ISO 30042:2019

Overview

ISO 30042:2019 - Management of terminology resources - TermBase eXchange (TBX) defines a standardized framework for representing and exchanging structured terminological data. The standard describes the TBX metamodel, sets out data categories, and specifies two XML styles - DCA (Data Category as Attribute) and DCT (Data Category as Tag) - plus the methodology for defining TBX dialects. The TBX‑Core dialect is described in detail; other industry‑specific dialects are defined by stakeholders and documented externally (e.g., TBX Info resources).

Key topics and technical requirements

• Core structure and metamodel: a normative core that TBX document instances must adhere to for interoperability.
• Data categories: standardized descriptors for terminological metadata (selection and constraints are specified).
• XML styles: DCA (traditional attribute-based) and DCT (tag-based) styles are both supported; XML namespaces are used for declaring data categories in DCT.
• Dialects: methodology for naming, declaring and constraining TBX dialects; dialect declaration must appear on the root element of each TBX instance.
• Validation and compliance: rules and requirements for validating TBX document instances and for TBX‑compliant agents (software).
• Referencing and back matter: guidance for embedding or referencing files, bibliographic sources, and people/organizations within entries.
• Character sets and text types: handling of encoding and multilingual content (aligned with Unicode/ISO standards).
• Limitations: TBX is focused on descriptive terminological markup rather than presentational formatting (presentational markup is limited and can be autogenerated).

Practical applications and users

ISO 30042:2019 is practical for:

• Terminologists and language professionals building or analyzing termbases.
• Software developers and programmers implementing TBX import/export, converters, or TBX‑compliant services.
• Translators, technical authors and localization engineers who need reliable terminology exchange between CAT tools, translation memories, and authoring systems.
• Use cases include: integrating or converting multiple terminological sources, comparing and querying term collections, publishing terminology online, and providing terminology via web services for dynamic applications.

Related standards

ISO 30042:2019 references and aligns with:

• ISO 12620 (Data category specifications)
• ISO 16642 (Terminological markup frameworks)
• ISO 21720 (XLIFF)
• ISO 8601‑1 / 8601‑2 (date/time formats)
• ISO/IEC 10646 (character set/Unicode)

For implementers, TBX Info and stakeholder dialect specifications provide complementary, publicly available resources for industry‑specific dialects and practical examples.