Re: Tag Languages, UID's etc. - My experiment with the Beacon BDR

[Martin Bryan <mtbryan@sgml.u-net.com>]

Willian

>Is the only
> problem with the Beacon BDR that it "is just too damn expensive," or are
> there technical weaknesses that make it unsuitable?

Never been able to afford to work out what the technical problems are ;-)

> But now David RR Webber says "we can load an ebXML registry with
> whatever dictionary a particular industry fancies, and then use the UID
> mechanism to build associations to ensure interoperability." Okay,
> that's kind of what I was asking: couldn't some XML artifact
> ("imaginary" namespaces???) be used to say a particular name is defined
> by the BSR, or alternatively, the BDR, the HIPAA DED or the RosettaNet
> Business Dictionary?

Yes: an element could point to ebxml:registry=GUI1 and BSR:registry=GUI2,
but what if these two have subtly different definitions? How would you know
which one to adopt? Better to have a single reference point.

> Martin says the BSR will be used [to some extent], and David RR says we
> will use "whatever dictionary a particular industry fancies."  There's a
> conflict here, but I have no problem either proposal.  It's just that
> you both say it so authoritatively that it sounds like somewhere along
> the line such a decision has already been made.

Not necessarily. Industry 1 will call its parties Buyer and Seller, but will
map them both to AbstractParty in the ebXML register. Industry 2 will have
Travellers and Agents, but will map them both to AbstractParty. Therefore
each indusry has its own dictionary of terms used in particular contex, and
each will reference a common object derived from BSR. No conflict there.

> David RR reminds me "that there are about 230 million Americans, of whom
> only about 60+% actually claim American as their first language - and
> that real English speakers worldwide far outnumber you!"  He forgets
> that as a vibrant young society, we're fairly fecund - our population
> now well exceeds 280 million, making us the third most populous country
> in the world.   Even if not spoken at home, English is spoken and
> understood well by over 95% of the population (of those expected to
> speak at all).  Probably over 200 million Americans speak it as their
> mother tongue with no real competency in another language! That far
> exceeds the combined populations of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and
> Canada.  So there, David RR!!!

Yes, but please realize that you have forgotten the subcontinent of India,
our other forgotten Commonwealth partner. I'm afraid they get more people
affected by a single earthquake than the whole US population :-)

Martin