[ebxml-mktg] XML - regaining control?

[David RR Webber - XMLGlobal <Gnosis_@compuserve.com>]

This recent article is identifying the problem - that the XML/edi Group
highlighted almost 6 years ago in defining next generation 
EDI requirements.

 Headline: XML's ticking time bomb!  :-

 http://news.com.com/2010-1071-961117.html?tag=fd_nc_1

They are making the right points - but arriving at the wrong answer.

At the heart of the problem is this VERY flawed notion that
just by creating an XSD schema you some how make
interoperability happen.

At that point your problems have only just begun.  You've
moved one slight step ahead of where you were 
with old EDI, but not much.

Once you realize that an XSD schema is merely a syntax
for formulizing all the possible structure combinations for
a given structure - then you begin to understand the 
problems - what you need is the means to describe
your exact information instance, unique structure and
in context - and preferably all in simple XML syntax, 
not syntax about syntax (I liken this situation to law in
the 1500's in England - everyone is using English, but
all the laws are in Latin; XSD is some foreign language
used to describe our everyday XML).

The real answer lies in the combination of assembly and 
registry technologies that ebXML has, and understanding
how to bring the whole ebXML architecture stack into play in
a scalable and systematic way - where these underpinnings
are an intrinsic part of the software solutions people are
purchasing.

Getting people to adopt this however is the tough part,
since the W3C especially is not about to admit that 
one of their lynchpin technologies is ill-suited to the task
that people are purposing it for.

The attached PPT slide illustrates the synergy required
to achieve open interoperability for eBusiness systems.

The answer is not simply more glossy software - but
the enablement of a truely collaborative environment
for business use.

Efforts like the OAG/NIST test bed are providing the
vision and impetus here for what we can achieve 
in the very near future.

DW.

Attachment: XML Information Exchange Quality.ppt
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