XML Metadata Interchange

XMI is a proposed use of the Extensible Markup Language (XML) that is intended to provide a standard way for programmers and other users to exchange information about metadata (essentially, information about what a set of data consists of and how it is organized). Specifically, XMI is intended to help programmers using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) with different languages and development tools to exchange their data models with each other. In addition, XMI can also be used to exchange information about data warehouses.

Effectively, the XMI format standardizes how any set of metadata is described and requires users across many industries and operating environments to see data the same way.

XMI is a proposal from the Object Management Group (OMG) that builds on and extends these industry standards or recommendations:

• Extensible Markup Language (XML), a standard from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
• Unified Modeling Language (UML), a standard from OMG
• Meta Object Facility (MOF), another standard from the OMG for a metamodeling and metadata repository.

Ideally, XMI will allow different cooperating companies a way to use each other's data repositories. XMI is described as similar to, yet competing with, Microsoft's Open Information Model.

Download the Specification