Thompson, Namespaces in XML 1.0, W3C Recommendation

5.2. Revision history

2011.09.23 Initial release.

5.3. Copyright and disclaimer

© Copyright 2011 Doğa Armangil. All Rights Reserved.

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