[April 28, 2001]
Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM).
The IETF Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol Working Group
has produced several RFCs and Internet Drafts defining
"protocols and data formats necessary to build an
internet-scale end-user presence awareness, notification and instant
messaging system." A recently-published Common Presence
and Instant Messaging Message Format proposes the mime type message/cpim
message format for protocols that conform to the Common Profile for
Instant Messaging (CPIM) specification. The draft Common
Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM) "meets the
requirements specified in RFC 2779 [Instant Messaging / Presence
Protocol Requirements] using a minimalist approach allowing
interoperation of a wide range of IM and Presence systems."
Sections 6-9 of this Internet Draft present the models using
relevant XML DTDs: (1) The Common Service DTD; (2) The Messaging
Service DTD; (3) The Presence Service DTD; (4) The Presence
Information DTD. The IETF IMPP working group, chaired by Leslie
Daigle and Harald Alvestrand, intends to submit initial
specifications for IETF-wide review and then to extend the group's
charter. Several other IMPP
Protocol Candidates are being tracked through this IETF
activity, e.g., APEX aka IMXP, PRIM (Presence and
Instant Messaging Protocol), and SIMPLE aka SIP Extensions.
The 'Wireless
Village' initiative for mobile instant messaging has announced
support for the CPIM draft standard, now under active development in
the IETF WG. [Full
context]
[April 28, 2001]
Electronic Commerce Modeling Language Version 2 Supports XML
Syntax.
IETF Internet Draft documents have been published for version 2
of the Electronic Commerce Modeling Language (ECML), including an
XML DTD. The Electronic Commerce Modeling Language "provides a
set of hierarchical payment oriented data structures that will
enable automated software, including electronic wallets, from
multiple vendors to supply needed data in a more uniform manner.
ECML Version 2.0 extends ECML versions 1.0 and 1.1 (IETF RFCs) as
described in the Appendix of the new specification. The ECML
Standard provides the definition and naming of a hierarcically
structured set of fields and the provision of an XML syntax for
their transmition. These fields can be encoded in other syntaxes and
transmitted via a variety of protocols." The goal of ECML
Version 2.0 is presented in the specification abstract:
"Electronic commerce frequently requires a substantial exchange
of information in order to complete a purchase or other transaction,
especially the first time the parties communicate. A standard set of
hierarchicly organized payment related information fields in an XML
syntax are [herein] defined as the second version of an Electronic
Commerce Modeling Language (ECML) so that this task can be more
easily automated, for example by wallet software... The ECML fields
were initially derived from the W3C P3P base data schema by the ECML
Alliance. Technical development and change control of ECML has
now been transfered to the IETF. In version 2, ECML is extended by
the fields in a W3C P3P Note
related to eCommerce, by ISO 8583, and by other sources. Its
primary form will be an XML syntax. ECML Version 2.0 is not a
replacement or alternative to TLS/SSL, SET, EMV, XML, or IOTP; these
are important standards that provide functionality such as
confidentiality, non-repudiatable transactions, automatable payment
scheme selection, and smart card support." [Full
context]
[April 27, 2001]
XML Query Engine Provides Initial XQuery Support.
A posting from Howard Katz
(Fatdog Software) announces the Version 0.99 release of 'XML Query
Engine' with with early (0.25) W3C XQuery
support. "If you want some introductory hands-on exploration of
basic XQuery syntax, a free evaluation version of the engine is
available. You can now select either XQL or XQuery for your query
language front end. This release provides a first cut at a very
limited implementation of the full XQuery grammar. This
implementation supports FLWR expressions, element constructors, a
limited range of XPath expressions on elements only, simple
predicates testing element existence and text equality, and that's
about it. The good news is that with the exception of expression
lists, FLWRs can be explored in almost full recursive generality,
and the features that are in place can be employed against actual
data. Here's a sample query: <results> FOR
$book IN //book FOR $author IN $book/author
WHERE $author/first = 'Dan' RETURN
<DanTheMan> $author
</DanTheMan> </results> . XML Query
Engine (XQEngine for short) is a full-text search engine component
for XML. It lets you search small to medium-size collections of XML
documents for boolean combinations of keywords, much as web-based
search engines let you do for HTML. Queries are specified using XQL,
a de facto standard for querying XML documents that is nearly
identical to the simplified form of XPath. Queries expressed in XQL
are much more expressive and powerful than the standard search
interfaces available through web-based search engines." Note
also the online document by Katz "Introduction
to XQuery." [Full
context]
[April 27, 2001]
Telecom Companies and IEEE-ISTO Support 'Wireless Village' for
Mobile Instant Messaging and Presence Services.
