XBRL International publishes final version of Link Role Registry Specification

28 February 2006

XBRL International has published a final, recommended version of the Specification for the Link Role Registry – a mechanism which allows the definition of new types of relationships for use in XBRL.  This is an important addition to the flexibility and power of XBRL.

The XBRL Link Role Registry (LRR) will be a public, online listing of new, non-standard XLink roles and arc roles that may appear in XBRL taxonomy linkbases and instance documents.  It will provide structured information about their purpose, usage, and any intended impact on XBRL instance validation.

The core XBRL Specification provides a set of standard XLink roles and arc roles that may appear in XBRL instances and linkbases.  However, broadening use of XBRL is leading to the proposal of new, non-standard roles which have common and useful semantics.

The LRR enables the public listing and easy re-use of roles and arc roles that are approved by XBRL International and which may appear in XBRL International Acknowledged and Approved taxonomies. 

The LRR Specification defines both the LRR and the process by which it is updated.  This process is intended to maximise the utility and longevity of the new roles and the taxonomies that use them. 

The LRR Specification is available at http://www.xbrl.org/LRR/.  The latest version of the LRR will always be on the URL www.xbrl.org/lrr/lrr.xml.  

Following the release of the recommended LRR Specification, XBRL International expects new link roles gradually to be added to the LRR.

Announced by:

Peter Calvert

XBRL International

___________