[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: Should an XML vocabulary be a Swiss Army Knife or adedicat
Roger -- While your question seems reasonable to me: "when should one accommodate variation in a vocabulary and when should one create separate vocabularies?" I am confused by the premise that creation costs are on a par with usage costs. There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches from the user/usage point of view, and I think this should be discussed only on that basis. One approach may be easier to learn, simpler to maintain, better support familiar user interfaces and reports, the other may make a growing portion of the business smoother, encourage users to use outside resources, reduce hand-work, ... The differences in the costs to CREATE the vocabularies should be (largely) irrelevant in an environment in which the vocabulary/vocabularies are create once and used many many times. -- Tommie At 4:39 PM -0500 2/16/09, Costello, Roger L. wrote: >Hi Folks, > >A few weeks ago we discussed what's involved in creating an XML >vocabulary. One of the key points that I gained from that discussion >is: > > Create an XML vocabulary to satisfy a > business process; otherwise, what's the point. > >Excellent. > >But what about two business processes that are the same at a high >level, but vary in the details; should there be one XML vocabulary >or two? > > >EXAMPLE: LOCAL MOVING COMPANY & FEDEX > >At a high level both a local moving company and Fedex are the same - >they both move merchandise from point A to point B; they both >provide a way to track the status of the merchandise. > >At the detail level they have significant differences - the local >moving company can move the contents of an entire home whereas Fedex >primarily moves smaller items; the local moving company uses big >trucks to move the merchandise whereas Fedex uses airplanes; the >local moving company operates within a 50 mile radius whereas Fedex >operates worldwide. > >Here are two approaches to developing an XML vocabulary for the >local moving company and Fedex: > > >APPROACH #1: Create Separate XML Vocabularies > >This approach takes the attitude that these are really two business >processes, so create two XML vocabularies - one for the local moving >company and one for Fedex. > >Advantage: it's simpler to generate the XML vocabularies. The two >companies won't be arguing about the XML vocabulary. > >Disadvantage: it will be more difficult for the local moving company >and Fedex to interoperate. Suppose that the local moving company >subcontracts with Fedex to do certain jobs; since the XML >vocabularies are disjoint it will be difficult to interoperate. > >This approach is analogous to creating dedicated appliances. > > >APPROACH #2: Create One XML Vocabulary with Specialized Sections > >This approach takes the attitude that it's really just one business >process containing specialized sections. > >Advantage: it will be easier for the local moving company and Fedex >to interoperate since they share the same high level framework. > >Disadvantage: the XML vocabulary is more complex. The two companies >will argue about the XML vocabulary. > >This approach is analogous to creating a Swiss Army Knife. > > >RECOMMENDATION? > >Which approach do you recommend? Perhaps there's another approach >that you recommend? > > >/Roger > >_______________________________________________________________________ > >XML-DEV is a publicly archived, unmoderated list hosted by OASIS >to support XML implementation and development. To minimize >spam in the archives, you must subscribe before posting. > >[Un]Subscribe/change address: http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/ >Or unsubscribe: xml-dev-unsubscribe@l... >subscribe: xml-dev-subscribe@l... >List archive: http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/ >List Guidelines: http://www.oasis-open.org/maillists/guidelines.php -- ====================================================================== B. Tommie Usdin mailto:btusdin@m... Mulberry Technologies, Inc. http://www.mulberrytech.com 17 West Jefferson Street Phone: 301/315-9631 Suite 207 Direct Line: 301/315-9634 Rockville, MD 20850 Fax: 301/315-8285 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in XML and SGML ======================================================================
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