The use of ASCII text and a straightforward syntax for both CSN and OSN ensure that they can be parsed easily and understood directly by users and developers.
SAIF defines 285 classes (including enumerations) in the Class Syntax Notation, covering the definitions of high-level features, geometric types, topological relationships, temporal coordinates and relationships, geodetic coordinate system components and metadata.
This meant that data transfers from one GIS environment to another did not need to follow the lowest common denominator between the two systems.
When Safe Software developed the Feature Manipulation Engine (FME), it was in large measure with the express purpose of supporting such transformations.
The FMEBC was a freely available software application that supported a wide range of transformations using SAIF as the hub.
Consequently, the Government of British Columbia decided to develop SAIF and to put it forward as a national standard in Canada.
The work on the SAIF modeling paradigm and the CSN classes was carried out principally by Mark Sondheim, Henry Kucera and Peter Friesen, all with the British Columbia government at the time.
It is significant as a precursor to the Geography Markup Language and as the formative element in the development of the widely used Feature Manipulation Engine.