A metalanguage that has colonized all technological platforms regardless of the industry. Automation has become the heart of programming and systems integration.
by María Cecilia Hernández
As an innovator, revolutionary, protagonist and vital, XML metalanguage is catalogued in the building automation industry; but not only in it, but also in the accelerated technological development that today invades the planet, both in what has to do with hardware and software, in the real or virtual world.
It is not possible to say that it is a transitory fashion that engineers and programmers welcomed, which arrived (in 1998), marveled at its usefulness and faded over time. No, the XML language is a standard that is here to stay and evolve, and although it is considered old because of the speed with which the technology industry changes, it lends greater advantages every day and is a substantial part of any technological platform.
Although much of the popularity enjoyed by this programming language is associated with its use and its decisive participation in the evolution of the Internet, in systems engineering and in electronic sciences, its arrival in the universe of building automation also marked an important stage in this industry.
"For people who are dedicated to programming systems, the arrival of the XML language changed the world and will continue to do so. From my perspective this, which is rather a metalanguage, is going to make the Internet evolve to another state as it is already doing with the semantic web. For example, with this they have managed to create communication protocols that can connect, at the same time, many applications that are based on different programming languages, which has made it possible to share information easier, "explained Jaime Alonso Vallejo, technology director of Cubica Creative Laboratory.
Flexible and integrable
This language has been adopted in such a way in the world of computer programming that it is difficult to find systems that do not implement it. The advantages are many, but perhaps the most important and competitive is its ability to adapt and integrate with other languages and various equipment, and one more is its flexibility to expand as much as necessary to communicate everything that the user has.
For Wellington Barros, project manager of Siemens Ecuador for the Sierra area, the automation equipment distributed by the company has had a good penetration in the market and a good part of this commercial dynamic has to do with the efficiency of the operation of the systems that have been implemented in the machines.
Such is the case of the fire detection panel "which is based on XML technology and is functional for both industrial, business and residential buildings. The advantage of implementing this type of system is that it is very variable, allows an expansion of up to 2,000 devices and allows other types of equipment to be connected in the case of an industrial installation, which means that a complete automation and control system can be integrated into the panel. That is, it can be assembled according to the need of each user and that is to deliver a personalized and quality product, "said Barros.
As indicated by the consultant in computer engineering Marcos Pérez, "through the XML language, this type of equipment is capable of managing various functions, from voice systems discriminated by sectors or by floors (in the case of multi-storey buildings), monitoring, fire detection, visual graphing of the plant through Autocad to have an interactive control of it in what has to do with intrusion, or miscellaneous events that may occur within a company's premises; to control access and operate a door release system in case of any eventuality".
XML speaks all languages
A novelty that is presented within the XML programming language is the so-called eXML, which allows to communicate several systems, even when the equipment that is part of that system or the headquarters of the company are located in different geographical distances.
"This language allows you to create data structures, store them and makes it easier for them to be interpreted by different machines, it is as if it adapts to the language of each computer or system, whether it is applications, software, servers. For example, it is possible to store a person's information in using XML, data referring to names, identification, passwords, dates and times of inputs, outputs, fingerprint, etc. And a different application enters the system and consults that data understanding exactly what they mean, acts as a translator, speaking the language of the other applications," Vallejo said.
The spokesman for Cúbica also emphasized that "it is not necessary that we are talking about complex machines or equipment, XML can be understood by a watch, a phone or a mgnetic reader. The important thing is that two basic conditions are met: that the language is expressed in a structured way and that each part of the structure is well defined in itself, just as its relationship with the other components of the structure must be defined."
As Wellington Barros explains, the legal guidelines that govern the automation industry require that fire detection systems must have their operation independent of other control systems, such as intrusion, elevators, lighting, air conditioning, etc. These must be totally separated, because if any are damaged this would affect the fire detection system, which is one of the most important and which fulfills vital functions of disaster prevention and loss of human life. XML allows to make a selective connection between fire detection systems and others, its only connection with another system must be with the access control system so that it releases the doors and allows the exit of people who are inside an enclosure.
For about a decade, the BACnet communication protocol, one of the most used in the building automation industry, adopted the XML language within its technology and has a standard for the presentation of data in this language. Other companies that develop their own communication protocols integrate with great success this same language, which has also become an intercom of protocols, this is an indicator of its universality and usability.
Thus, it is difficult to imagine that this language that was born more than 10 years ago can lose validity, on the contrary, both amateurs and professionals in the subject assure that it is revolutionary and its evolution will continue to bring surprises such as those that in recent months we have been witnessing: Web 3.0, social networks, interactivity, delivery of presonalized information, among others, are some of the developments that have been made possible, to a large extent, thanks to XML.
In that sense, the automation industry welcomes the advantages of this language to offer better guarantees when it comes to controlling and protecting safety and life.
Advantages of XML
Some of the most important features of XML metalanguage are:
- Work on the Web.
- Open and extensible information architecture.
- It does not need versions for its correct operation in any browser.
- It allows you to group a wide variety of applications, from web pages to databases.
- Information management is executed from the Web client itself.
- It makes it possible to export the data (reports, search results, control) to other formats such as paper or digital.
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