LONMARK external interface files(.xif) are files that define the external interface for one or more LONWORKS devices. The external interface is the interface to a device that is exposed over a LONWORKS network. The external interface does not expose the internal algorithms of a device, instead, it only exposes the inputs to the algorithms and the outputs from the algorithms.
The external interface file includes the program ID information of the device, application type information, self-documentation information, the configuration information of network variables.
There are two benefits to using external interface files. First, an external interface file may include information that is not included in a device such as network variable names. Second, an external interface file can be used during network engineering when the device is not accessible from the network engineering tool.
To generate an XIF file: