Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle Support
open-in-new
<p>Continuous Acquisition and Life-cycle Support (CALS) is a <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Defense/dWAvf7e3">United States Department of Defense</a> initiative for electronically capturing military documentation and linking related information. </p><p>The initiative has developed a number of standard specifications (protocols) for the exchange of electronic data with commercial suppliers. These standards are often referred to as simply "CALS". CALS standards have been adopted by several other allied nations. </p><p>The CALS initiative has endorsed <a href="/facts/IGES/TtKwR0eF">IGES</a> and <a href="/facts/ISO_10303/1sUvrP4t">STEP</a> as formats for digital data. </p><p>CALS includes standards for <a href="/facts/Electronic_data_interchange/ydnn0fTW">electronic data interchange</a>, electronic technical documentation, and guidelines for process improvement. </p> <ul><li>The <a href="/facts/CALS_Table_Model/FvwUQ2mB">CALS Table Model</a> is a DTD standard for representing tables in <a href="/facts/Standard_Generalized_Markup_Language/euIKXwHV">SGML</a>/<a href="/facts/XML/clNgUfWk">XML</a>. (see also <a href="/facts/DocBook/8RpRVfCQ">DocBook</a>)</li> <li>The <a href="/facts/CALS_Raster_file_format/xRKTzH3m">CALS Raster file format</a> was developed in the mid-1980s to standardize on graphics data interchange for electronic publishing for the federal government.</li></ul> <p>CALS was known formerly as <i>Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistic Support</i>. </p>