Collins Software

JavaScript Common Ground 2000 parser and creation Objects

I designed this format in 1995 as a universal data exchange format. It is basically a tagged CSV files with column headers. The CG2 format is a ASCII (Unicode) representation of any file structure.

I will be adding a PDF to CG2 output utility to the CollinsPDF JavaScript. The reasons are; First; as an example of CG2 uses, and Second; in CG2 format, the structure of a PDF can more easily be read and studied.

For the work begin done on the Report Writer, the transport and storage of the reporting structures will use CG2 format.

Capabilities:

• Declare Structures
• Select Structure based on Tag, Value or Index
• Read From CSV
• Write to CSV (1 file per structure)
• Write to PDF (Table)
• Write to PDF (Graphics,  draw vector graphics in a box)
• Write to HTML (Table)
• Write to HTML (Graphics, to VML)

Commentary: I know the U.S. is spending $10 Billion to automate the health system. CG2 would solve the transport, storage, and access problems for this effort. If we look at the Browser Technology as an example of data exchange, we use HTML: where we write the structures and parameters that represent the display of text and images onto a screen. This is a one sided exchange, the Browser is the reading side; even with only half the difficulties of data exchange, the exchange is still very much application dependent (IE, Safari, Firefox,...).

To exchange data each system must be able to Read AND Write data to the format used, and the format must be independent of the application. Basically if you give me data I just want to quickly and easily pull out the information I want, and if I give you data, I just want to give you what I have, not what I don't have. The specification to the format should be 2 pages long, not 1400 pages. The amount of effort to read and write the format should be minimized.

To build a solid exchange methodology, there must be a CONTROL, some program that can read the format with a PASS / FAIL indicator.

The format you use to exchange information must not have versions. There should not be a life span to the format.

The final phase of an exchange format will be to replace all other formats. If I can read and write the exchange format why should I use any other format. I cannot think of any application that could not use CG2 for its permanent storage format, this includes Oracle, Access, Word, Excel, PDF, AutoCAD... and a million other programs that use a proprietary format to store information.

An exchange format should rely more on conventions rather than on format specification rules