RE: [ebxml-dev] ebXML specifications interdendancies

[Dale Moberg <dmoberg@cyclonecommerce.com>]

[resending, sorry if this is a duplicate]

 

Dipan,

 

I  think it is too soon to comment on what typically will be implemented by

vendors.

 

Within Oasis, work continues on adding some supporting specifications

within groups. Work also continues to enhance alignment so that

when all aspects are implemented, there can be some added benefit.

 

Clearly the ebMS spec provides fairly basic functionality for moving business

data interoperably and securely over the internet. In the  near term, 

 I would expect some products to offer ebXML messaging solutions,

and they will work at a secure transport level. I would think  the  

first encounter with products may be  with  these tools, 

if  customers  are interested

in  the  actual movement of data ! 

 

Other products may offer BPSS editing/composition tools. These could

be used for business analyst documentation independently of actually

being "used" by runtimes. Possibly these tools are already being used.   

 

Registry products (servers or client side) might exist independently , 

 from the other offerings/components.    I would expect  that MSHes

with CPPA functionality enabled would be interested in using

registries, for example; then they could actually benefit

at configuration and runtime from being able to retrieve objects

like BPSSes and CPA-templates and CPPs and Core components.

 

CPPA functionality would, IMO, be an enhancement to ebMS transport

tools. There could be standalone CPPA composition, editing, and

negotiation support tools someday. But at present, the main

point of having CPAs is in automating ebMS configuration.

To  make the CPPA spec more useful, work on negotiation continues

to define the actual messages and processes used in CPA negotiation

from templates or CPPs. The ebXML registry will define a retrieval

mechanism for CPA templates or CPP s . A UDDI WSDL-defined

service could be defined to provide similar functionality, but is

still a future as an official spec.

 

I think that the major pieces of the ebXML framework were completed

at the end of the ebXML initiative. A lot of residual pieces will enhance

the alignment of the components if and when they get used together.

 

I hope this addresses your question. There is room here, IMO, for  some 

components to work now in a standalone mode. There is room moving

forward for people to produce a suite of components, already integrated.

I am not a product marketing expert, however, so I will let others

predict what products will dominate and when. At the moment,

some analysts  may be   attempting  

 to create the trough of disillusionment , 

right on schedule, so we will have to weather those outbursts

before we know what is really going on  with the

market for ebXML products. Eventually customers

will find what is of value, and whether component

based approaches, vast single-vendor integrative frameworks,

neither, or both, are the best ways to bundle the

functionality.

 

Dale Moberg

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Anarkat, Dipan [mailto:DAnarkat@uc-council.org]
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 2:37 PM
To: Dale Moberg
Subject: RE: [ebxml-dev] ebXML specifications interdendancies

Dale,

   Thanks a lot. That really betters my understanding.

 

This means that typically vendors would implement all modules in the ebXML stack , right ?

 

+ Dipan

-----Original Message-----
From: Dale Moberg [mailto:dmoberg@cyclonecommerce.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 3:59 PM
To: Anarkat, Dipan; ebxml-dev@lists.ebxml.org
Subject: RE: [ebxml-dev] ebXML specifications interdendancies

Some comments in line.

-----Original Message-----
From: Anarkat, Dipan [mailto:DAnarkat@uc-council.org]
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 12:17 PM
To: ebxml-dev@lists.ebxml.org
Subject: [ebxml-dev] ebXML specifications interdendancies

 "  Hi,

 "     I am trying to assess the functional interdependancies b/w the diferent systems in the ebXML stack from an implementation standpoint, used in an e-business framework.

 "     As we know, the ebCPPA spec does specify how a CPA is negotiated between 2 trading partners. 

 

DaleMoberg> Negotiation is currently being specified in the OASIS ebxml-cppa TC. There was no

normative definition at the CPPA 1.0 level. There was a lot of information about how to use CPA templates

or even to compose CPPs to arrive at CPAs, but you were on your own in exchanging these documents.

 

"  I also understood from a couple of vendors that the CPA instance XML has to be loaded into the internal database (any form) of the MSH. It really doesnt matter how the CPA is negotiated or for that matter even if it is in XML form. 

 

DaleMoberg> Typically for MSHes that support CPAs, importing a CPA and using it to populate the MSH's

configuration "database" would be an operation that would be done, obviously. Just how much of the information is

actually used might vary. Minimally you will need to get the URLs of the other side. You might pull out

other information.The software might then need to ask a user for some other information. You could pull

out certificates, trust anchors, signature formats and conventions, and a whole lot of stuff.

 

 

 " All that is required is a conclusion representing the CPA that can be in any format, as long as it can be loaded into the internal database of the MSH as provided by the vendor.  

 

DaleMoberg> If you are talking about what a MSH could get away with, it need not

serialize any information it uses in configuration.

That is, you could use property sheets or wizards or whatever to

let a user do the configuration. Most implementations will

have this capability unless they are telepathic. What importing a

CPA allows is drastically reducing what the user has

to configure, what choices on security (etc) are forced on users,

how to get certificates loaded, and so on. The CPA and CPP are standardized

XML schemas used to define ways to exchange information expressed

in XML that is used for configuration. They also have signatures so

that you trust the information, and hooks to other potentially useful

information.

 

 

    "  This means that an ebMS compliant MSH has also to be compliant with the ebCPPA.  "  

 

DaleMoberg> It means that an ebMS compliant MSH has to be configurable as a ebMS MSH.
Compliance with ebCPPA means that XML inputs or outputs conform to the schemas that

have been defined. Since the ebMS is not required to serialize its configuration information

in any format, it does not have to conform to the ebCPPA compliance clause. I think you

are trying to find some dependency here, when both groups have been reasonably careful

to explain how to use specifications together and separately. It would be far more useful

to consider what you gain and lose by not using certain ebXML modules rather than trying

to see how little you can get away with. You will have to configure the software somehow.

You can invest in automating the process for a community or you can let them struggle

and set it up themselves (with consultants).

 

 

" Also since the ebCPP and ebCPA instances identify the Business Processes in an ebBPSS instance, it means that the ebMS compliant MSH will also have to be compliant with the ebBPSS if it has perform the intended function of being able to validate and process ebMS TR&P messages . "

 

DaleMoberg> No. No real use needs to be made of the information about  Business Processes, even if there

is a pointer to it. Otherwise, a dummy BPSS can be set up in 15 minutes or so if you really want to make

certain the pointer resolved.I will even send you one.

 

   " This means that the ebMS TR&P cannot be used independantly for TR&P and forces you to use ebCPPA and ebBPSS.  "

 

DaleMoberg> No. If a web page has links on it, does that mean you cannot view the page without clicking on the links?

You are really reaching here to find a dependency, when you should just be asking yourself: what is the value of

using this? Could there be some ROI if we used this?  And so on. What is the point ot these questions really?

 

 "As such, even though an agreement may not be required between trading partners , we still need a bare bones 'void agreement' .

Is my understanding right, or am I missing a point here !?  "

 

DaleMoberg> No and Yes. 

 

Dipan Anarkat
EC Systems Analyst
Uniform Code Council, Inc.
Tel: (609)-620-4509
http://www.uc-council.org/