Overview
ISO/IEC 30114-2:2018 specifies an extension to Office Open XML (OOXML) that enables embedding CREPDL (Character Repertoire Description Language) scripts inside an OOXML package and validating the character repertoire of document parts against those scripts. The standard defines how CREPDL scripts are packaged as OPC (Open Packaging Conventions) parts, how they are referenced, and how character repertoire checking is performed. A typical use is ensuring that spreadsheet cells or other parts contain characters only from a specified repertoire (for example, ISO/IEC 8859-1).
Key topics and technical requirements
- Embedding CREPDL scripts: CREPDL scripts are included as OPC parts (CREPDL parts) and must conform to ISO/IEC 19757-7 after any MCE (Markup Compatibility and Extensibility) processing.
- Character Checking Origin and Condition parts: The standard introduces two new OPC part types:
- Character Checking Origin part - empty stream, single optional instance per package.
- Character Checking Condition part - XML documents that reference a root CREPDL script and one or more target parts/locations whose character contents are validated.
- Processing model: For each Character Checking Condition part:
- Apply MCE processing.
- Retrieve and MCE-process the referenced CREPDL script.
- Validate the character contents of each referenced target part against the CREPDL script.
- Schemas and conformance: Character Checking Condition parts must be valid against the XML Schema / RELAX NG schemas in Annex A after MCE processing. The standard targets OOXML conformance classes Strict and Transitional.
- Media types and relationships (Annex B):
- Media types:
- Character Checking Condition: application/vnd.openxmlformats-extension.character-checking-condition
- Character Checking Origin: application/vnd.openxmlformats-extension.character-checking-origin
- CREPDL part: application/xml
- Relationship types (examples): package→origin, origin→condition, condition→script, condition→target (full URIs are defined in Annex B).
Applications and who uses it
- Software vendors and implementers building OOXML readers/writers or validation tools can incorporate character repertoire checking to enforce allowed character sets.
- Document converters and migration tools that must ensure target systems accept only specific character repertoires.
- Localization and compliance teams that need automated checks (for regulatory, legacy-system compatibility, or data-entry constraints) to enforce character restrictions.
- Quality assurance and document processing pipelines that require embedded validation rules close to document data.
Related standards
- ISO/IEC 19757-7 - Character Repertoire Description Language (CREPDL)
- ISO/IEC 29500-1/2/3/4 - Office Open XML file formats and packaging, Markup Compatibility and Extensibility (MCE)
- W3C XML and XML Schema specifications
ISO/IEC 30114-2:2018 integrates character repertoire validation into the OOXML packaging model, providing a standardized, portable way to embed and apply CREPDL-based character checks within Office Open XML documents.