An announcement from Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia describes a
new 'Wireless Village' project said to be based upon XML technology.
The Mobile Instant Messaging and Presence (IMPS) initiative is
designed "to define and promote a set of universal
specifications for mobile instant messaging and presence services
and create a community of supporters. The specifications will be
used for exchanging messages and presence information between mobile
devices, mobile services and Internet-based instant messaging
services. The protocol will be optimized for the requirements of
mobile devices and wireless networks. The Wireless Village
initiative is open to participation from industry supporters
interested in providing early comments on and building interoperable
implementations of these specifications. The IEEE Industry Standards
and Technology Organization (IEEE-ISTO) provides day-to-day
administrative support to the Wireless Village initiative... The
Wireless Village initiative will deliver an architectural
specification, protocol specifications, as well as test
specifications and tools for mobile IMPS. The initiative will also
define procedures and tools for testing conformance and
interoperability of mobile instant messaging and presence services.
The instant messaging specification will be based on prevalent
bearer protocols and other well-adapted standards, such as SMS
(Short Messaging Services), MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services), WAP
(Wireless Application Protocol), SIP (Session Initiation Protocol),
and XML (Extensible Markup Language). This service will include
security capabilities for user authentication, secure message
transfer and access control. Operators will find these
specifications applicable to both existing 2G, new 2.5G (e.g.,
GPRS), as well as emerging 3G wireless network technologies. To the
extent possible, the protocol uses XML to represent the protocol
data being exchanged during an IMPS session; the Wireless Village
initiative will support the CPIM [IETF Internet] draft and build
upon it." [Full
context]
[April 27, 2001]
Bayonne Milestone 6 Release Features BayonneXML.
A communiqué from David Sugar
describes the 'milestone 6' release of Bayonne, including a plugin
which introduces BayonneXML for XML language support. Bayonne is the
freely licensed multi-line voice response telephony server of the GNU
project which "offers free, scalable, media independent
software environment for development and deployment of telephony
solutions for use with current and next generation telephone
networks." Bayonne is also a component of GNU Enterprise,
"a software and a modular architecture that provides automated
support for most business processes (viz., integrated
business software for human resources, payroll, inventory,
purchasing, accounting, finance, planning, sales order entry,
customer support, forecasting, and other business processes)."
In the sixth milestone release of Bayonne, the developers "have
chosen to focus on providing a free software platform for creating
and deploying next generation XML integrated voice applications.
Traditionally such systems have only either been available as
limited proprietary software, or only provided thru external hosting
services. In providing Bayonne with XML support, we intend to
deliver a free software solution that not only can be used for those
hosting telephony services, but which can also be integrated and
deployed entirely within the enterprise if so desired. This initial
release of milestone 6 has the first functional snapshot of Bayonne
XML services. This includes a plugin which introduces a special XML
dialect, BayonneXML. BayonneXML is intended to become a superset of
the existing CallXML dialect and will provide support for additional
features and functionality specific to Bayonne. Our intent is to
support a wide body of XML languages thru plugins, including those
that do fully conform to existing XML language specs (CallXML, VML,
VXML, XTML, etc), rather than providing a server that can only
execute a single dialect. This will allow Bayonne to provide voice
browsing to entirely other kinds of XML data thru the development of
additional plugins." [Full
context]
[April 24, 2001]
MatML Working Group Releases XML DTD Version 2.0.
A version 2.0 XML DTD has been issued by the MatML Working Group.
