DDS-XTypes™ — DDS Extensible Type and Serialization Framework
The DDS-XTypes specification establishes a formal framework for defining, representing, and evolving data types within the Data Distribution Service ecosystem. It centers on a UML-based Type System that provides a platform-independent model for complex data structures, supported by standardized Type Representations--such as IDL and XML--and Data Representations for wire-level serialization. By decoupling logical type definitions from physical representations and language-specific implementations, the specification ensures consistent data interpretation across diverse programming environments and vendor implementations. To support the requirements of long-lived and evolving systems, the specification defines explicit rules for type extensibility, allowing data models to change while maintaining backward and forward compatibility between decoupled participants. It further enhances system correctness by allowing developers to associate metadata such as units and range limits directly with data types and members. These constraints are enforced during the discovery process through type assignability checks, ensuring that components only communicate if their data models are semantically aligned, for example, by verifying that a producer and consumer agree on physical scales of measurement or permissible value boundaries. This formal validation provides an additional layer of safety by preventing data misinterpretation and ensuring the integrity of interactions in complex, distributed systems.
Machine Readable Files
| OMG File ID | URL | Format | Description | Appears in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ptc/26-03-01 | DDS-XTypes/20260301/dds_xtypes_model.xmi | XMI | UML model XMI file | 1.4 beta |
| ptc/26-02-03 | DDS-XTypes/20260301/dds-xtypes_typeobject.idl | IDL | IDL file for TypeObject and TypeIdentifier | 1.4 beta |
| ptc/26-02-07 | DDS-XTypes/20260301/dds-xtypes_dynanmicdata.idl | IDL | IDL file for Dynamic Type and Dynamic Data APIs | 1.4 beta |
| ptc/26-02-04 | DDS-XTypes/20260301/dds-xtypes_discovery_builtin_topics.idl | IDL | IDL file for the DDS Discovery Builtin Topics | 1.4 beta |
| ptc/19-02-08 | DDS-XTypes/20190301/dds-xtypes_typeobject.idl | IDL | DDS XTypes 1.3 TypeObject IDL file | 1.3 |
| ptc/19-03-25 | DDS-XTypes/20190301/dds-xtypes_type_definition.xsd | XML Schema | DDS XTypes 1.3 XML Type Representation, Schema file with Errata2 applied | 1.3 |
| ptc/19-03-11 | DDS-XTypes/20190301/dds-xtypes_model.xmi | XML | DDS-XTypes 1.3 UML Model, XMI file (updated) | 1.3 |
| ptc/19-02-09 | DDS-XTypes/20190301/dds-xtypes_discovery_builtin_topics.idl | IDL | DDS XTypes 1.3 Discovery Builtin Topic Types IDL file | 1.3 |
| ptc/17-02-20 | DDS-XTypes/20170301/dds-xtypes_typeobject.idl | IDL | XTypes TypeObject | 1.2 |
| ptc/17-02-18 | DDS-XTypes/20170301/dds-xtypes_type_definition_nonamespace.xsd | XML Schema | XTypes XML Type Representation, No Namespace Schema file | 1.2 |
| ptc/17-02-19 | DDS-XTypes/20170301/dds-xtypes_type_definition.xsd | XML Schema | XTypes XML Type Representation, Namespace Schema file | 1.2 |
| ptc/17-02-17 | DDS-XTypes/20170301/dds-xtypes_model.xmi | XMI | XTypes UML model | 1.2 |
| ptc/17-02-21 | DDS-XTypes/20170301/dds-xtypes_discovery.idl | IDL | XTypes DDS Discovery Builtin Topic Types | 1.2 |
| ptc/12-02-07 | DDS-XTypes/20120202/dds-xtypes_type_definition.xsd | XML Schema | DDS XTypes FTF XSD file | 1.1 1.0 |
| ptc/12-03-25 | DDS-XTypes/20120202/dds-xtypes_model.xmi | XMI | DDS Xtypes updated XMI file | 1.1 1.0 |
| ptc/12-02-05 | DDS-XTypes/20120202/dds-xtypes_model.eap | Enterprise Architect Tool file | DDS XTypes FTF - Sparx UML Model (non-normative) | 1.1 1.0 |
| ptc/12-02-08 | DDS-XTypes/20120202/dds-xtypes.idl | IDL | DDS XTypes FTF IDL file | 1.1 1.0 |
Links
- Members Only
- https://www.omg.org/members/spec/DDS-XTypes/machine-readable
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