Re: CPP/CPA specification clarification

[Martin W Sachs <mwsachs@us.ibm.com>]

Eric,

My replies embedded below.

Regards,
Martin Sachs

*************************************************************************************

Martin W. Sachs
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
P. O. B. 704
Yorktown Hts, NY 10598
914-784-7287;  IBM tie line 863-7287
Notes address:  Martin W Sachs/Watson/IBM
Internet address:  mwsachs @ us.ibm.com
*************************************************************************************



Eric Chiu <echiu@imservice.com> on 06/04/2001 01:26:43 PM

To:   ebxml-tp@lists.ebxml.org
cc:
Subject:  CPP/CPA specification clarification



I have read through the CPP/CPA specification several times, and trying to
understand the implementation issues implied in the document.

I assume the goal is to provide a clear guideline for inter-enterprise
communication by providing a standard document set that can be
exchanged, similar to the X12 document standard.

MWS:  The CPP/CPA specifciation does not provide a business document set.
The Core Components team is attempting to define rules for creating
document components that can be composed into documents.

MWS:  The CPP is a document that defines the owning party's IT
characteristics and points to the collaborative business processes that
it supports.  The CPA is a document that defines the agreed IT
characteristics under which a pair of parties will exchange messages and
points to the agreed collaborative process.  Document types (e.g. schemas)
are identified in the collaborative process definition (Process
Specification
document.)

How does this piggyback on X12, or not? Also what's the dependency
on the registry? Do I pull the CPP and CPA from the repository?

MWS: It does not piggyback on X12.  I'm not even sure what that means.
The messages exchanged between the two parties can be EDI messages as
well as XML messages.  There is no specific dependence on the ebXML
registry or any registry.  However the partner discovery process is
very important to e-business.  Normally you should expect to pull
a partner's CPP from a repository.  The CPA is effectively private
to two parties and will probably not be kept in a repository.

Does the CPP and CPA become the payload when transferred as a
message?

MWS:  Yes, if a CPP or CPA is transferred in a message, it is the
payload. However the CPP and CPA are NOT exchanged in the messages
which two parties exchange in performing a business process.  They
may be sent in messages when obtained from a repository or when
negotiating the details of a CPA.

Perhaps an expert on this topic can provide a step-by-step guideline
on usage.

MWS:  Section 6 of the specification provides a good description of
CPP-CPA usage.  For an overall view of the ebXML goals and architecture,
get
the requirements and technical-architecture specifications from the
ebXML website.

Thanks,
Eric Chiu