Data Types Used in OSCAL

The OSCAL models share a set of data type primitives. These data types are documented in the following sections.

Simple Data types

boolean

A boolean value mapped in XML, JSON, and YAML as follows:

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type boolean as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="BooleanDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:boolean">
    <xs:pattern value="\S(.*\S)?">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A trimmed string, at least one character with no leading or
          trailing whitespace.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "boolean"
}

decimal

A real number expressed using decimal numerals.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type decimal as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="DecimalDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:decimal">
    <xs:pattern value="\S(.*\S)?">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A trimmed string, at least one character with no leading or
          trailing whitespace.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "number",
  "pattern": "(\\+|-)?([0-9]+(\\.[0-9]*)?|\\.[0-9]+)"
}

empty

This data type indicates that the model information element contains no value content, but may contain other structured information elements.

In XML, this may represent an element without text content.

In JSON, this may represent an object with labels corresponding to other child information elements, but no label corresponding to a text value.

Note: Use of this data type has been deprecated with no replacement, since this can be handled with format-specific syntax.

integer

An integer value.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type integer as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="IntegerDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:integer">
    <xs:pattern value="\S(.*\S)?">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A trimmed string, at least one character with no leading or
          trailing whitespace.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "integer"
}

nonNegativeInteger

An integer value that is equal to or greater than 0.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type nonNegativeInteger as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="NonNegativeIntegerDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:nonNegativeInteger">
    <xs:pattern value="\S(.*\S)?">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A trimmed string, at least one character with no leading or
          trailing whitespace.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "integer",
  "minimum": 0
}

positiveInteger

A positive integer value.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type positiveInteger as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="PositiveIntegerDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:positiveInteger">
    <xs:pattern value="\S(.*\S)?">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A trimmed string, at least one character with no leading or
          trailing whitespace.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "integer",
  "minimum": 1
}

Formatted String Data types

The following are data types based on strings.

base64Binary

A string representing arbitrary Base64-encoded binary data.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type base64Binary as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="Base64Datatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:base64Binary">
    <xs:pattern value="\S(.*\S)?">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A trimmed string, at least one character with no leading or
          trailing whitespace.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "pattern": "^[0-9A-Fa-f]+$",
  "contentEncoding": "base64"
}

date

This is the same as date-with-timezone, except the time zone portion is optional.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type date as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="DateDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:date">
    <xs:pattern
      value="(((2000|2400|2800|(19|2[0-9](0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])))-02-29)|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-02-(0[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-8]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[13578]|10|12)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[469]|11)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|30)))(Z|[+-][0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2})?"
    />
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "pattern": "^(((2000|2400|2800|(19|2[0-9](0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])))-02-29)|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-02-(0[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-8]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[13578]|10|12)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[469]|11)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|30)))(Z|[+-][0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2})?$"
}

date-with-timezone

A string representing a 24-hour period in a given timezone. A date-with-timezone is formatted according to "full-date" as defined RFC3339. This type additionally requires that the time-offset (timezone) is always provided.

For example:

2019-09-28Z
2019-12-02-08:00

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type date as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="DateWithTimezoneDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="DateDatatype">
    <xs:pattern
      value="(((2000|2400|2800|(19|2[0-9](0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])))-02-29)|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-02-(0[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-8]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[13578]|10|12)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[469]|11)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|30)))(Z|[+-][0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2})"
    />
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "pattern": "^(((2000|2400|2800|(19|2[0-9](0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])))-02-29)|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-02-(0[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-8]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[13578]|10|12)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[469]|11)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|30)))(Z|[+-][0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2})$"
}

dateTime

This is the same as dateTime-with-timezone, except the time zone portion is optional.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built-in type dateTime as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="DateTimeDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:dateTime">
    <xs:pattern
      value="(((2000|2400|2800|(19|2[0-9](0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])))-02-29)|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-02-(0[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-8]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[13578]|10|12)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[469]|11)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|30)))T((2[0-3]|[01][0-9]):([0-5][0-9]):([0-5][0-9])(\.[0-9]+)?)(Z|[+-][0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2})?"
    />
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "pattern": "^(((2000|2400|2800|(19|2[0-9](0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])))-02-29)|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-02-(0[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-8]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[13578]|10|12)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[469]|11)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|30)))T(2[0-3]|[01][0-9]):([0-5][0-9]):([0-5][0-9])(\\.[0-9]+)?(Z|[+-][0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2})?$"
}

dateTime-with-timezone

A string containing a date and time formatted according to "date-time" as defined RFC3339. This type requires that the time-offset (timezone) is always provided. This use of timezone ensure that date/time information that is exchanged across timezones is unambiguous.

