The Universal Business Language XML Basics

XML Basics
The Universal Business Language
The Universal Business
Language
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002
Jon Bosak, Sun Microsystems
Chair, OASIS UBL TC
XML Basics
XML is........................................................................................ A-2
XML in one slide ........................................................................ A-3
XML is "syntax, not semantics" ................................................. A-4
The industrial function of XML.................................................. A-5
The social function of XML ....................................................... A-6
XML Basics................................................................................ A-1
Documents and Data................................................................... B-1
XML and Electronic Commerce................................................. C-1
Web Services for Business ......................................................... D-1
A Program for Change................................................................ E-1
UBL .............................................................................................F-1
UBL Deliverables ....................................................................... G-1
The UBL TC............................................................................... H-1
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
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XML Basics
The Universal Business Language
XML Basics
The Universal Business Language
XML is...
XML in one slide
A simplified subset of SGML (ISO 8879)
Legal XML documents are called well-formed
developed by a cross-industry group organized
and led by Sun Microsystems
Builds on 30 years of research and 14 years of
standardization
Widely deployed (as SGML) in major
industrial settings
Powerful data modeling -- no limits on
namespace or structural depth
But small enough for Web browsers
A well-formed document describes a logical tree
If a well-formed document conforms to an
optional grammar or schema (e.g., a DTD), it is
also valid
Well-formedness is a property of the document
Validity is a property of the relationship
between a document and a grammar or schema
Not a language but a metalanguage
Designed to support the definition of an
unlimited number of languages for specific
industries and applications
All XML languages can be processed by a
single lightweight parser
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XML Basics
The Universal Business Language
XML Basics
The Universal Business Language
XML is "syntax, not semantics"
The industrial function of XML
Tags have no predefined meaning
XML is a framework for developing an unlimited
number of special-purpose data languages.
Unlike HTML, XML by itself conveys only
content and structure, not presentation, behavior,
or meaning
The meaning of XML languages must be
specified outside of XML itself
Operational semantics: programs, servlets,
applets, scripts, stylesheets...
Definitional semantics: prose, namespaces,
ontologies, UML diagrams...
XML allows people sharing a common data
exchange problem to work out an open solution to
that problem.
Without interference from third parties
Without dependence on large software vendors
Without bindings to specific tools
Without language restrictions
In a way that lets anyone with a similar problem
use the same solution
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XML Basics
The Universal Business Language
The social function of XML
Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
Documents and Data
Like Linux and Gnome, XML has a political agenda:
freedom from vendor control.
(1996) We knew that HTML could not support
data exchange in general
Without XML, HTML would have been replaced
with a binary, proprietary format controlled by a
single vendor
The alternative was SGML (international, open,
text-based standard, ISO 8879-1986)
What's a document? .................................................................... B-2
Example: an international bookstore .......................................... B-3
With stylesheet for Japanese....................................................... B-4
With stylesheet for English......................................................... B-5
What does the document background do for data?..................... B-6
Separation of data from processing ............................................ B-7
The document aspect of XML .................................................... B-8
Business versus programming .................................................... B-9
Summary: the XML trade-off ................................................... B-10
XML put SGML on the Web. Result:
Users can define their own data exchange
standards
There are many inexpensive, robust tools
Data belongs to the people who create it rather
than to the software vendors
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Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
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Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
What's a document?
A document is data that you can read.
Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
Example: an international
bookstore
Document requirements are a superset of data
requirements (e.g., recursion)
The basic problem with documents is that we need
to display them in many different forms. This is the
problem that SGML was originally designed to
solve. XML inherits the solution to that problem.
Example: This presentation.
Written in XML
HTML generated using a stylesheet for online
publishing
RTF generated using a different stylesheet
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Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
With stylesheet for Japanese
With stylesheet for English
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B-5
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Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
What does the document
background do for data?
XML standardizes the concrete syntax of data
exchange in a text-based notation designed to be
obvious to both people and processes.
Deploying XML creates an open, standardized
information infrastructure.
1. Standardized parsers for putting data into memory
Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
Separation of data from processing
The SGML/XML publishing model decouples
data from processing
This isolates changes in large systems, making
them more flexible and reliable
Basing a system on XML makes it well-suited to
transactional processing in a heterogenous,
asynchronous, distributed environment (like the
Web)
2. Standardized interfaces (DOM and SAX) for
processing the data
3. Standardized ways to display data (CSS, XSLFO)
4. Standardized ways to query data (XPath, XQuery)
5. Standardized ways to link data (XLink, XPointer)
6. Standardized training of people in both publishing
and data processing
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Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
The document aspect of XML
Business versus programming
XML uses documents as the transfer mechanism for
data. XML is text.
