ISO Topics and EDI Segments

[John McClure <hypergrove@olympus.net>]

Hello,
I am wondering which group is responsible for the basic information model
that is the domain for ebXML. In particular, I was hoping to share that EDI
Segments seem quite similar to the notion of "Topics" -- opening the door
wide to topic map technologies, a very current subject of discussion between
the ISO Topic Map community and the W3C (i.e., to rationalize Topics with
RDF).

I have found -- while creating the Data Consortium Namespace (DCN), and
while participating in significant discussions on the LegalXML lists (for I
am co-chair of their CONTRACTS Workgroup) -- that the central organizing
principle for documents is that they are composed of "topics" and (perhaps
for want of a better word) "blocks". Within these containers are placed
unstructured text and non-text and/or structured XML descriptions of the
unstructured text and non-text. The XML elements that comprise the
structured description(s) "about" the unstructured text/nontext are,
appropriately enough, an rdf:Description that is "about" the unstructured
text and nontext.

The notion of "topics" is applicable to elements representing all types of
resources, not just to documents. For instance, a Party element,
representing a Person, may have a "MaritalHistory" topic in which is found
markup representing the individual's personal relationships to others.

As I was reviewing some of the BSR links sent out today, it occurs to me
that the EDI Segment is but a designation of a topic. So, I suppose I am
wondering whether the notion of "EDI Segments" is going to be preserved by
ebXML's architecture. If so, is it reasonable to label them topics instead
of segments?

Your replies are appreciated!
Thanks,
John
Hypergrove Engineering
211 Taylor Street, Suite 32-A
Port Townsend, WA 98368
360-379-3838 (land)

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