UBL Briefing

Jon Bosak, Sun MicrosystemsChair, OASIS UBL Technical Committee

Generic BriefingWeb Version30 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 ParticipantsAPACS

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

ChemicalMfr C

C’s industrypartners

CIDX

Hospital B

B’s industrypartners

HL7

ElectronicsMfr A

A’s industrypartners

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 <eve.maler@sun.com>

• Vice Chair and Editor: Mark Crawford

<mcrawford@lmi.org>

• Archive: http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ubl-ndrsc

• Web page: http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/ndrsc/

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 http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/ndrsc/ )

UBL Library Content Subcommittee

• Chair: Tim McGrath <tmcgrath@portcomm.com.au>

• Vice Chair: Marion Royal <marion.royal@gsa.gov>

• Archive: http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ubl-lcsc

• Web page: http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/lcsc/

LC SC Progress Report

• Straw schemas for Purchase Order and associated library components now available for review (see http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/lcsc/ )

• Not backward-compatible with xCBL 3.0

• Current review cycle ends 13 May 2002

UBL Context Methodology Subcommittee

• Chair: Matthew Gertner <matthew.gertner@schemantix.com>

• Editor: Eduardo Gutentag <eduardo.gutentag@sun.com>

• Archive: http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ubl-cmsc

• Web page: http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/cmsc/

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:

http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl

• UBL white paper:

http//oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/msc/200204/ubl.pdf

• UBL public comment and news list:

http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ubl-comment

To join the OASIS UBL Technical Committee, contact jon.bosak@sun.com