The MatML project focused upon the distribution of materials
property data is coordinated by the US National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST). The MatML effort "is
addressing the problems of interpretation and interoperability
through the development of an Extensible Markup Language (XML)
[Materials Property Data Markup Language] for materials data that
will permit the storage, transmission, and processing of materials
property data distributed via the World Wide Web. A MatML Working
Group has been established and represents a cross section of the
materials community with members from private industry, government
laboratories, universities, standards organizations, and
professional societies. The Working Group uses an online forum for
discussing issues such as the scope of and specifications for MatML
and has recently produced a working draft of the document type
definition (DTD) for the markup language. The MatML DTD contains
structures for transferring information concerning the material and
its properties, terms which may help with the interpretation of the
transferred data, and graphs. The DTD is the XML semantic and
syntactic formalism that software will need to parse, interpret, and
use the data contained in MatML documents." A 'Workshop on the
Technical and Strategic Future of MatML' is being hosted by NIST on
June 26-27, 2001 in Gaithersburg, MD; the workshop will consist of
panels and open discussions of interest to the materials science and
engineering community. [Full
context]
[April 23, 2001]
New ACM Symposium on Document Engineering.
A communiqué from Ethan
V. Munson (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee) announces a call
for papers in connection with a new conference, the ACM Symposium on
Document Engineering. The first Document Engineering event will be
held November 9-10, 2001 in Atlanta, GA in conjunction with ACM
SIGCHI and ACM SIGWEB. The symposium recognizes that 'documents' are
no longer static, physical entities; "document technologies
like XML are having a profound impact on data modeling in general
because of the way they bridge and integrate a variety of paradigms
(database, object-oriented, and structured document)." The
DocEng Symposium "is a new academic conference devoted to the
dissemination of research on document engineering. The organizers
seek high-quality, original papers and panels that address the
theory, design, development and evaluation of computer systems that
support the creation, analysis, or distribution of documents in any
medium. The program and steering committee hold to an 'expansive
notion of documents': A document is a representation of information
that is designed to be read or played back by a person. It may be
presented on paper, on a screen, or played through a speaker and its
underlying representation may be in any form and include data from
any medium. A document may be stored in final presentation form or
it may be generated on-the-fly, undergoing substantial
transformations in the process. A document may include extensive
hyperlinks and be part of a large web of information. Furthermore,
apparently independent documents may be composed, so that a web of
information may itself be considered a document. Technology relevant
to the symposium includes: Markup languages (SGML, XML); Style sheet
systems and languages (CSS, XSL, DSSSL); Structured multimedia
(MPEG-4, SMIL, MHEG, HyTime); Metadata (MPEG-7, RDF); Document
database systems and XQL; Optical character recognition; Type
representations (Adobe Type 1, Truetype); Page description languages
(PostScript, PDF); Electronic books (E-book) and digital paper;
Constraint systems; Document transformation (XSLT); Document
services on wireless networks (WAP); Document linking standards
(XLink, XPath, XPointer); Document APIs (SAX, DOM)." [Full
context]
[April 23, 2001]
Microsoft and Hyperion Solutions Publish XML for Analysis
Specification.
A joint announcement from Microsoft and Hyperion Solutions
describes the Version 1.0 release of the XML for Analysis
Specification which provides an open access XML Message
Interface solution. The document "specifies a SOAP-based XML
communication API that supports the exchange of analytical data
between clients and servers on any platform and with any language.
The XML API is designed specifically for standardizing the data
access interaction between a client application and a data provider
working over the Web. XML for Analysis advances the concepts of OLE
DB by providing standardized universal data access to any standard
data source residing over the Web without the need to deploy a
client component that exposes COM interfaces. XML for Analysis is
optimized for the Web by minimizing roundtrips to the server and
targeting stateless client requests to maximize the scalability and
robustness of a data source. The specification defines two methods, Discover
and Execute, which consume and send XML for stateless data
discovery and manipulation. The specification is built upon the open
Internet standards of HTTP, XML, and SOAP, and is not bound to any
specific language or technology. The specification references OLE DB
so that application developers already familiar with OLE DB can see
how XML for Analysis can be mapped and implemented. These references
also provide background information on the OLE DB definitions that
the specification extends." [Full
context]
[April 20, 2001]
Requirements Specification for XML Encryption Published by W3C.
The W3C XML Encryption Working Group has released an initial
working draft specification for XML Encryption Requirements.
