The W3C released a Last Call draft of Exclusive XML Canonicalization Version 1.0.

Though this version lists no predecessor drafts and claims to be "the first official publication and Last Call", there has been an earlier publication and discussion.

Exclusive XML Canonicalization is largely a subset of RFC 3076, Canonical XML. Exclusive XML Canonicalization solves a slightly different problem from its predecessor specification:

"Canonical XML recommends a standard means of serializing XML that, when applied to a subdocument, includes its namespace and some other XML context. However, for many applications, it is desirable to have a method which, to the extent practical, excludes such context from a canonicalized subdocument. In particular, where a digital signature over an XML subdocument is needed which will not break when that subdocument is removed from its original document and/or inserted into a different context."

A patent statement leaves the status of this specification unclear:

"Patent disclosures relevant to this specification may be found on the Working Group's patent disclosure page in conformance with W3C. "

The Last Call period for comments ends 11 December 2001.

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• Exclusive XML Canonicalization
• Canonical XML now official