XML & EDI - What’s the Difference? Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council Alexandria, VA May 8, 2003 Tom Stewart Miami-Dade Community College (FL)

XML & EDI - What’s the Difference? ä Alphabet Jumble ä What is EDI? ä What is XML? ä EDI vs XML ä Where are EDI and XML Today? ä What’s in The Future?

Alphabet Jumble ä EDI- Electronic Data Interchange ä SPEEDE- Standardization of Postsecondary Education Electronic Data Exchange ä ExPRESS- EXchange of Permanent Records Electronically for Students and Schools ä PESC- Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council ä ANSI ASC X12- American National Standards Institute, Accredited Standards Committee X12

Alphabet Jumble ä XML- eXtensible Markup Language ä HTML- HyperText Markup Language ä SGML- Standard Generalized Markup Language ä ISO- International Standards Organization ä XML Forum- Sub group of PESC to specialize in developing standards for XML in higher education ä ebXML - Electronic Business XML

Alphabet Jumble ä XSL - Extensible Stylesheet Language, helps determine the formatting of printed XML ä XSLT - XSL Transformations, helps in transforming one XSL to another XSL ä DTD - Document Type Definitions, used to indicate the context and meaning of XML data ä XML Schemas - A more detailed means to define an XML document template

WHAT IS EDI ?  ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE ä or Computer-to-Computer exchange of information using previously agreed upon standards

Without EDI

Standardized Format With EDI

Where is EDI Used? ä Banking - EFT’s, among other efforts ä Purchasing - WalMarts of the world ä Federal Government ä Insurance ä Tax Returns – TurboTax, TaxCut ä Entertainment - Theater Box Office Counts

EDI Transaction Sets in Education ä TS Student Educational Record ä TS Educ Record Acknowledgment ä TS Request for Student Record ä TS 147 – Negative Response to Request for Student Record ä TS Educational Course Inventory ä TS Application for Admission ä TS Enrollment Certifications ä TS Test Score Report

What are People Saying about EDI? ä EDI is obsolete - old technology ä You have to negotiate trading partner deals ä It only runs on VAN’s, not on the Internet ä You have to have expensive translation software ä It’s complex and takes a long time to implement ä It takes forever to update the standards

What EDI Does Well ä Exchanges large amounts of data without human intervention ä Minimizes file size in the exchange ä Standards provide stability and uniformity ä Enhances data security and integrity ä Reduces costs

Just What is XML? eXtensible Markup Language ä Okay, so what is that? ä A way to format and manipulate text ä Developed for graphic representations ä NOT a programming language, but actually a meta-language

XML Is: ä A subset of SGML - ä Less complex but still with the power to provide things such as indexes and tables of content ä A cousin to HTML - ä More complex but still with the flexibility to be developed quickly and easily

What are People Saying about XML? ä XML is the new, hot technology ä It is easy to learn ä IT staff is typically familiar with HTML so XML is an easy step if not already familiar ä It is readable by humans ä Support software is readily available ä It can be changed or updated quickly

What XML Does Well ä Separates content from presentation ä Applicable to types of problems ä Applicable to many types of problems ä Generic tools ä Simplicity ä Most of the same things as EDI

What is the Difference? ä Both EDI and XML are used to facilitate data exchanges The basic differences in architecture: ä EDI focus is on data and structure ä XML focus is on syntax and graphics

The Vision of XML XML Document XSL Stylesheet XSL Stylesheet Schema Printed Document Web Page Business Application

Basic EDI Architecture

Simplest XML Architecture

Realistic XML Architecture

Different Views (EDI) ä A Name in EDI - ä IN2*05*Stewart ä IN2*02*John ä IN2*03*T

Different Views ä A Name in XML - ä Stewart, John T ä Stewart, John T or ä ä ä Stewart ä Stewart ä John ä John ä T ä T ä ä

A Side by Side View Native X12 ST*850*0001BEG*00*KC*999** N1*SE*MIKE RAWLINS N3*PMB 29*14 CANYON CREEK VILLAGE N4*RICHARDSON*TX*75080PER*CD**TE* line items, and so on … SE*25*0001 Equivalent X12-XML <X12_PURCHASE_ORDER><PO_HEADER><PO_BEGINNING><TS_PURPOSE>ORIGINAL</TS_PURPOSE><PO_TYPE>CONTRACT</PO_TYPE><PO_NUMBER>999</PO_NUMBER><PO_DATE> </PO_DATE></PO_BEGINNING><SELLER> MIKE RAWLINS MIKE RAWLINS</NAME> PMB 29 PMB 29</ADDRESS_1> <ADDRESS_2> 14 CANYON CREEK VILLAGE </ADDRESS_2><CITY>RICHARDSON</CITY><STATE>TX</STATE><POSTAL_CODE>75080</POSTAL_CODE><CONTRACT_CONTACT><TELEPHONE> </TELEPHONE> <PO_DETAIL> line items, and so on… </PO_DETAIL></PO_HEADER>…</X12_PURCHASE_ORDER> *Excerpted from “XML/EDI Overview for Electronic Standards in Higher Education” presentation by Michael C. Rawlins

EDI vs XML ä EDI is more efficient in transmission ä Slow to change EDI standards, but getting faster ä Current EDI users won’t change right away ä With the Internet, transmission is free ä Standards don’t exist, so process to change them is not known ä New users may start with XML, not EDI

X12 EDI vs X12 XML ä Document ä Template (w/slots) ä Module ä Assembly ä Block ä Component ä Primitive ä Implementation Guide (IG) ä Transaction Set ä IG Major Loop ä IG Minor Loop ä Segment ä Composite ä Data Element

Where is EDI Today? ä Standards are approved and in use ä EDI Server is in place and functioning well ä Many schools using EDI, and numbers are growing significantly ä NOT enough schools using EDI, and not growing quickly enough

Where is XML Today? ä Standards are not yet in place but work is continuing and moving quickly ä XML Forum is working on design rules for transcript schema, may be approved soon ä ANSI ASC X12 working toward procedures for approval of XML standards ä XML still at an early developmental stage but moving rapidly

What Should My School Do? ä Don’t Stop! - If you are beginning an X12 EDI development, keep going. If you are thinking about getting started, jump in now. Look at both approaches and your resources and pick the one that fits you the best

Other Resources ä AACRAO website ä ä PESC ä ä SPEEDE-L Listserv ä ä AACRAO Technology Conference: Implementing Technology in Student Systems and Service October 19-21, 2003, Austin Tx

Last Resort For Help Tom Stewart Miami-Dade Community College * Through at least 6/30/03