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8.2.3. The Data Stream Format

SCAP data stream is a file format used since SCAP version 1.2 and it represents a bundle of XCCDF, OVAL, and other component files which can be used to define a compliance policy expressed by an XCCDF checklist. It also contains an index and catalog that allow splitting the given data stream into files according to the SCAP components.
The data stream uses XML format that consists of a header formed by a table of contents and a list of the <ds:component> elements. Each of these elements encompasses an SCAP component such as XCCDF, OVAL, CPE, and other. The data stream file may contain multiple components of the same type, and thus covering all security policies needed by your organization.

Example 8.3. An Example of a Data Stream Header

        
<ds:data-stream-collection xmlns:ds="http://scap.nist.gov/schema/scap/source/1.2" 
    xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" 
    xmlns:cat="urn:oasis:names:tc:entity:xmlns:xml:catalog" 
    id="scap_org.open-scap_collection_from_xccdf_ssg-rhel6-xccdf-1.2.xml"
    schematron-version="1.0">
  <ds:data-stream id="scap_org.open-scap_datastream_from_xccdf_ssg-rhel6-xccdf-1.2.xml" 
      scap-version="1.2" use-case="OTHER">
  <ds:dictionaries>
    <ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel6-cpe-dictionary.xml" 
        xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_output--ssg-rhel6-cpe-dictionary.xml">
      <cat:catalog>
        <cat:uri name="ssg-rhel6-cpe-oval.xml" 
            uri="#scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel6-cpe-oval.xml"/>
      </cat:catalog>
    </ds:component-ref>
  </ds:dictionaries>
  <ds:checklists>
    <ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_ssg-rhel6-xccdf-1.2.xml" 
        xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_ssg-rhel6-xccdf-1.2.xml">
      <cat:catalog>
        <cat:uri name="ssg-rhel6-oval.xml" 
            uri="#scap_org.open-scap_cref_ssg-rhel6-oval.xml"/>
      </cat:catalog>
    </ds:component-ref>
  </ds:checklists>
  <ds:checks>
    <ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_ssg-rhel6-oval.xml" 
        xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_ssg-rhel6-oval.xml"/>
    <ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel6-cpe-oval.xml" 
        xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_output--ssg-rhel6-cpe-oval.xml"/>
    <ds:component-ref id="scap_org.open-scap_cref_output--ssg-rhel6-oval.xml" 
        xlink:href="#scap_org.open-scap_comp_output--ssg-rhel6-oval.xml"/>
  </ds:checks>
</ds:data-stream>
<ds:component id="scap_org.open-scap_comp_ssg-rhel6-oval.xml"
    timestamp="2014-03-14T16:21:59">
  <oval_definitions xmlns="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5" 
      xmlns:oval="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-common-5" 
      xmlns:ind="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#independent" 
      xmlns:unix="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#unix" 
      xmlns:linux="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#linux" 
      xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
      xsi:schemaLocation="http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-common-5 
      oval-common-schema.xsd 
          http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5 
      oval-definitions-schema.xsd
          http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#independent 
      independent-definitions-schema.xsd
          http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#unix 
      unix-definitions-schema.xsd
          http://oval.mitre.org/XMLSchema/oval-definitions-5#linux 
      linux-definitions-schema.xsd">