The draft document "lists the design principles, scope, and
requirements for the XML Encryption. It includes requirements as
they relate to the encryption syntax, data model, format,
cryptographic processing, and external requirements and
coordination." Coordination with the several related
applications is specified, including W3C XML Signature, W3C XML
Protocols, OASIS XML-Based Security Services TC (SSTC), and
Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL). XML Encryption
in the W3C context implies "a method whereby XML content can be
transformed such that it is discernable only to the intended
recipients, and opaque to all others. There are many applications
for such a specification given the increasing importance of XML on
the Internet and Web including the protection of payment and
transaction information. The proposed work will obviously address
how to encrypt an XML documents including elements." The
mission of the W3C working group is "to develop a process for
encrypting/decyrpting digital content (including XML documents and
portions thereof) and an XML syntax used to represent the (1)
encrypted content and (2) information that enables an intended
recipient to decrypt it." [Full
context]
[April 20, 2001]
XTooX: A Free XLink Processor.
Christian Nentwich
(Department of Computer Science, University College London) recently
announced the public availability of an open source XLink processor
'XTooX' which supports XLink "linkbase folding." The tool
processes 'XLink' links as specified by W3C
XML Linking: "An XLink is similar to a link in HTML, but it
is a lot more powerful: any element can behave as an XLink (as
opposed to just the <a> element in HTML), a link can
contain more than two endpoints (effectively linking multiple
resources together), and links can be defined out-of-line, that is
they do not have to be inside the files being linked. XTooX is a
free XLink processor that turns extended, out-of-line links into
inline links. It takes as its input a linkbase (i.e., a
document containing only XLinks) and puts the links into the
referenced documents. If you have a link generator that gives you a
linkbase and an XSL processor, you can now produce entire web sites
automatically. XTooX originated as a student project at University
College London and is now maintained by Christian Nentwich. The
original authors are Heenesh Patel, Alberto Ryan, Khalid Bari, Osman
Maqsood, Dheraj Dagar, Chee Tan, and Majid Khan. XTooX is free
software under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License
(LGPL). The GNU Lesser General Public License allows you to link
XTooX to your product, commercial or free, in its binary form, as a
dynamic library." The online demo uses a sample linkbase that
links together several XML documents and shows how to use XTooX to
get those links into the actual documents. Alternately, you may
access the interactive tool and enter a full linkbase URL for
processing. [Full
context]
[April 19, 2001]
W3C DOM Working Group Publishes Updated Working Drafts.
Three updated working draft specifications have been released by
the W3C Document Object Model (DOM) Working Group. The W3C Document
Object Model is "a platform- and language-neutral interface
that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update
the content, structure and style of documents. The Document Object
Model provides a standard set of objects for representing HTML and
XML documents, a standard model of how these objects can be
combined, and a standard interface for accessing and manipulating
them. Vendors can support the DOM as an interface to their
proprietary data structures and APIs, and content authors can write
to the standard DOM interfaces rather than product-specific APIs,
thus increasing interoperability on the Web." The updated Document
Object Model (DOM) Requirements specification covers
principally DOM Level 3 Requirements (Core, Content Models and
Validation Use Cases and Requirements, Load and Save Requirements,
Embedded DOM Requirements, XPath DOM Draft Requirements). The Document
Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification Version 1.0
defines the Document Object Model Events Level 3 which builds on the
Document Object Model Events Level 2. The three appendices document
IDL Definitions, a Java Language Binding, and an ECMA Script
Language Binding. The updated version 1.0 Document Object
Model (DOM) Level 3 Content Models and Load and Save Specification
has two major sections: (1) one "describes the optional DOM
Level 3 Content Model (CM) feature; this module provides a
representation for XML content models, e.g., DTDs and XML
Schemas, together with operations on the content models, and how
such information within the content models could be applied to XML
documents used in both the document-editing and CM-editing worlds.
(2) the second specifies an API for loading XML source documents
into a DOM representation and for saving a DOM representation as a
XML document." [Full
context]
[April 19, 2001]
Addison-Wesley Publishes Modeling XML Applications with UML.
Dave Carlson of Ontogenics Corporation has completed a major
published work on XML/UML modeling: Modeling XML Applications
with UML. Practical e-Business Applications. The book is now
available from Addison-Wesley as part of the 'Object
Technology Series' edited by Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson, and
James Rumbaugh. Carlson's book "focuses on the design and
visual analysis of XML vocabularies. It explores the generation of
DTD and Schema languages from those vocabularies, as well as the
design of enterprise integration and portals -- all using UML class
diagrams and use case analysis. Also featured are extensive details
on the deployment of XML vocabularies and portals, showing how to
put these elements to work within distributed e-business systems.