We have been doing business for thousands of years.
Now we want to do business electronically. In my
opinion, there are two ways this can happen.
Creates large, standardized collections of data that
can be processed by text tools
Data mining
Long-term retrospective trend analyses
Business intelligence (BI)
Creates an infrastructure in which human beings
are still part of the process
Troubleshooting
Generation of human-readable deliverables
(e.g., catalogues)
Integration into existing social institutions
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1. We can change all of our business and legal
practices to optimize electronic data processing.
2. We can structure data processing to model our
business and legal practices.
A traditional business transaction is an exchange of
documents. XML documents model existing
financial and commercial data very well.
I believe that the rapid adoption of XML is evidence
that we are choosing ease of data management over
ease of programming.
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Documents and Data
The Universal Business Language
Summary: the XML trade-off
XML trades off
Performance
Centralized control
Uniformity
in order to get
Persistence
Distributed control
Asynchronicity
A structure obvious to both humans and machines
A certain kind of readability (like source code)
Very low cost of entry
Complete internationalization
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XML and Electronic Commerce
The Universal Business Language
XML and Electronic
Commerce
What XML does for business ..................................................... C-2
Traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)........................... C-3
The XML version ....................................................................... C-4
The XML DTD ........................................................................... C-5
Advantages of XML over EDI.................................................... C-6
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XML and Electronic Commerce
The Universal Business Language
What XML does for business
XML promotes a message-oriented view of
electronic commerce that isolates business
transactions from differences in software, hardware,
system architectures, and application programming
languages.
XML and Electronic Commerce
The Universal Business Language
Traditional Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI)
EDI and XML examples courtesy of Betty Harvey.
N1*SH*ACE MANUFACTURING*1*987654321*
N2*RECEIVING*N3*234 MAR*N4*
SAN FRANCISCO*CA*94103*US
Examples of business messages:
purchase order from a buyer to a seller
invoice from the seller back to the buyer
request to make payment through a credit card
authorization to use credit card
Very expensive technology
Requires special networks
Implicit structure
Intended for machines only
status reports on success or failure of services
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XML and Electronic Commerce
The Universal Business Language
The XML version
XML and Electronic Commerce
The Universal Business Language
The XML DTD
<shipper duns="987654321">
<organization unique-id="aceman">
<name>ACE MANUFACTURING</name>
The DTD provides a standardized description of the
XML document structure.
<division>RECEIVING</division>
<address>
<!ELEMENT shipper (organization, address,
<street>234 MARKET STREET</street>
attention*)>
<city>SAN FRANCISCO</city>
<!ATTLIST shipper
<state>CA</state>
DUNS CDATA #IMPLIED
<zip>94103</zip>
NAICS CDATA #IMPLIED>
<!ELEMENT organization (name, division*)>
<country>US</country>
<!ELEMENT name (#PCDATA)>
</address>
<!ELEMENT division (#PCDATA)>
</organization>
<!ELEMENT address (street+, city, state?, country,
<shipper>
postalcode)>
<!ELEMENT street (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT city (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT state (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT country (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT postalcode (#PCDATA)>
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XML and Electronic Commerce
The Universal Business Language
Advantages of XML over EDI
Explicit structure
Web Services for Business
The Universal Business Language
Web Services for
Business
Easier validation
Can easily use the Internet
Cheaper to implement
Can open up electronic commerce to small and
medium-size businesses (social agenda again)
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The promise of web services for business .................................. D-2
Why it's not that simple .............................................................. D-3
Web services for B2C and EAI................................................... D-4
Web services for B2B................................................................. D-5
Example: materials management ................................................ D-6
Variation: Vendor-managed model ............................................ D-7
Variation: JIT (just-in-time) model............................................. D-8
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Web Services for Business
The Universal Business Language
Web Services for Business
The Universal Business Language
The promise of web services for
business
Why it's not that simple
Plug 'n play electronic commerce
XML tags have no predefined meaning
XML is not a language; it's a metalanguage
Spontaneous trade with anyone, any time
Platform independence requires interoperable data
XML (no ugly EDI syntax!)
No expensive custom programming
Interoperability requires large-scale semantic
Ubiquitous Internet presence
Cheap tools
Complete platform independence
representation
standardization
Hard to do technically
Hard to do organizationally
Tools and methodologies don't really help
much beyond basic information display and
version management
In the end, meaning has to be defined by human
beings in a committee process. Machines
cannot do this.
