1. A method in a data processing system for controlling access to a resource, the method comprising: receiving access decision information from a client in a format other than in an extensible markup language format, wherein the access decision information is usable for the controlling of the access to the resource; formatting the access decision information into an access decision information document in the extensible markup language format; evaluating the access decision information document in an extensible markup language format with an extensible markup language rule, wherein the evaluating step uses two different extensible markup language entities as input to its evaluation process, which are (i) the access decision information document in the extensible markup language format and (ii) the extensible markup language rule, wherein the extensible markup language rule is in a compiled rule object compiled by an extensible markup language processor and identifies the access decision information; and generating an access decision based on the evaluation.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access decision is one of true, false, or indifferent.