For example:

2019-09-28T23:20:50.52Z
2019-12-02T16:39:57-08:00
2019-12-31T23:59:60Z

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type dateTime as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="DateWithTimezoneDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="DateDatatype">
    <xs:pattern
      value="(((2000|2400|2800|(19|2[0-9](0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])))-02-29)|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-02-(0[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-8]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[13578]|10|12)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[469]|11)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|30)))(Z|[+-][0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2})"
    />
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "format": "date-time",
  "pattern": "^(((2000|2400|2800|(19|2[0-9](0[48]|[2468][048]|[13579][26])))-02-29)|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-02-(0[1-9]|1[0-9]|2[0-8]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[13578]|10|12)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01]))|(((19|2[0-9])[0-9]{2})-(0[469]|11)-(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|30)))T(2[0-3]|[01][0-9]):([0-5][0-9]):([0-5][0-9])(\\.[0-9]+)?(Z|[+-][0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2})$"
}

email

An email address string formatted according to RFC 6531.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type string as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="EmailAddressDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="StringDatatype">
    <xs:pattern value="\S.*@.*\S">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>Need a better pattern.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "format": "email",
  "pattern": "^.+@.+$"
}

hostname

An internationalized Internet host name string formatted according to section 2.3.2.3 of RFC 5890.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type string as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="HostnameDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="StringDatatype"/>
</xs:simpleType>

Note: A better pattern is needed for normalizing hostname, since the current data type is very open-ended.

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "pattern": "^\\S(.*\\S)?$",
  "format": "idn-hostname"
}

Once a suitable pattern for XML is developed, this pattern will be ported to JSON for more consistent validation.

ip-v4-address

An Internet Protocol version 4 address in dotted-quad ABNF syntax as defined in section 3.2 of RFC 2673.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type string as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="IPV4AddressDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="StringDatatype">
    <xs:pattern
      value="((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9]).){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])"
    />
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "format": "ipv4",
  "pattern": "^((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9]).){3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])$"
}

ip-v6-address

An Internet Protocol version 6 address in dotted-quad ABNF syntax as defined in section 2.2 of RFC 3513.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type string as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="IPV6AddressDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
    <xs:whiteSpace value="collapse"/>
    <xs:pattern
      value="(([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){7,7}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,7}:|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,6}:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,5}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,2}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,3}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,3}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,2}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,5}|[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,6})|:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,7}|:)|[fF][eE]80:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{0,4}){0,4}%[0-9a-zA-Z]{1,}|::([fF]{4}(:0{1,4}){0,1}:){0,1}((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9]).){3,3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9]).){3,3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9]))"
    />
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "format": "ipv6",
  "pattern": "^(([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){7,7}[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,7}:|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,6}:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,5}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,2}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,3}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,3}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,4}|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,2}(:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,5}|[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,6})|:((:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}){1,7}|:)|[fF][eE]80:(:[0-9a-fA-F]{0,4}){0,4}%[0-9a-zA-Z]{1,}|::([fF]{4}(:0{1,4}){0,1}:){0,1}((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9]).){3,3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])|([0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}:){1,4}:((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9]).){3,3}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9]))$"
}

NCName

A non-colonized name as defined by XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes Second Edition.

Note: Use of this data type has been deprecated in favor of token.

string

A string of Unicode characters, but not empty and not whitespace-only (whitespace is U+9, U+10, U+32 or [ \n\t]+).