B2C and B2B have different web services
requirements
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Web Services for Business
The Universal Business Language
Web Services for Business
The Universal Business Language
Web services for B2C and EAI
Web services for B2B
Business-to-consumer (B2C) and Enterprise
Application Integration (EAI) can be served by a
fairly simple XML infrastructure.
Business-to-business (B2B) interactions require a
more sophisticated web services infrastructure.
RPC interaction model: XML conveys parameters
to a procedure call
Must support run-time trading partner discovery
Must support run-time service interface definition
Document exchange model: XML conveys legally
binding documents
Must support reliable XML messaging
Must support EDI legacy systems
Must enable humans to step in for exception
handling
Automated discovery and automated trading
partner formation are optional
Most B2B trade is with a small number of
partners
Most B2B partnership formation is based on
human judgement
Most B2B partnerships are based on trust and
past performance
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Web Services for Business
The Universal Business Language
Web Services for Business
The Universal Business Language
Example: materials management
Variation: Vendor-managed model
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D-6
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D-7
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Web Services for Business
The Universal Business Language
Variation: JIT (just-in-time) model
A Program for Change
The Universal Business Language
A Program for Change
Making the transition.................................................................. E-2
What we want ............................................................................. E-3
What we need ............................................................................. E-4
What we would get ..................................................................... E-5
Good news: ebXML ................................................................... E-6
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A Program for Change
The Universal Business Language
A Program for Change
The Universal Business Language
Making the transition
What we want
Web services for B2B must provide an upward
migration path for existing businesses. Our goals
should be:
What we want is an XML replacement for the fax
machine that is powerful enough to extend the
benefits of EDI to all of the world's businesses. We
want:
To move existing enterprises online
To automate existing business relationships
in a way that allows each enterprise to move at its
own speed.
Cheap, self-configuring data input software
Cheap, self-configuring data output software
Reasonable cost of integration with existing
backoffice systems
In other words, we should be upgrading existing
business processes in place. The standardization of
XML business documents is the simplest way to
accomplish this.
Standardized, human-readable, machine-readable,
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persistent XML business data that can be used and
re-used by an unlimited number of different
business processes
E-3
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A Program for Change
The Universal Business Language
What we need
What we would get
Standardized XML business forms that can
support existing EDI transaction sets
Reliable XML messaging
Optional but powerful discovery of schemas and
trading partner profiles
Optional but powerful XML trading partner
agreements
Note that the first two items are all that's needed to
implement EDI using XML.
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
A Program for Change
The Universal Business Language
E-4
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The combination of standard XML forms and
reliable XML messaging would:
Provide for incremental automation of existing
business processes in place
Extend EDI to all the world's businesses
Allow existing EDI users to communicate with
smaller partners without replacing their existing
backoffice systems
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A Program for Change
The Universal Business Language
Good news: ebXML
The standard ebXML business infrastructure
developed by OASIS and the United Nations
(UN/CEFACT) gives us almost everything we need
to make XML EDI a reality.
Reliable messaging: ebXML extensions to SOAP
Powerful discovery: ebXML registry/repository
Trading partner agreements: ebXML CPP/CPA
See http://www.ebxml.org/
UBL
The Universal Business Language
UBL
What it is......................................................................................F-2
Economic challenges to UBL ......................................................F-3
Technical challenges to UBL.......................................................F-4
The big problem: context.............................................................F-5
Context drivers.............................................................................F-6
An approach to document standardization...................................F-7
A UBL EDI roadmap...................................................................F-8
Advantages of UBL EDI .............................................................F-9
All we need to make electronic business available to
everyone is a standard set of XML business
schemas.
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UBL
The Universal Business Language
UBL
The Universal Business Language
What it is
Economic challenges to UBL
Synthesis of existing XML B2B languages
There are already several competing (but
(xCBL, cXML, RosettaNet, OAG, etc.)
Primary inputs: xCBL, ebXML core components,
ebXML context methodology
Applicable across any sector or domain of
electronic trade, transport, and administration
(purchasing, payments, logistics, transportation,
statistical reporting, social administration,
healthcare, etc.)
Interoperable with existing EDI systems
Based on a core library plus a context-sensitive
extension mechanism
Unencumbered by intellectual property claims
Intended to become a legal standard for
incomplete) proprietary XML business languages
Some companies have already made substantial
investments in nonstandard solutions
Some industrial consortia have made substantial
investments in industry-specific XML languages
Some big vendors derive substantial income from
the professional services needed to integrate
systems using different business languages
Some big vendors have built solutions around
proprietary XML languages
The economic advantages of complete
interoperability will outweigh all these
considerations in the long run.
international trade
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UBL
The Universal Business Language
Technical challenges to UBL
The basic problem: every company has a slightly
different way of doing business.
