The following minimum requirements must be met in order to ensure that the interchange of terminological information may take place smoothly and without problem
compatible selection and consistent application of data categories
flexible conversion capability to restructure entry formats to meet different needs or reflect different methodological approaches: (for example: If no distinction is made between definition, explanation and context in terminological records received through interchange, it is advisable to identify these data categories initially as explanations. A more precise categorization can be made after use and verification of these items.)
conversion to a classification or thesaurus system that ensures compatability of subject field references
compliance with conventions for handling bibliographic sources
conversion to codes and lexicographical symbols as specified in ISO 1951
reversible transliteration to uniform character set representations
Because terminological database management systems may be mutually incompatible, every system should provide as a mimimum requirement the capability to convert the format of the terminological records into either the MARTIF format (ISO 12200) or the MATER format (ISO 6156).
Cycom note: Newer MARTIF compatible formats are TBX and DXLT. A sample TBX file content is shown below. These files need to be protected from charset encoding conversion by dumb editors and emailers.