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Subject: Re: ebXML Requirements Specification Draft
I just noted that the web page incorrectly lists this document as being out for comment with a comment period May 2 - May 8. This is not correct and I have requested the web page be changed. It should instead say only that this document will be voted on at the May 8 plenary. Regards, "William J. Kammerer" wrote: > Mike Rawlins has invited us to review the final version of the ebXML > Requirements Specification which will be submitted for approval at the > plenary May 8. See http://www.ebxml.org/specindex.htm. Since the > comment period on this version starts May 2, and closes May 8, I guess I > can make some observations: > > (1) Front piece says "See acknowledgements" for authors. There is no > "acknowledgements" section. > > (2) There's no problem statement; i.e., what problem are we attempting > to solve? What was wrong with EDI, EDIFACT or X12? Section 1.2.2 - > ebXML Scope - barely touches on one of the purported problems with EDI, > in that SMEs can't or won't participate in EDI, perhaps because of > complexity and expense. > > But are we serious that ebXML will "[deliver] specifications that will > be used by all trading partners interested in maximizing XML > interoperability within and across trading partner communities"? The > emphasis should be on producing a standard which can be incorporated in > shrink-wrapped or packaged solutions, a point not made until section > 2.2 - Conducting Electronic Business using ebXML. > > Another supposed problem with EDI is that it requires extensive trading > partner negotiation up front. This isn't mentioned (parenthetically) > until Section 3.4 - Technical Architecture. > > (3) Section 2.3 - Globalization says "all ebXML technical specifications > [in English] will be translatable into the other official UN languages- > French and Russian. Translation into languages other than French or > Russian is the responsibility of the intended user..." This is > superfluous. Of course, English can be translated into French and > Russian. But are we making a promise that the UN will do so? This was > never done within UN/CEFACT for UN/EDIFACT directories or any other > documents, excepting a very few in French. I'd suggest taking out the > entire clause about the specifications being "translatable," as it only > detracts from the very important points that (a) we're going to work in > English and that (b) the ebXML Repository should support alternate > languages. > > Again, repeating my note from Saturday, the statement that "in keeping > with the requirements of XML 1.0, all work will shall be compliant with > Unicode and ISO/IEC 10646 for characters, Internet RFC 1766 for language > identification tags, ISO 639 for language name codes, and ISO 3166 for > country name codes" should be clarified or softened. XML 1.0 itself has > some requirements to use these standards (for well-formed and valid > documents), but the business data contained within may very well depend > on other standards (such as FIPS 10-4, instead of ISO 3166, for > identifying countries). > > (4) All references to CEFACT should read "UN/CEFACT". "insure" should > be "ensure" in Section 3.5 - Core Components. > > (5) Section 2.5.2 - Transport, Routing, & Packaging says the messaging > system is required "to Realize reliable secure sending and receiving of > messages over any network capable of carrying XML." Since XML is text, > presumably any network can "carry XML." Since TR&P has settled on MIME > packaging, perhaps some verbiage about "capable of carrying MIME encoded > packaging." > > (6) Section 4 - ebXML Organizational and Procedural Requirements - > should not mention private corporations or their own proprietary > initiatives, such as BizTalk and CommerceOne, unless in an explanatory > non-normative note to explain what we mean by "private initiative." > Private, for-profit corporations, or their respective products and > trademarks, should not be mentioned in the normative text. > > William J. Kammerer > FORESIGHT Corp. > 4950 Blazer Memorial Pkwy. > Dublin, OH USA 43017-3305 > (614) 791-1600 > > Visit FORESIGHT Corp. at http://www.foresightcorp.com/ > "Commerce for a New World" -- Michael C. Rawlins, Rawlins EDI Consulting http://www.metronet.com/~rawlins/
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