So every business relationship exhibits a unique set
of data exchange requirements.
Traditional EDI solution
Standardize the union set of all possibly
required data structures needed for anyone's
version of a given transaction type
For each trading relationship, define the subset
that fits the requirements of particular trading
partners using "implementation guidelines"
This works, but everyone agrees there has to be a
better solution
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UBL
The Universal Business Language
The big problem: context
"Standard" business document components are
different when used in different business contexts.
Example: shipping addresses
Addresses in Japan are different from addresses
in the United States
Addresses in the auto industry are different
from addresses in other industries
Example: invoice items
An invoice for shoes needs item fields for
color; an invoice for gourmet coffee needs item
fields for grind
Invoices for microprocessor boards have to
contain serial numbers for the processor chips
to detect substitution in shipment
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UBL
The Universal Business Language
Context drivers
UBL
The Universal Business Language
An approach to document
standardization
The ebXML analysis identified the most important
"context drivers":
Business process
Industry classification
Product classification
Geopolitical region
Official constraints
Primary business role (vendor, customer, etc.)
Supporting business role (shipper, insurer, etc.)
System capabilities
1. Identify the largest data structures (business
information entities) that are shared across related
business document types and standardize those
structures in an agreed-upon XML syntax to form
a core library.
2. Devise a mechanism for extending or modifying
the business information entities to reflect the
requirements of any given business context (any
set of context drivers).
3. Generate standard context-specific XML versions
of basic business documents and store them in a
public registry.
4. Point to the appropriate document types for a
specific context and do business.
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UBL
The Universal Business Language
UBL
The Universal Business Language
A UBL EDI roadmap
Advantages of UBL EDI
1. Basic UBL EDI
Starts with the low-hanging fruit
Standard context-sensitive XML document
types
Secure messaging (SOAP + ebXML
extensions)
2. Intermediate UBL EDI
Add ebXML CPP/CPA for trading partner
agreements
Add ebXML Reg/Rep for CPPs and document
formats
3. Advanced UBL EDI
Integrate UBL with machine-processable
formal business models
Provides easily understood transition from
traditional EDI and fax-based business practices
Gets small businesses on board
Fits existing legal and trade concepts
Decouples data from process to allow re-use of
data
Hides internal workflow and processing details
Defers the rocket science for later
The World Wide Web took off when a simple,
standard tag language (HTML) was combined with a
simple, ubiquitous transport mechanism (HTTP).
UBL + secure messaging can do for electronic
commerce what HTML + HTTP did for web
publishing.
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UBL Deliverables
The Universal Business Language
UBL Deliverables
UBL Deliverables
The Universal Business Language
Deliverable 1: Component library
Shared library of basic XML building blocks
(address, quantity, etc.)
Deliverable 1: Component library .............................................. G-2
Deliverable 2: Standard documents ............................................ G-3
Deliverable 3: Context methodology.......................................... G-4
Provides shared basis for standard documents
Takes xCBL as a starting point
Covers a large set of document formats
Has component-based approach to document
design
Widely deployed
Unencumbered IP (orginally developed under
government grant)
The UBL library will not be backward-compatible
with xCBL
The component library will be aligned with (and
feed back into) the ebXML core components
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UBL Deliverables
The Universal Business Language
Deliverable 2: Standard documents
Set of XML schemas for common business
documents
Common basis for ad hoc customization in
advance of the UBL context methodology
Core library (modular building blocks)
Procurement documents (Purchase Order,
Purchase Order Response, Purchase Order
Change)
Materials management documents (Advance
Ship Notice, Planning Schedule, Goods
Receipt)
Payment documents (Commercial Invoice,
Remittance Advice)
Transport/logistics documents (Consigment
Status Request, Consignment Status Report,
Bill of Lading)
Catalogs (Price Catalog, Product Catalog)
Statistical reports (Accounting Report)
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UBL Deliverables
The Universal Business Language
Deliverable 3: Context
methodology
The context-sensitive extension methodology will
define how document formats can be extended based
on specific trading partner characteristics.
UBL context extension will build on experience with
OO extension methodology, but will be
More structured
More consistent
Easier to track
Easier to automate
Require a lower level of skill
The UBL extension methodology takes the ebXML
context rules as its starting point.
