Editing OSI model (section)

===Layer 6: Presentation layer===
{{main|Presentation layer}}
The presentation layer establishes data formatting and data translation into a format specified by the application layer during the encapsulation of outgoing messages while being passed down the [[protocol stack]], and possibly reversed during the deencapsulation of incoming messages when being passed up the protocol stack. For this very reason, outgoing messages during encapsulation are converted into a format specified by the application layer, while the conversion for incoming messages during deencapsulation are reversed.

The presentation layer handles protocol conversion, data encryption, data decryption, data compression, data decompression, incompatibility of data representation between operating systems, and graphic commands. The presentation layer transforms data into the form that the application layer accepts, to be sent across a network. Since the presentation layer converts data and graphics into a display format for the application layer, the presentation layer is sometimes called the syntax layer.<ref name="Grigonis 2000">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Grigonis |first=Richard |title=Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model |encyclopedia=Computer Telephony Encyclopedia |publisher=CMP Books |publication-place=New York |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-929629-51-0 |oclc=48138823 |page=[https://archive.org/details/computertelephon0000grig/page/330/mode/2up 331]}}</ref> For this reason, the presentation layer negotiates the transfer of syntax structure through the [[Basic Encoding Rules]] of [[Abstract Syntax Notation One]] (ASN.1), with capabilities such as converting an [[EBCDIC]]-coded [[text file]] to an [[ASCII]]-coded file, or [[serialization]] of [[object (computer science)|object]]s and other [[data structure]]s from and to [[XML]].<ref name="guide-to-networking-essentials" />