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type string as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="StringDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:string">
    <xs:whiteSpace value="preserve"/>
    <xs:pattern value="\S(.*\S)?">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A trimmed string, at least one character with no leading or
          trailing whitespace.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "pattern": "^\\S(.*\\S)?$"
}

token

A non-colonized name as defined by XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes Second Edition.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type string as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="TokenDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="StringDatatype">
    <xs:pattern value="(\p{L}|_)(\p{L}|\p{N}|[.\-_])*"/>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "pattern": "^(\\p{L}|_)(\\p{L}|\\p{N}|[.\\-_])*$"
}

uri

A universal resource identifier (URI) formatted according to RFC3986.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type anyURI as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="URIDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:anyURI">
    <xs:pattern value="[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9+\-.]+:.*\S">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>Requires a scheme with colon per RFC 3986.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "format": "uri",
  "pattern": "^[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9+\\-.]+:.+$"
}

uri-reference

A URI Reference (either a URI or a relative-reference) formatted according to section 4.1 of RFC3986.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type anyURI as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="URIReferenceDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="xs:anyURI">
    <xs:pattern value="\S(.*\S)?">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A trimmed URI, at least one character with no leading or
          trailing whitespace.</xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "format": "uri-reference"
}

uuid

A version 4 or 5 Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) as defined by RFC 4122.

In XML Schema this is represented as a restriction on the built in type string as follows:

<xs:simpleType name="UUIDDatatype">
  <xs:restriction base="StringDatatype">
    <xs:pattern
      value="[0-9A-Fa-f]{8}-[0-9A-Fa-f]{4}-[45][0-9A-Fa-f]{3}-[89ABab][0-9A-Fa-f]{3}-[0-9A-Fa-f]{12}">
      <xs:annotation>
        <xs:documentation>A sequence of 8-4-4-4-12 hex digits, with extra constraints in
          the 13th and 17-18th places for version 4 and 5 </xs:documentation>
      </xs:annotation>
    </xs:pattern>
  </xs:restriction>
</xs:simpleType>

In JSON Schema, this is represented as:

{
  "type": "string",
  "pattern": "^[0-9A-Fa-f]{8}-[0-9A-Fa-f]{4}-[45][0-9A-Fa-f]{3}-[89ABab][0-9A-Fa-f]{3}-[0-9A-Fa-f]{12}$"
}

Markup Data Types

Structured prose text in OSCAL is designed to map cleanly to equivalent subsets of HTML and Markdown. This allows HTML-like markup to be incorporated in OSCAL XML-based content using an element set maintained in the OSCAL namespace. This HTML-equivalent element set is not intended to be treated directly as HTML, but to be readily and transparently converted to HTML (or other presentational formats) as needed. Similarly, OSCAL uses a subset of Markdown for use in OSCAL JSON- and YAML-based content. A mapping is supported between the HTML-like element set and the Markdown syntax, which supports transparent and lossless bidirectional mapping between both OSCAL markup representations.

The OSCAL HTML-like syntax supports:

• HTML paragraphs (p), headers (h1-h6), tables (table), preformatted text (pre), code blocks (code), and ordered and unordered lists (ol and ul.)

• Within paragraphs or text content: a, img, strong, em, b, i, sup, sub.

In remarks below and throughout this documentation, this element set may be referred to as "prose content" or "prose". A future OSCAL could support the definition of this tag set (and Markdown equivalent) as a module, enabling our HTML subset to be switched out for something else. (Its prose model would be different from OSCAL prose as currently defined.)

Note that elements such as div, blockquote, section or aside, used in HTML to provide structure, are not permitted in OSCAL. Structures in OSCAL should be represented using OSCAL elements (or objects in JSON) such as part, which can include prose.

In addition, there are contexts in OSCAL where prose usage may be further constrained. For example, at a higher level (outside the base schema) an OSCAL application could forbid the use of prose headers h1-h6 in favor of nested OSCAL part elements with their own titles.

The OSCAL Markdown syntax is loosely based on CommonMark. When in doubt about Markdown features and syntax, we look to CommonMark for guidance, largely because it is more rigorously tested than many other forms of Markdown.

markup-line

The following table describes the equivalent constructs in HTML and Markdown used in OSCAL within the markup-line data type.

Note: Markdown does not have an equivalent of the HTML <i> and <b> tags, which indicate italics and bold respectively. These concepts are mapped in OSCAL markup text to <em> and <strong> common mark, which render equivalently in browsers, but do not have exactly the same semantics. While this mapping is imperfect, it represents the common uses of these HTML tags.

