UBL Briefing Jon Bosak, Sun Microsystems Chair, OASIS UBL Technical Committee Generic Briefing Web Version 30 April 2002

Goals for B2B Extend the benefits of EDI beyond the Fortune 500 Web-enable fax- and paper-based business practices Allow businesses to upgrade at their own pace Preserve the existing investment in EDI Integrate small and medium-size businesses into existing EDI-based supply chains The standardization of XML business documents is the easiest way to accomplish these goals.

The Universal Business Language Defines a library of standard electronic business documents Plugs directly into existing traditional business practices Eliminates re-keying of data in existing fax-based supply chains Fills the “payload” slot in B2B frameworks such as ebXML

XML alone doesn't solve anything – we need agreed- upon semantics for the payload UBL standardizes the XML syntax for cross-industry business semantics UBL fulfills the promise of XML for business by defining a specific standard vocabulary UBL plus web service technology enables the next generation of EDI –Cheaper, easier, Internet-ready –Extends benefits of EDI to SMEs Why UBL

UBL Advantages Starts with the low-hanging fruit (invoices, purchase orders, shipping notices, price catalogs...) Provides easily-understood transition from traditional EDI and fax-based business practices Gets small businesses on board Fits existing legal and trade concepts Allows re-use of data (analysis, reporting) Hides details internal to an enterprise Defers the rocket science for later

UBL Deliverables Library of standard XML business document components (core library) Set of standard XML business documents (purchase order, invoice, shipping notice, price catalog, etc.) Context methodology to make the standard documents interoperate across industries Timeline: –Core library and basic documents: 2002 –Context methodology: 2003

Basic UBL Documents Procurement –Purchase Order, P.O. Response, P.O. Change Materials management –Advance Ship Notice, Planning Schedule, Goods Receipt Payment –Commercial Invoice, Remmitance Advice Transport/logistics –Consignment Status Request, Consignment Status Report, Bill of Lading Catalogs –Price Catalog, Product Catalog Statistical reports –Accounting report

UBL Inputs xCBL 3.0 (an existing XML business library in the public domain) ebXML (ISO 11179) naming rules ebXML Context Methodology ebXML Core Components Technical Specification W3C XML and XDR Recommendations

Some UBL Participants APACS Boeing Commerce One Danish Bankers Association France Telecom General Electric Government of Hong Kong Government of Korea HP Intuit KPMG LMI Northrop Grumman Oracle PricewaterhouseCoopers SAP SeeBeyond Sterling Commerce Sun Microsystems U.K. Cabinet Office United Parcel Service U.S. General Services Administration U.S. Navy Visa International

UBL Differentiators Completely open, public, accountable standards process Nonproprietary and royalty-free Based on UN, OASIS, and W3C specifications Intended for normative status under international law Designed for B2B Intended for exchange of legal documents Human- and machine-readable Compatible with existing EDI systems

A2A vs. B2B A2A (e.g., OAGIS) Binds data (nouns) to process (verbs) Crosses application boundaries Exposes internal process details Optimized for performance and integration B2B (e.g., EDI, UBL) Separates data and process Crosses enterprise boundaries Hides internal process details Optimized for persistence and collaboration

Chemical Mfr C C’s industry partners CIDX Hospital B B’s industry partners HL7 Electronics Mfr A A’s industry partners RosettaNet UBL as an Interchange Format

UBL Liaisons ACORD (insurance industry) EIDX (electronics industry) ARTS (retail sales) RosettaNet (information technology) XBRL (accounting) X12 (EDI) UN/EDIFACT (EDI)

OASIS is a Class A Liaison to ISO TC 154 (Processes, data elements, and documents in commerce, industry, and administration) – the standards body for electronic commerce syntax OASIS is a member of the Management Group for the ISO IEC ITU UN/CEFACT Memo of Understanding on Electronic Commerce Standards UBL is on the continuing agenda of the ISO IEC ITU UN/CEFACT MoU/MG UBL is intended to become a de jure standard for global electronic commerce International Standardization

UBL and Core Components UBL is committed to international semantic standardization (UN/CEFACT CC) The editor of the CC tech spec and former leader of the Joint X12/EWG CC Initiative is vice chair of the OASIS UBL TC and also vice chair and editor of the UBL Naming and Design Rules SC. We’re for CC! But UBL starts with about 4x the content of CC... We tried mapping from CC to UBL but gave up Now we’re committed to mapping from UBL to CC and contributing the results to the UN CC effort

UBL TC Meetings First meeting 29 October – 1 November 2001 in Menlo Park, California Second meeting 22 – 25 January 2002 in Menlo Park, California Third meeting 18 – 22 March 2002 in Barcelona, Spain, hosted by the UN/EDIFACT Working Group Fourth meeting 3 – 7 June 2002 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, hosted by ASC X12 Fifth meeting in September on the East Coast, TBD Sixth meeting in January on the West Coast, TBD

OASIS UBL Subcommittees Naming and Design Rules Subcommittee Library Content Subcommittee Context Methodology Subcommittee Context Drivers Subcommittee Tools and Techniques Subcommittee Liaison Subcommittee The OASIS UBL TC is open to public comment, and every UBL subcommittee has its own publicly visible mailing list. Subcommittees meet mostly by phone.

UBL Naming and Design Rules Subcommittee Chair: Eve Maler Vice Chair and Editor: Mark Crawford Archive: Web page:

NDR SC Progress Report Canonical schema language: XSD Canonical naming rules: ebXML (ISO 11179) Position papers –Modularity –Namespaces –Versioning –Type Derivation –Elements vs. Attributes –Code Lists First position drafts available for review (see )

UBL Library Content Subcommittee Chair: Tim McGrath Vice Chair: Marion Royal Archive: Web page:

LC SC Progress Report Straw schemas for Purchase Order and associated library components now available for review (see ) Not backward-compatible with xCBL 3.0 Current review cycle ends 13 May 2002

UBL Context Methodology Subcommittee Chair: Matthew Gertner Editor: Eduardo Gutentag Archive: Web page:

Context Methodology Defines how document formats can be extended based on specific trading partner characteristics Takes ebXML context rules as starting point Builds on experience with OO extension methodology, but will be – More structured – More consistent – Easier to track – Easier to automate – Require a lower level of skill

CM SC Progress Report Have reviewed ebXML Methodology and are considering proposed changes Have reviewed existing context drivers and are considering proposed additions

Summary UBL is “the real deal” – actual standard XML business schemas –Completes the ebXML stack –Combines the experience of XML and business experts UBL is dedicated to vendor-neutral interoperability –Open process –Unencumbered IP –Cross-industry semantic harmonization UBL can enable the “B2B web” –HTML + HTTP = web publishing –UBL + ebXML = web commerce

For More Information OASIS UBL Technical Committee: UBL white paper: http//oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/msc/200204/ubl.pdf UBL public comment and news list: To join the OASIS UBL Technical Committee, contact