IEC 61804-4:2020 specifies EDD interpretation for EDD applications and EDDs to support EDD interoperability. This document is intended to ensure that field device developers use the EDDL constructs consistently and that the EDD applications have the same interpretations of the EDD. It supplements the EDDL specification to promote EDDL application interoperability and improve EDD portability between EDDL applications.

This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition published in 2015. This edition constitutes a technical revision. This edition was developed by merging material from multiple variants of existing EDDL specifications including those from FieldComm Group (Foundation™ Fieldbus , HART® ), PROFIBUS™ Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO), and ISA100_Wireless™ Compliance Institute (ISA100 WCI). When a profile deviation exists, it is now indicated in the context where the related deviation is found. As a result, the formatting and numbering of this edition may be different from any of the individual specifications from which this edition was derived. This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition: • communication profiles ISA100 and GPE were added; • description of rules for optimized-column-width layout have been added; • description of the concatenation of labels and help was added; • color banding for meter type charts was added.