EbXML
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- The correct title of this article is ebXML. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language, commonly known as e-business XML, or ebXML (pronounced ee-bee-ex-em-el) as it is typically referred to as, is a family of XML based standards sponsored by OASIS and UN/CEFACT whose mission is to provide an open, XML-based infrastructure that enables the global use of electronic business information in an interoperable, secure, and consistent manner by all trading partners.
The ebXML architecture is a unique set of concepts; part theoretical and part implemented in the existing ebXML standards work.
The ebXML work stemmed from earlier work on ooEDI (object oriented EDI), UML / UMM, XML markup technologies and the X12 EDI "Future Vision" work sponsored by ANSI X12 EDI.
The melding of these components began in the original ebXML work and the theoretical discussion continues today. Other work relates, such as the Object Management Group work and the OASIS BCM (Business-Centric Methodology) standard (2006).
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[edit] Conceptual overview of ebXML architecture
While the ebXML standards adopted by ISO and OASIS seek to provide formal XML enabled mechanisms that can be implemented directly - the ebXML architecture is focused on concepts and methodologies that can be more broadly applied to allow practitioners to better implement eBusiness solutions.
A particular instance is the Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS) work that continues within UN/CEFACT, whereas its cousin - UBL - Universal Business Language - specification is work with OASIS that implements specific XML transactions based on the applying the principles of CCTS to typical supply chain transactions such as invoice, purchase order, ship notice and so on.
[edit] History
ebXML was started in 1999 as a joint initiative between the United Nations Centre for Trade facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). A joint coordinating committee comprised of representatives from each of the two organizations led the effort. Quarterly meetings of the working groups were held between November 1999 and May 2001. At the final plenary a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the two organizations, splitting up responsibility for the various specifications but continuing oversight by the joint coordinating committee.
The original project envisioned five layers of data specification, including XML standards for:
- Business processes,
- Collaboration protocol agreements,
- Core data components,
- Messaging,
- Registries and repositories
After completion of the specifications by the two organizations, the work was submitted to ISO TC 154 for approval. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has approved the following five ebXML specifications as the ISO 15000 standard, under the general title, Electronic business eXtensible markup language:
- ISO 15000-1: ebXML Collaborative Partner Profile Agreement
- ISO 15000-2: ebXML Messaging Service Specification
- ISO 15000-3: ebXML Registry Information Model
- ISO 15000-4: ebXML Registry Services Specification
- ISO 15000-5: ebXML Core Components Technical Specification, Version 2.01.
OASIS technical committees and UN/CEFACT retain the responsibility for maintaining and advancing the above specifications.
The freebXML.org initiative was established to promote development and adoption of ebXML-based open-source software.
[edit] Current Work
New work continues (2006-2007) on enhancing and refining ebXML, particularly in the areas of Web services and service oriented architectures (SOA).
Messaging (ebMS) : The latest ebXML messaging specification (v3.0) can be viewed as a specialization of Web services for business-to-business (B2B) exchanges. Compliance with Web services standards does not remove the rationale behind an internet-based messaging middleware. Various modes of message processing need be supported besides service invocation: a message can be queued and consumed by a business process, be batched for delayed processing, be dispatched to an application component, be routed on an SOA bus, etc. v3.0 reuses Web services specifications that provide protocol-level functions (security, reliability), and builds upon these to add features that address business needs: standard business headers, pull interchange model (not just push or query/response), support for business transactions (as in UMM), application-level message authorization. Link to ebXML Messaging Technical Committee Home Page: [1]
Business Process & Collaboration (ebBP) : The ebBP (continuation of BPSS) is targeted for monitoring of collaborative business processes among business partners. In December 2006, ebXML BPSS (Business Process Schema Specification) or ebBP v2.0.4 was approved as an OASIS Standard and the team anticipates an ISO submission soon. ebBP v2 better supports use of ebXML and Web services and then SOA related capabilities such as context and multi-partner collaboration support. ebBP supports communities whether basic file exchange, messaging middleware, and/or SOAP-based exchanges apply. It specifies business activities - simple or complex, nested or composed - and quality of service contracts such as those for reliability, security, and expected exception notifications or positive acknowledgements. Business transaction patterns, conditional expressions, business semantic variables and other functions support the varying activities within binary or multi-party collaborations indicative of the eBusiness environment. Enhancement and adoption of ebBP have been driven primarily by domain user communities such as eGovernment, health care, financial services, knit-wear/textiles and others. An open source editor, freebxmlbp, is available on SourceForge. Link to ebXML Business Process Committee Home Page: [2]
Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement (CPPA) : The ebXML CPPA TC has two major current initiatives. The first is the completion of an update of ebXML CPPA version 2, and the second is a note on the construction of services for the exchange and completion of CPAs. The CPPA update includes several textual clarifications and technical schema modifications that have been approved since the publication of ebXML CPPA version 2 (ISO 15000-1:2004). A normative appendix defines how ISO 6523 codes are mapped into URIs that identify Party types. The major changes in the updated version of the CPPA specification are found in an extension framework that makes use of substitution groups to allow CPPs and CPAs to be expanded to address other approaches to Business Process specifications and other approaches to Delivery Channels. Application of this extensibility approach to other styles of messaging protocols (EDIINT, WS-*, and ebMS 3.0) are provided. Ways to incorporate WSDL and WS-Policy are also planned as applications. The OASIS ebBP business process specification is likewise accommodated within the new extensibility approach. All CPP or CPA version 2 instances will be validated using the new schema following a change of namespace and some editorial changes to align with new schema defaults on attribute prefixes. Finally, an alternative structure for CollaborationRole allows for a much “flatter” content model. The negotiation drafts have been extensively revised to make use of the Negotiation Descriptor Document in a considerably simplified CPA template agreement process. The document is in the initial stages of the editorial process. Link to ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement Committee Home Page: [3]
Registry and Repository : The OASIS ebXML Registry specifications were developed to achieve interoperable registries and repositories, with an interface that enables submission, query and retrieval on the contents of the registry and repository. A registry/repository is an important component of an SOA infrastructure. The ebXML Registry specifications have evolved to provide a rich set of capabilities to meet governance and federated information management requirements of SOA. Features include access control and identity management, pre-defined queries and ad hoc queries, version control, user-defined taxonomies, extensive relationship types as well as user-defined relationship types, support for protocol bindings including HTTP (REST) and SOAP API binding, event subscription and notification, federated queries, validation of WSDL, and standard extensions for domain-specific use cases. Version 3.0 of the ebXML Registry standards (ISO 15000-3 and -4) are available for download: [4]. Link to OASIS ebXML Registry Technical Committee Home Page: [5]. Link to open source Registry project: [6]
Core Components (CCTS) : Within UN/CEFACT TMG work continues on core components and related technology such as context and content assembly.
