This International Standard defines the Enhanced Ada SubseT (EAST) language used to create descriptions of data called Data Description Records (DDRs). Such DDRs ensure a complete and exact understanding of the data and allow it to be interpreted in an automated fashion. This means that a software tool is able to analyse a DDR and interpret the format of the associated data. This allows the software to extract values from the data on any host machine (i.e. on a different machine from the one that produced the data).

The scope and field of application are furthermore detailed in subclauses 1.1 and 1.2 of the enclosed CCSDS publication.