17. A method for conveying time-variant data, indicative of an environmental condition, by an electronic device in a fabric network, the method comprising: encoding, by the electronic device, the time-variant data indicative of an environmental condition, that is generated by a sensor, using a message format that comprises: one or more resources fields that each identifies a resource to be imported into the time-variant data; one or more records that represent data samples comprising the time-variant data being exchanged in the message; a descriptor field corresponding to at least one respective record of the one or more records and containing metadata describing time-variant data contained within the at least one record; a description field having a human-readable string to describe from where the data samples are derived; and transmitting, by the electronic device, over the fabric network, the encoded time-variant data using the message format.
17. A method for conveying time-variant data, indicative of an environmental condition, by an electronic device in a fabric network, the method comprising: encoding, by the electronic device, the time-variant data indicative of an environmental condition, that is generated by a sensor, using a message format that comprises: one or more resources fields that each identifies a resource to be imported into the time-variant data; one or more records that represent data samples comprising the time-variant data being exchanged in the message; a descriptor field corresponding to at least one respective record of the one or more records and containing metadata describing time-variant data contained within the at least one record; a description field having a human-readable string to describe from where the data samples are derived; and transmitting, by the electronic device, over the fabric network, the encoded time-variant data using the message format. 19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the descriptor element comprises a field element that describes the format of one or more data samples found in the message, wherein the field element comprises: a valid element that is a Boolean flag used to indicate whether the field contains alignment padding or valid data; a relative element that is a conditional Boolean flag that is used to indicate whether the samples are measured absolutely or relative to each other; a signed element that indicates whether the data samples are signed or unsigned values; one or more size elements that are each an 8-bit unsigned fixed-point value that indicates a size of corresponding data sample; and a count element is an 8-bit unsigned fixed-point value that indicates a number of size elements for the field element.