vinoXML is an open standard for the exchange of wine information, as no such standard existed in late 2005, a few authors of cellar book software got together and defined a standard.
vinoXML is an XML W3C schema defining how wine information should be formatted in a way that anyone complying with the standard will be able to read files generated using the standard.
The vinoXML standard has been released as an open standard, everyone is allowed to use it free of charge, for details please visit the vinoXML web site (vinoXML).
A vinoXML supporting web site will provide a file per wine to be downloaded which contains such information as the wine name, vintage, bottle size, price, tasting notes etc. and you can save it into a particular folder (on a standard install this would be “C:\TheWineCellarBook\xmlImport”).
As of version 2.2 or “The Wine Cellar Book” if the web site is correctly setup and you request the download of a “.vinoxml” file the file will automatically be saved in your “xmlimport” folder.
A vinoXML supporting cellar book application will allow you to import a file provided by a web site or another user of a cellar book and How to - Importing a .vinoxml file it into your database. It will most likely also provide an How to - Export data which allows you to export a wine from your database and share it with a friend of yours, or post it on a web site to exchange such information etc.
The vinoXML standard has been made available in the 2nd quarter of 2006 and as a co-author of the standard “The Wine Cellar Book” supports this standard as of version 2.0, which was released in November 2006.
As you are reading this you are using at least version 2.0, you can access the import and export functions on Menu - Tools.
Initially there are few supporters of this standard, so the best way to help is to promote the standard with everyone involved in the distribution of wine, such as wine related web portals and to other authors of wine cellar book software and to your friends.
Caution
While you can export any of the drinks you track in the software you should be aware that the vinoXML format is geared towards wine and might not deal well with other drink type information.