External Data Representation
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eXternal Data Representation (XDR) is an implementation of the presentation layer in the OSI model. XDR allows data to be wrapped in an architecture independent matter so data can be transferred between heterogenous computer systems. Converting from the local representation to XDR is called encoding. Converting from XDR to the local representation is called decoding. XDR is implemented as a software library of functions that is portable between different operating systems and is also independent of the transport layer. Sun RPC uses XDR.
XDR data types
XDR defines the following data types:
- boolean
- char
- short
- int
- long
- float
- double
- enumeration
- structure
- string
- fixed length array
- variable length array
- union
- opaque data
External links
RFC1832 (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1832.txt)
The XDR data format is in use by backup software like Legato's NetWorker in its newer releases.