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The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
The UBL TC
The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
Why UBL chose OASIS
Nonprofit corporation dedicated to XML
standards development
Why UBL chose OASIS ............................................................. H-2
OASIS UBL Technical Committee ............................................ H-3
UBL TC Subcommittees............................................................. H-4
UBL Library Content SC............................................................ H-5
UBL Naming and Design Rules SC ........................................... H-6
UBL Liaison SC ......................................................................... H-7
Participation in UBL................................................................... H-8
Summary: UBL........................................................................... H-9
Coda: UBL and the developing world ...................................... H-10
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Any interested party can join OASIS, and the
TC process is completely democratic
All OASIS mail lists are publicly visible
All OASIS Technical Committees provide a
freely subscribable mail list for public comment
Positioned for international trade
OASIS has extensive connections with the
international EDI community through two years
of ebXML partnership with UN/CEFACT
OASIS is a continuing partner with the UN in
ebXML
OASIS is a member of the management group
that coordinates the legal standards bodies for
international trade (ISO, IEC, ITU,
UN/CEFACT)
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The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
OASIS UBL Technical Committee
UBL TC Subcommittees
First two meetings hosted by Sun Microsystems
Technical subcommittees
(October 2001 and January 2002)
Next meeting hosted by UN/EDIFACT Working
Group (Barcelona, March 2002)
Largest contributors of technical resources: Sun,
SAP, Commerce One
Other active contributors include GSA, LMI,
Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Oracle, HP, Intuit,
Sterling Commerce, Contivo, Schemantix,
KPMG, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, France
Telecom
UBL web site: http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/
Naming and Design Rules SC
Context Methodology SC
Context Drivers SC
Tools and Techniques SC
Content subcommittees
Library Content SC
Future domain-specific SCs
Administration
Marketing SC
Liaison SC
Administration SC
Any OASIS member can become a voting member
of a UBL subcommittee.
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
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ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
H-4
ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002
The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
UBL Library Content SC
Chair: Tim McGrath
<[email protected]>
Vice chair: Marion Royal <[email protected]>
Archive: http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ubl-lcsc
Web page: http://oasisopen.org/committees/ubl/lcsc/
Status: First "straw man" draft of Purchase Order
schema scheduled for delivery mid-March 2002
Early adopters will be able to start working with
UBL in the near future.
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
H-5
ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002
The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
UBL Naming and Design Rules
SC
Chair: Eve Maler <[email protected]>
Editor: Mark Crawford <[email protected]>
Archive: http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ublndrsc
Web page: http://oasisopen.org/committees/ubl/ndrsc/
Status: Working through major schema design
issues
Tag structure
Code lists
Modularization, namespaces, and versioning
Local vs. global elements
Elements vs. attributes
Extension (additive vs. subtractive)
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
H-6
ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002
The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
UBL Liaison SC
The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
Participation in UBL
Chair: Jon Bosak <[email protected]>
Archive: http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ubl-lsc
The members of the Liaison SC are persons formally
appointed to this role by cooperating organizations.
Current liaisons include:
ARTS (retail industry)
EIDX (electronics industry)
ACORD (insurance industry)
RosettaNet (information technology)
XBRL (accounting and statistics)
To get the UBL white paper: http://oasisopen.org/committees/ubl/msc/200112/ubl.pdf
To get more information about UBL: http://oasisopen.org/committees/ubl
To subscribe to the ubl-comment list:
http://lists.oasis-open.org/ob/adm.pl
To join OASIS: http://www.oasis-open.org/join
To join a UBL SC: contact the subcommittee chair
To join the UBL TC: send a request to the TC chair,
[email protected]
UBL lets industry consortia pool their resources to
develop interoperable business documents.
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
H-7
ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
H-8
ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002
The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
The UBL TC
The Universal Business Language
Coda: UBL and the developing
world
Summary: UBL
"The real deal" -- actual standard XML business
schemas
Grounded in solid design rules developed by
XML and ebusiness experts
Based on ebXML core components and context
methodology
Enables an interoperability framework for B2B
web services, EDI, and traditional business
practices
Goes beyond EDI to address cross-industry
interoperability
Committed to vendor neutrality, an open process,
and international cross-industry semantic
harmonization
UBL-based business has some implications that are
worth thinking about.
XML is the great equalizer -- you can't tell what
level of software produced it
Standardized XML e-commerce schemas (UBL)
make small businesses look like big ones
A skilled programmer can make free software
(Unix + Java + UBL) interoperate with business
systems costing millions of dollars
UBL lets you substitute intelligence for money
UBL can be the doorway into the electronic
marketplace for all the world's businesses.
Distills the experience of both vertical and
horizontal industry standards organizations
Delivers on the promise of XML
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales
H-9
ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002
Cuarto Congreso Internacional de Sistemas Computacionales H-10
ITESM Campus Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 1 March 2002