1. NIEM Technical Guidance
  2. NIEM and Code Lists
  3. The NIEM Code Lists Specification

The NIEM Code Lists Specification

The NIEM Technical Architecture Committee (NTAC) is actively developing the NIEM Code Lists Specification. We are seeking help from the NIEM community to review and improve it. Please participate by reviewing the document and sending us feedback.

The NIEM Code Lists Specification is a technical document that provides XML syntax and rules that support the use of code lists in NIEM XML Schemas, IEPDs, and information exchange packages (IEPs). One major topic for developers and users of code lists with NIEM information exchanges is the development, distribution, maintenance, and use of code lists. This specification addresses this need.

The specification includes:

  • Additional machine-readable formats for code lists: in addition to XML Schema simple types supported by previous versions of NIEM, this specification provides for using spreadsheets in CSV format (comma-separated values format), as well as Genericode, an OASIS format defining code lists in XML.
  • Methods of using code lists in XML Schemas or in XML messages; this enables code lists to be identified at run-time (as attributes in a message), or at schema-time, as annotations on components of a schema.
  • Use of the XML Catalog format for resolving code list identifiers to actual code lists within an IEPD.
  • Rules for how to match values in messages to values in code lists. This enables validation of messages against code lists, and the use of multiple columns in messages (e.g. county code & state code, or vehicle make & model).

The NIEM Code Lists Specification is published at:

  1. The NIEM Code Lists Specification, version 1.0beta1 is on reference.niem.gov.
  2. The complete set of files that accompany the NIEM Code Lists Specification are on reference.niem.gov, and are available as a zip file
  3. All files are published to a GitHub repository. This repository has drafts of the specifcation, releases, and an issue tracker.

Please review the specification and let us know your thoughts. Comments may be emailed to niem-comments@lists.gatech.edu, or may be submitted as tracked issues at the GitHub issue tracker.

NIEM Technical Guidance Differences between NIEM reference and extension schema documents IEPD Change Control and Version Management Introduction to Domain Modeling NIEM Core Supplements NIEM and Code Lists NIEM and JSON NIEM-UML