Data exchange for machine shop simulation

Manufacturing simulation systems normally provide interfaces for data import and export using proprietary formats. Dependent data interfaces limit simulation applications in the manufacturing industry. This paper describes a mechanism for transferring data between a traditional database and XML files, which represent a machine shop data model developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The data model is described by XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and UML (Unified Modeling Language). The data transfer mechanism is based on Document Object Model (DOM), XML Path Language (XPath), and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) database engines. A prototype implementation is also described in this paper.