This document specifies a set of basic XML Encoding Rules (BASIC-XER) that may be used to derive a transfer syntax for values of types defined in Rec. ITU-T X.680 | ISO/IEC 8824-1 and Rec. ITU-T X.681 | ISO/IEC 8824-2. This document also specifies a set of Canonical XML Encoding Rules (CXER) which provide constraints on the basic XML Encoding Rules and produce a unique encoding for any given ASN.1 value.  This document further specifies a set of extended XML Encoding Rules (EXTENDED-XER) which adds further encoders options, and also allows the ASN.1 specifier to vary the encoding that would be produced by BASIC-XER.  It is implicit in the specification of these encoding rules that they are also used for decoding.

The encoding rules specified in this document :

–      are used at the time of communication;

–      are intended for use in circumstances where displaying of values and/or processing them using commonly available XML tools (such as browsers) is the major concern in the choice of encoding rules;

–      allow the extension of an abstract syntax by addition of extra values for all forms of extensibility described in Rec. ITU-T X.680 | ISO/IEC 8824‑1.

This document also specifies the syntax and semantics of XER encoding instructions, and the rules for their assignment and combination. XER encoding instructions can be used to control the EXTENDED-XER encoding for specific ASN.1 types.