You will learn practical techniques that can be applied to both
small and large system development projects using either formal or
informal processes. Topics covered in the book include: An overview
of XML vocabularies, HTML presentations, and XSLT stylesheets; An
overview of the UML diagrams and the Unified Process; Defining
business vocabulary and creating XML Schemas; Designing and
customizing e-business portals using XML; Mapping UML to XML,
including UML relationships to XML hyperlinks; Generating XML
Schemas from the UML class diagrams; Transforming custom XML
vocabularies into the RosettaNet XML standard; Transforming XML
vocabularies into HTML using XSLT; Transforming XML documents into
Portlets; Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) as an XML-based
messaging standard for business-to-business integration. Dave
Carlson's web site 'XMLModeling.com' references additional white
papers and examples for XML/UML modeling, including "Modeling
the UDDI Schema with UML" and "Modeling
XHTML with UML." See "Conceptual
Modeling and Markup Languages" for background references on
the foundations of XML and modeling. [Full
context]
[April 18, 2001]
Transentric Publishes TranXML Schemas for Transportation Data
Exchange.
Transentric has issued
an initial release of the TranXML Schemas governing e-commerce
transactions between shippers and carriers. TranXML is an Extensible
Markup Language for the Transportation and Logistics Industry; it
provides a "standardized set of XML structures facilitating the
flow of information between various internal and external
applications. TranXML has been designed as the common vocabulary to
support logistics supply chain functions across vertical
collaborative vocabularies." The TranXML version 1.0 schemas,
examples, and templates [some 866 disk files in a .ZIP archive]
describe messages for: Rail Bill Of Lading; Simple Rail Bill Of
Lading; Motor Carrier Bill Of Lading; Motor Carrier Load Tender;
Shipment Weights; Car Location Message; Shipment Status; and
Terminal Operations And Intermodal Ramp Activity. XML schemas
planned for release in the next version include: Purchase Order;
Purchase Order Acknowledgement; Advance Ship Notice; Pickup
Manifest; TranXML Envelope; Freight Bills; Application
Acknowledgement; and Receiving Advice. Transentric has also
published a 10-page white paper TranXML: The Common Vocabulary
for Transportation Data Exchange. [Full
context]
[April 17, 2001]
Microsoft's MSXML Parser 4.0 Technology Preview Features W3C XML
Schema Support.
Microsoft has released an XML Parser 4.0 Technology Preview which
"provides a solid look at a number of important new features of
MSXML 4.0, including XSD language validation in the DOM and XSD
support in XPath and XSLT. The technology preview offers fixes for
known problems, improved performance, more samples, and more
complete documentation. Most prominent among the additions to the
technology preview is the support of the latest W3C XML Schema,
Proposed Recommendation (March 30, 2001). The most important feature
is the ability to validate XML documents in the DOM using the XML
Schema. Currently, validation has to be done automatically using the
XMLSchemaCache object. You can use all the XML Schema features
except regular expressions, which will be supported in a later
release. While adding support for the latest XML Schema
recommendation, the MSXML 4.0 Technology Preview continues to
support XML-Data Reduced (XDR) and document type definition (DTD)
validations. The second new schema feature is support of the XML
Schema in XPath and, consequently, in XSLT. With additional
extension functions, permitted by XPath and XSLT standards, you can
check nodes for XSD types and presence of schema information, sort
and compare strings and time-date values, and convert strings to
numbers in a manner conformant with the XSD specification. The MSXML
technology preview extends its support for sequential XML processing
architectures, based on the SAX2 API, in three ways: (1) Integration
between the DOM and SAX parsing models; (2) Generation of HTML
output via a new MXHTMLWriter coclass; (3) Tracking of namespace
declarations via IMXNamespaceManager and IMXNamespacePrefixes
interfaces." [Full
context]
[April 17, 2001]
W3C Publishes Requirements for Call Control in the Voice Browser
Framework.
