An XML-based modeling language for the open interchange of decision models

These days, a modeling tool or environment has to know about the others on the market and build bridges to them with which their customers insist on sharing models and data. When it is based on a closed architecture, a tangle of import/export point translators is required. Using an exchange standard, we can design an open architecture for the interchange of models and data. XML (Extensible Markup Language) provides a framework for describing the syntax for creating and exchanging data structures. The explosive growth of XML-based proposals and standards reflects the urgent requirements and its strength. This paper proposes an XML-based language for sharing models within the MSOR/DSS community. The language is able to allow applications and on-line analytic processing tools to models obtained from multiple sources without having to deal with individual differences between those sources. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.