Overview
ISO/IEC 19757-8:2008 defines the Document Semantics Renaming Language (DSRL), part of the DSDL family, to let users remap XML/SGML element names, attribute names, entities and processing-instruction targets to the names expected by an existing schema or DTD. DSRL lets you apply locally meaningful names without rewriting the original document model, declare replacement text for entity references, and specify default element content and attribute values. The DSRL namespace IRI is: http://purl.oclc.org/dsdl/dsrl.
Key topics and technical requirements
- DSRL maps: The top-level container is the dsrl:maps element. It can record optional attributes such as targetNamespace and targetSchemaLocation to identify the validating schema.
- Name mapping rules: Rules map user-defined names (elements, attributes, processing instructions) to schema-defined names using elements such as dsrl:element-map, dsrl:attribute-map, dsrl:from and dsrl:to.
- Defaulting: Mechanisms to declare default element content and default attribute values so documents can be completed before validation.
- Entity handling: XML-based declarations for replacement text of entity references and optional entity-name mapping.
- Namespace awareness: Mappings may use qualified names (QNames) and namespace declarations to ensure precise association with IRIs.
- Conversion: Support for converting attribute values to element content where target schemas do not use attributes.
- Validation and conformance: Annexes provide RELAX NG schemas (and Schematron rules) for validating DSRL maps and guidance on conformance.
Applications and who uses it
- XML architects and schema designers who need to validate heterogeneous or legacy documents against a single authoritative schema.
- Systems integrators and data migration teams mapping vendor-specific XML vocabularies to standard models without rewriting schemas.
- Digital archivists and publishers applying local terminology while preserving conformity to preservation or interchange schemas.
- Developers building validation pipelines that combine DSRL with RELAX NG, Schematron or NVDL to preprocess documents before validation.
- Automated transformation and normalization workflows where entity replacement and default values are required prior to schema-based validation.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 19757 (DSDL) family - especially Part 2 (RELAX NG), Part 3 (Schematron), Part 4 (NVDL) and Part 9 (DTD namespace/datatype declarations).
- W3C standards cited by the standard: XML, XML Namespaces, XML Infoset, and XSLT 2.0 (for transformations referenced in informative annexes).
DSRL is practical when you need robust, namespace-aware name remapping, entity replacement and defaulting as part of a standardized XML validation workflow. Keywords: ISO/IEC 19757-8:2008, DSRL, DSDL, XML mapping, schema validation, entity replacement, default values.
Open preview (PDF)Information technology — Document Schema Definition Languages (DSDL) — Part 8: Document Semantics Renaming Language (DSRL)
