The CAPE-OPEN Laboratories Network has opened a Request for Comment (RFC) on the draft CAPE-OPEN Persistence Common Interface specification.
The proposed specification defines a common, platform-independent mechanism through which CAPE-OPEN objects can save and restore their internal state. It is intended to support consistent persistence across CAPE-OPEN implementations while reducing reliance on middleware-specific persistence mechanisms.
Most process-modelling environments allow the state of a simulation to be stored and restored. This functionality enables users to save flowsheets, share simulation files, return to earlier versions of a design, and archive simulations at different stages of development.
A CAPE-OPEN flowsheet may contain Process Modelling Components supplied by different software vendors. A standard persistence mechanism is therefore needed to ensure that the state of each component can be saved and restored consistently by the Process Modelling Environment.
Earlier versions of the CAPE-OPEN standard relied on platform-specific persistence mechanisms, particularly those provided by the Microsoft Component Object Model. The development of the CAPE-OPEN Binary Interop Architecture created a need for a platform-independent persistence mechanism that could be used across CAPE-OPEN implementations.
The draft Persistence Common Interface was presented to the CO-LaN community at the 2025 CO-LaN Annual Meeting.
The presentation provides additional background on the motivation for developing a CAPE-OPEN persistence mechanism, the principal design decisions reflected in the specification, and the scenarios that the interface is intended to support.
The presentation recording is available on the CO-LaN YouTube channel:
Watch the Persistence Common Interface presentation
CO-LaN invites feedback from Process Modelling Environment developers, component developers, software vendors, researchers, and other members of the CAPE-OPEN and process-modelling communities.
We kindly ask for your careful review. Your detailed feedback and suggestions, ideally referencing specific sections, will help us ensure that these revisions meet the practical needs of the CAPE-OPEN community.