[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Edi complexity, does ebxml really reduce it?
>From: bry@i... [mailto:bry@i...] > Basically my understanding is that ebxml just wrapped the edi model in xml, so I have a hard time seeing how it > could be simpler. There was originally some hope that ebXML specifications could be used to produce a solution more attractive to small and medium sized businesses that would be less trouble to use. Probably this would require forms-based applications, with options to save in desktop formats ( .txt, .xml, .csv, .xls, etc). Actually ebXML ended up defining functionality beyond what is usually defined by EDI standards. So from that standpoint, it is not simpler. Whether it promotes simpler solutions for end users is debatable, but there are venders pursuing simplified ways to make use of ebXML under the covers (of forms) so that the complexity of ebXML is largely concealed from end users. I think it is safe to say that it is probably not simpler for implementers (by implementers, I mean the software venders or open source providers, not the end-user deployers). > Also am wondering about CPAs in Ebxml, it strikes me that this process could actually be somewhat onerous, does > anyone know of any case studies etc. on problems with making CPAs between two companies? I like your understated scepticism. There are actually a number of distinct processes that can be adopted when using CPPA formats and techniques. For example, a large company may specify the CPA template(s) it wishes its community to use. That template may be mostly filled in using a form accessible to community members. In such cases, no matching up of capabilities or selection of preferences is needed. You are of course right to indicate that if matching capabilities or selecting preferences gets involved, CPA formation and negotiation can benefit from human assistance at various points. A dissertation just completed by Sacha Schlegel documents a number of the "tricky points" that arise in dealing with the problem in a fairly general way. But CPPA is probably less general than some other approaches within the policy, preference, constraints, capabilities area. It is to be expected that these more general approaches will also be "somewhat onerous." (WSPL, XACML, and Son-of-WS-Policy to mention the obvious ones.) And I haven't yet mentioned the RDF/OWL based approaches that might also be applicable in these areas. The first pass using RDF can be expected to be a bit onerous as well.
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