Task Specific Markup Languages for Simulation Modeling

A task specific markup language (TSML) is a specialized markup language with a syntax and structure designed for a specific purpose. These languages are typically defined using the XML meta-language. The wide adoption of XML and wide availability of XML tools and technologies, such as parsers, make TSML files portable and allow for open accessible standards, interoperability, and inter-application communication. A number of task specific markup languages have been developed and employed to support many aspects of simulation modeling. In this paper we provide an overview of the three basic categories of task specific markup languages for discrete-event simulation: data management and storage, communication, and modeling. We present these application categories with sub-categories and examples from the literature. We then discuss issues related to developing task specific markup language standards for simulation support and point out several important unresolved issues.