XBRL® For Dummies®

Chapter 17. Digging Deeper into XBRL Taxonomies

In This Chapter

• Taking a look at the key role XBRL taxonomies play

• Knowing what to look for in an XBRL taxonomy

• Examining XBRL taxonomies created by others

• Identifying the characteristics of a good taxonomy

In this chapter, we cover additional important details of an XBRL taxonomy. We also look at important big-picture considerations. We explain how an XBRL taxonomy is more than a dictionary. We walk you through approaches to looking at an XBRL taxonomy and what to look for in a taxonomy. We point you to sample and example XBRL taxonomies, as well as production taxonomies, that help you understand XBRL taxonomies better. We also highlight the characteristics of a good XBRL taxonomy.

Consolidating Your Knowledge

An XBRL taxonomy is a body of knowledge for some business domain expressed in a standardized electronic format. The XBRL taxonomy contains the experience, insights, rules, conventions, and other knowledge of professionals who operate within that domain. This knowledge is in a form that both humans and computer software applications can read. Because computers can read this domain knowledge, you can make computers do things they've never been able to do thanks to these standardized bodies of domain knowledge that exist in a global standard format that a computer can now understand.

None of these things that computers can do for you with XBRL are magic. What looks like magic is a result of good and proper use of a technology for what ...