Common Data Format
As stated earlier, all General Interface controls and widgets that consume data are driven by a backing XML model. The data must be in a format known as Common Data Format, or CDF. CDF is a very simple format that defines a few key elements and leaves the attribute space open. Attributes are mapped to data elements in controls. The main advantage of CDF is that it can drive any widget in TIBCO General Interface, which makes it possible to have the same backing CDF for a grid as well as a chart. The Model part of the MVC pattern in General Interface can be thought of as a CDF in TIBCO General Interface.
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a simple format for accessing and manipulating object properties. It is based on a subset of JavaScript Programming Language Standard, but is text based and is therefore language neutral. Because it is based on the JavaScript standard, it is inherently supported by TIBCO General Interface.
CDF Format also makes it very easy to manipulate the associated objects using a JSON paradigm. Each node in a CDF can be thought of as a JSON object where XML attributes map to JSON properties. It is possible, then, to use XSL/XPATH to manipulate this CDF when using an XSL style sheet, and at the same time, it's possible to update the fields using JSON syntax (for example, obj.property = x). Because TIBCO General Interface combines JavaScript and XML, this becomes a key convenience when dealing with the data structures in TIBCO General Interface applications.