News Release - World Wide Web Consortium Releases XML Conformance Test Suite

W3C announces the release of the XML Conformance Test Suite, a set of 
over 2,000 files that any developer can download free of cost and use to
test the conformance of an XML processor to the XML Recommendation.

For more information, please contact Janet Daly, W3C Head of 
Communications, at +1 617 253 5884.

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World Wide Web Consortium Releases XML Conformance Test Suite
W3C/NIST/OASIS Cooperation Leads to Better XML Conformance

Web Resources

This announcement
	In English:
	http://www.w3.org/2002/06/xml-ts-pressrelease.html.en

	In French:
	http://www.w3.org/2002/06/xml-ts-pressrelease.html.fr

	In Japanese:
	http://www.w3.org/2002/06/xml-ts-pressrelease.html.ja
	
W3C XML Test Suite
http://www.w3.org/XML/Test/

W3C XML Homepage
http://www.w3.org/XML/

Contact America --
Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe --
Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
Saeko Takeuchi <saeko@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170

http://www.w3.org/ -- 12 June 2002 -- The World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) released today the "XML 1.0 (Second Edition) W3C Conformance Test
Suite." The test suite, developed in cooperation with the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), allows developers to test
an XML processor for conformance with W3C's XML 1.0 (Second Edition)
Recommendation.

W3C/NIST/OASIS Cooperation Produces Results

The XML 1.0 W3C Conformance Test Suite was developed in cooperation with
NIST, and was formerly hosted by the Organization for the Advancement of
Structured Information Standards (OASIS). The test suite contains over
2000 test files, and provides a set of metrics for determining
conformance to the XML 1.0 (Second Edition) Recommendation. Both W3C's
XML Core Working Group and OASIS' XML Conformance Technical Committee
have contributed test cases. W3C recognizes the substantial value that
cooperation among W3C, NIST, and OASIS has added to this endeavor.

"XML is the result of years of effort on the part of many people who
came to W3C to build it together," states Liam Quin, W3C's XML Activity
Lead. "That same collaborative spirit and expertise now provides
developers with an extensive XML Test Suite, which conforms to the
current XML 1.0 Recommendation."

Test Suites Are Supported by XML Community

The test suite has received the support of the XML community and
software vendors. "The XML developers community has made frequent use of
the XML Test Suite since we published the first version in 1999,"
explained Mark Skall, chief of the Software Diagnostics and Conformance
Testing Division at NIST. "It's clear from the feedback we receive from
both individual developers and companies that an effective test suite
can drive conformant applications and enhanced interoperability. As a
result of using the test suite, the quality of software reaching the
marketplace is greatly improved."

While hosted by OASIS, the test suite already helped improve
interoperability between XML processors. "The XML conformance test suite
is evidence that cooperation between organizations can work," noted Karl
Best, director of technical operations for OASIS. "We are proud of the
contributions made by OASIS members to improve interoperability between
XML processors, and we are pleased to see this important work advanced
at W3C."

W3C encourages the community to participate in the ongoing development
of this test suite. Information about the public mailing list for this
test suite is available at the test suite home page.

Quality Assurance Activity Strengthens W3C Specifications

The release of the XML Conformance Test Suite is the latest push by
W3C's Quality Assurance Activity to promote interoperability on the Web.
The Quality Assurance Activity helps other W3C Working Groups develop
test suites and validation tools (listed in the QA Matrix), and strives
to improve the quality of W3C specifications. The XML Conformance Test
Suites are free for any developer to download and use.

About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]

The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by developing
common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its
interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly run
by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the
National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA)
in France and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the
Consortium include: a repository of information about the World Wide Web
for developers and users, and various prototype and sample applications
to demonstrate use of new technology. To date, nearly 500 organizations
are Members of the Consortium. For more information see http://www.w3.org/

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Received on Wednesday, 12 June 2002 10:00:12 UTC