The W3C Voice Browser Working Group has released an initial
working draft specification for "Call Control Requirements in a
Voice Browser Framework." The document is presented as "a
precursor to work on a specification." It "describes
requirements for mechanisms that enable fine-grained control of
speech (signal processing) resources and telephony resources in a
VoiceXML telephony platform. The scope of these language features is
for controlling resources in a platform on the network edge, not for
building network-based call processing applications in a telephone
switching system, or for controlling an entire telecom
network." This W3C activity "focuses on enabling extended
call control functionality in a voice browser which supports
telephony capabilities. The task is constrained to defining elements
and capabilities which either provide augmented functionality to be
used in combination with VoiceXML or enhance the existing
functionality in VoiceXML. The activities of a Call Control Subgroup
will be coordinated with the activities of the Dialog Subgroup, both
of which are part of the W3C Voice Browser working group." The
requirements specification for call control is set against the
backdrop of published goals for richer telephony functionality in
VoiceXML, [which is] "designed for creating audio dialogs that
feature synthesized speech, digitized audio, recognition of spoken
and DTMF key input, recording of spoken input, telephony, and
mixed-initiative conversations." W3C work on Voice Browsers is
being coordinated under the W3C User Interface Domain. [Full
context]
[April 17, 2001]
OASIS Technical Committee for the Extensible Access Control
Markup Language (XACML).
A call for participation has been issued in connection with a new
OASIS Technical Committee for the Extensible Access Control Markup
Language (XACML). The purpose of the XACML TC is "to define a
core schema and corresponding namespace for the expression of
authorization policies in XML against objects that are themselves
identified in XML. The schema will be capable of representing the
functionality of most policy representation mechanisms available at
the time of adoption. It is also intended that the schema be
extensible in order to address that functionality not included,
custom application requirements, or features not yet envisioned.
Issues to be addressed include, but are not limited to: fine grained
control, the nature of the requestor, the protocol over which the
request is made, content introspection, the types of activities
authorized. The initial list of deliverables includes a statement of
scope; glossary; bibliography; use cases; detailed requirements;
proposed standard; model examples for 'native' and non-native XML
targets of control; reference implementations. To ensure work is not
duplicated and standards adoption is as simple as possible, XACML
shall adopt as baseline documents the work products of the OASIS
Security Services TC." [Full
context]
[April 13, 2001]
Seybold Publications Announces a New Report.
Seybold Publications recently announced a new Seybold
Report publication, and has delivered the first issue online.
"The Seybold Report on Publishing Systems and The
Seybold Report on Internet Publishing are converging: The new
Seybold Report: Analyzing Publishing Technology [ISSN:
1533-9211] covers the full spectrum of technology and business
issues facing publishers today." The new
report will appear twice a month, and the first three issues
will be online free. Seybold Report coverage will
include: Content and Asset Management; Digital Rights Management;
Digital Presses and Variable Data; Color Management and Proofing;
Personalization; Business News and Issues; Broadband; Wireless;
E-Books; CTP and On-Press Imaging; Print Workflow; Standards. For
more than a decade, Seybold Publications has provided consistent
high-quality information about SGML and XML technologies in the
domain of print and electronic publishing. The published critical
reviews of SGML/XML publishing software are thoroughly researched .
Much of the credit for SGML/XML coverage in the Seybold publications
is due Mark Walter, now Seybold Report senior editor.
Mark "directed the editorial team of The Seybold Report
on Internet Publishing since its inception in 1996, and has
been an analyst and consultant in publishing technology since 1985.
He was a member of the founding team of XML.com and covers
XML-related technologies for Seybold. He also contributes expertise
in cross-media technologies, including systems for managing digital
assets, content and editorial workflows." Articles from the new
report will continue to be abstracted in the "Articles
and Papers" section of the XML Cover Pages, as
have other Seybold contributions beginning in the 1980s. Seybold
Publications was founded in 1971 by John W. Seybold and Jonathan
Seybold. [Full
context]
[April 12, 2001]
XKMS Trust Services Specification Receives Broad Declaration of
Industry Support.
At the RSA
Conference 2001 (San Francisco, April 8 - 12), a
"groundswell of industry support for the XKMS
specification" was interpreted as a mandate for a
second-generation PKI [Public Key Infrastructure] