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Two more of my weekly Strategic Developer columns have spooled up at InfoWorld.com. Both discuss XML dialects, but the two dialects are written by very different kinds of people. XAML, Microsoft's eXtensible Application Markup Language, is for software developers. XBRL, the eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is for accountants.

Jon's Radio

Jon Udell

2006.08.11

podcast fridaypodcast xbrl charliehoffman briandelacey

» A conversation with Charlie Hoffman and Brian DeLacey about XBRL

Charlie Hoffman, the director of industry solutions for UBmatrix, is acknowledged as "the father of XBRL" -- the eXtensible Business Reporting Language to which I had a bit of an xallergic reaction when I first encountered it a couple of years ago. But when Brian DeLacey, a researcher turned XBRL entrepeneur, suggested that I interview Charlie I jumped at the chance. In this week's podcast the three of us discuss the history of XBRL, its relationship to XML, its goals, its successes, and its challenges.

In my interview last week with John Shewchuk, one of the Indigo architects at Microsoft, I asked whether XML disciplines can or should model data, as well as exchange it. I like the answer John gives in this audio clip. There really isn't a primary data model, he suggests. (Note to self: Get over it!) Relational, object, and XML disciplines are just aspects of a relativistic universe of data. Very postmodern!

» Attack of the killer accountants

The XBRL [eXtensible Business Reporting Language] spec describes how the parts of an XBRL instance interrelate, using state-of-the-art XML technologies such as XLink and XPointer. And it talks at length about the syntax and semantics of "taxonomies" that abstractly define chunks of financial reports. No sign of any actual financial data, though. And the link to a sample page at xbrl.org, returned a "404 Not Found." I'm not surprised. The poor bloke whose job it was to produce that sample must have suffered a polymorphic recursive brain meltdown. [Full story at InfoWorld.com]
Since I am not, myself, an actual financial expert (as Dave Barry might say), I worried that I might have gone overboard here. But the responses I've gotten so far allay that fear. One suggests that XBRL, if successful, will "create a master race of accountants / XML consultants." How's that for a B-movie concept!

				show details
Analysis	Ephraim Schwartz	2008.11.25	xbrl financialreporting	The XBRL mandate is here: Is IT ready?
Analysis	Ephraim Schwartz	2008.11.25	xbrl financialreporting	Why XBRL is good, mandate or no
News	Jeremy Kirk	2007.12.07	microsoft xbrl xml datatags standards	Microsoft uses new XBRL data tags in SEC filing
Jon's Radio	Jon Udell	2006.08.16	xaml xbrl	» Column catchup: XAML and XBRL Two more of my weekly Strategic Developer columns have spooled up at InfoWorld.com. Both discuss XML dialects, but the two dialects are written by very different kinds of people. XAML, Microsoft's eXtensible Application Markup Language, is for software developers. XBRL, the eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is for accountants.
Jon's Radio	Jon Udell	2006.08.11	podcast fridaypodcast xbrl charliehoffman briandelacey	» A conversation with Charlie Hoffman and Brian DeLacey about XBRL Charlie Hoffman, the director of industry solutions for UBmatrix, is acknowledged as "the father of XBRL" -- the eXtensible Business Reporting Language to which I had a bit of an xallergic reaction when I first encountered it a couple of years ago. But when Brian DeLacey, a researcher turned XBRL entrepeneur, suggested that I interview Charlie I jumped at the chance. In this week's podcast the three of us discuss the history of XBRL, its relationship to XML, its goals, its successes, and its challenges.
Jon's Radio	Jon Udell	2004.05.10	davidkunkannon xbrl	» XBRL follow-up In my interview last week with John Shewchuk, one of the Indigo architects at Microsoft, I asked whether XML disciplines can or should model data, as well as exchange it. I like the answer John gives in this audio clip. There really isn't a primary data model, he suggests. (Note to self: Get over it!) Relational, object, and XML disciplines are just aspects of a relativistic universe of data. Very postmodern!
Jon's Radio	Jon Udell	2004.05.05	accounting xbrl	» Attack of the killer accountants The XBRL [eXtensible Business Reporting Language] spec describes how the parts of an XBRL instance interrelate, using state-of-the-art XML technologies such as XLink and XPointer. And it talks at length about the syntax and semantics of "taxonomies" that abstractly define chunks of financial reports. No sign of any actual financial data, though. And the link to a sample page at xbrl.org, returned a "404 Not Found." I'm not surprised. The poor bloke whose job it was to produce that sample must have suffered a polymorphic recursive brain meltdown. [Full story at InfoWorld.com] Since I am not, myself, an actual financial expert (as Dave Barry might say), I worried that I might have gone overboard here. But the responses I've gotten so far allay that fear. One suggests that XBRL, if successful, will "create a master race of accountants / XML consultants." How's that for a B-movie concept!