Re: Notation to support BPSS

[Todd Boyle <tboyle@rosehill.net>]

>At 02:06 PM 7/16/01, A.J. [Tony] Blazej wrote:
>>* * * The STAR/XML working group, at our recommendation, has decided to 
>>utilize OAG BODs and ebXML as the basis of their architecture. We are 
>>specifying Business Object Documents as the payload of transactions that 
>>run over an ebXML infrastructure. We are specifying business 
>>collaborations following the ebXML BPSS specification rigorously. The OAGI 
>>will release shortly a white papers that details the usage of BPSS and 
>>other elements of ebXML. * * *  Even though the semantic of the 
>>specification suit the needs of the project, we feel that lack of a 
>>standard (or de facto) notation is a major show stopper for us as we need 
>>to communicate the way collaborations operate to both business analysts 
>>and technical users. Relying on an XML document to solely communicate the 
>>details of the collaboration is far too limiting. * * *
>>Would this working group be interested in tackling this problem? If so can 
>>we agree on a time table?

I would like to point to RM/ODP (ISO/IEC 10646-x (ITU-T X.9xx), Open 
Distributed Processing - Reference Model) as a potential solution. 
This is a specification for writing systems specifications.

My employer has me working with Enterprise Viewpoint, which is a 
considerable learning curve and PITA but very very helpful in rooting 
out vague and unusable wording from specifications.  The ISO 10646
and 15414 are very clear and short but they lock you in pretty good
as to "who does what" in a business process.  The terms with precise 
definitions in ISO 10646 also evoke different colloquial meanings by 
different readers (party, actor, role, etc.)  So you must learn their 
ISO 10646 meanings.   If ebXML can't live with those definitions then
you better not use ISO 10646.

The enterprise viewpoint is one of five viewpoints in RM/ODP. It uses a 
set of terminology and rules called the enterprise language:

   ".. provides the terms and structuring rules to specify the purpose, 
   scope and policies for an ODP system in a manner that is meaningful for 
   the stakeholders for that system, including the owners, the users and 
   the developers. An enterprise specification describes the behavior of 
   the system within the environment with which it interacts. Such an 
   environment can be a technical environment (e.g., the software and 
   hardware environment of a service component) or a social or business 
   organisation (e.g., a group of co- operating companies, a particular 
   service inside a company). 
   
   The enterprise language defines the concepts necessary to represent the 
   behavior expected of an ODP system. It defines structuring rules for 
   using those concepts to produce an enterprise specification. An 
   enterprise specification of an ODP system is an abstraction of the 
   system and a larger environment in which the ODP system exists, 
   describing those aspects that are relevant to specifying what the system 
   is expected to do in the context of purpose, scope and policies of its 
   environment (technical, organisational). It describes the behavior 
   assumed by those who interact with the ODP system. It explicitly 
   includes those aspects of the environment that influence the behavior of 
   the ODP system  environmental constraints are captured as well as usage 
   and management rules. 
   
   An important objective of an enterprise specification is to support an 
   agreement (for example, as part of the contract for the supply of a 
   system) between the potential clients of an ODP system and the provider 
   of that system. Both parties should be able to write, read and discuss 
   such a specification, the clients to be sure of the expected behavior of 
   the system that they will get, and the provider to be clear about the 
   behavior to be realised by the system being provided. Thus, two types of 
   presentation of the enterprise specification may need to be considered 
   for the same system. One presentation may need to provide a view of the 
   specification in terms that are understood by the clients. A second 
   presentation may be needed to present the specification in terms that 
   more directly relate to its realisation. Both types of presentation 
   address enterprise considerations as they concern the system. "


--- 

The other four viewpoints in RM/ODP are 

      "..information viewpoint, which is 
   concerned with the kinds of information handled by the system and 
   constraints on the use and interpretation of that information; the 
   computational viewpoint, which is concerned with the functional 
   decomposition of the system into a set of objects that interact at 
   interfaces enabling system distribution; the engineering viewpoint, 
   which is concerned with the infrastructure required to support system 
   distribution; the technology viewpoint, which is concerned with the 
   choice of technology to support system distribution.

The latest version of the Enterprise Viewpoint as far as I know, is the 
(ISO/IEC 15414 (ITU-T X.911) 2000-09-09 draft document which I quoted 
above. This is copyrighted but it's available if you dig around on the net. 

Can anyone tell me whether ISO 10646 terminology is compatible with 
ebXML BPSS?

TOdd