Parameter Insertion

The OSCAL catalog, profile, and implementation layer models allow for control parameters to be defined and injected into prose text.

Parameter injection is handled in OSCAL as follows using the <insert> tag, where you must provide its type and the identifier reference with id-ref:

This implements <insert type="param" id-ref="pm-9_prm_1"/> as required to address organizational changes.

The same string in Markdown is represented as follows:

This implements {{ insert: param, pm-9_prm_1 }} as required to address organizational changes.

Specialized Character Mapping

The following characters have special handling in their HTML and/or Markdown forms.

While the characters *`~^ are valid for use unescaped in JSON strings and YAML double quoted strings, these characters have special meaning in Markdown markup. As a result, when these characters appear as literals in a Markdown representation, they must be escaped to avoid them being parsed as Markdown to indicate formatting. The escaped representation indicates these characters are to be represented as characters, not markup, when the Markdown is mapped to HTML.

Because the character "\" (back slash or reverse solidus) must be escaped in JSON, note that those characters that require a back slash to escape them in Markdown, such as "*" (appearing as "\*"), must be double escaped (as "\\*") to represent the escaped character in JSON or YAML. In conversion, the JSON or YAML processor reduces these to the simple escaped form, again permitting the Markdown processor to recognize them as character contents, not markup.

Since these characters are not markup delimiters in XML, they are safe to use there without special handling. The XML open markup delimiters "<" and "&", when appearing in XML contents, must as always be escaped as named entities or numeric character references, if they are to be read as literal characters not markup.

markup-multiline

All constructs supported by the markup-line data type are also supported by the markup-multiline data type, when appearing within a header (h1-h6), paragraph (p), list item (li) or table cell (th or td).

The following additional constructs are also supported. Note that the syntax for these elements must appear on their own lines (i.e., with additional line feeds as delimiters), as is usual in Markdown.

Paragraphs

Additionally, the use of p tags in HTML is mapped to Markdown as two double, escaped newlines within a JSON or YAML string (i.e., "\\n\\n"). This allows Markdown text to be split into paragraphs when this data type is used.

Tables

Tables are also supported by markup-multiline which are mapped from Markdown to HTML as follows:

• The first row in a Markdown table is considered a header row, with each cell mapped as a <th>.
• The alignment formatting (second) row of the Markdown table is not converted to HTML. Formatting is currently ignored.
• Each remaining row is mapped as a cell using the <td> tag.
• HTML colspan and rowspan are not supported by Markdown, and so are excluded from OSCAL.

OSCAL attempts to support simple tables mainly due to the prevalence of tables in legacy data sets. However, producers of OSCAL data should note that when they have tabular information, these are frequently semantic structures or matrices that can be described directly in OSCAL as named parts and properties or as parts, sub-parts and paragraphs. This ensures that their nominal or represented semantics are accessible for processing when this information would be lost in plain table cells. Table markup should be used only as a fallback option when stronger semantic labeling is not possible.

Tables are mapped from HTML to Markdown as follows:

• Only a single header row <tr><th> is supported. This row is mapped to the Markdown table header, with header cells preceded, delimited, and terminated by |.
• The second row is given as a sequence of ---, as many as the table has columns, delimited by single |. In Markdown, a simple syntax here can be used to indicate the alignment of cells; OSCAL HTML does not support this feature.
• Each subsequent row is mapped to the Markdown table rows, with cells preceded, delimited, and terminated by |.

For example:

The following HTML table:

<table>
  <tr><th>Col A</th><th>Col B</th></tr>
  <tr><td>Have some of</td><td>Try all of</td></tr>
</table>

Is mapped to the Markdown table:

| Col A | Col B |
| --- | --- |
| Have some of | Try all of |

Line feeds in Markdown

Additionally, line feed (LF) characters must be escaped as "\n" when appearing in string contents in JSON and (depending on placement) in YAML. In Markdown, the line feed is used to delimit paragraphs and other block elements, represented using markup (tagging) in the XML version. When transcribed into JSON, these LF characters must also appear as "\n".