<s>
CEN/XFS	B-Application
or	O
XFS	O
(	O
extensions	B-Application
for	I-Application
financial	I-Application
services	I-Application
)	O
provides	O
a	O
client-server	B-Operating_System
architecture	I-Operating_System
for	O
financial	O
applications	O
on	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
platform	B-Device
,	O
especially	O
peripheral	B-Device
devices	I-Device
such	O
as	O
EFTPOS	O
terminals	O
and	O
ATMs	O
which	O
are	O
unique	O
to	O
the	O
financial	O
industry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
an	O
international	O
standard	O
promoted	O
by	O
the	O
European	O
Committee	O
for	O
Standardization	O
(	O
known	O
by	O
the	O
acronym	O
CEN	O
,	O
hence	O
CEN/XFS	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
standard	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
WOSA	B-Operating_System
Extensions	B-Application
for	I-Application
Financial	I-Application
Services	I-Application
or	O
WOSA/XFS	B-Application
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
XFS	O
provides	O
a	O
common	O
API	B-General_Concept
for	O
accessing	O
and	O
manipulating	O
various	O
financial	O
services	O
devices	O
regardless	O
of	O
the	O
manufacturer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WOSA/XFS	B-Application
changed	O
name	O
to	O
simply	O
XFS	O
when	O
the	O
standard	O
was	O
adopted	O
by	O
the	O
international	O
CEN/ISSS	O
standards	O
body	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
most	O
commonly	O
called	O
CEN/XFS	B-Application
by	O
the	O
industry	O
participants	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
perceived	O
benefit	O
of	O
XFS	O
is	O
similar	O
to	O
Java	B-Language
's	O
"	O
write	O
once	O
,	O
run	O
anywhere	O
"	O
mantra	O
,	O
often	O
different	O
hardware	O
vendors	O
have	O
different	O
interpretations	O
of	O
the	O
XFS	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
result	O
of	O
these	O
differences	O
in	O
interpretation	O
means	O
that	O
applications	O
typically	O
use	O
a	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
to	O
even	O
out	O
the	O
differences	O
between	O
various	O
platforms	B-Device
implementation	O
of	O
XFS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Notable	O
XFS	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
platforms	B-Device
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
XFS	O
test	O
tools	O
allow	O
testing	O
of	O
XFS	O
applications	O
and	O
middleware	B-General_Concept
on	O
simulated	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
J/XFS	B-Application
is	O
an	O
alternative	O
API	B-General_Concept
to	O
CEN/XFS	B-Application
(	O
which	O
is	O
Windows	O
specific	O
)	O
and	O
also	O
to	O
Xpeak	B-Application
(	O
which	O
is	O
Operating	O
System	O
independent	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
XML	O
messages	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
J/XFS	B-Application
is	O
written	O
in	O
Java	B-Language
with	O
the	O
objective	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
platform	B-Device
agnostic	O
client-server	B-Operating_System
architecture	I-Operating_System
for	O
financial	O
applications	O
,	O
especially	O
peripheral	B-Device
devices	I-Device
used	O
in	O
the	O
financial	O
industry	O
such	O
as	O
EFTPOS	O
terminals	O
and	O
ATMs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
J/XFS	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
common	O
Object	B-Language
Oriented	I-Language
API	B-General_Concept
between	O
a	O
pure	O
Java	B-Language
application	O
and	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
financial	O
devices	O
,	O
providing	O
a	O
layer	O
of	O
separation	O
between	O
application	O
and	O
device	O
logic	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
implemented	O
using	O
a	O
native	O
J/XFS	B-Application
API	B-General_Concept
or	O
wrapping	O
an	O
existing	O
implementation	O
in	O
JavaPOS	B-Application
or	O
CEN/XFS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
J/XFS	B-Application
was	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
companies	O
De	O
La	O
Rue	O
,	O
IBM	O
,	O
NCR	O
,	O
Wincor	O
Nixdorf	O
and	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
and	O
is	O
now	O
hosted	O
,	O
monitored	O
and	O
maintained	O
by	O
the	O
European	O
Committee	O
for	O
Standardization	O
,	O
CEN	O
.	O
</s>
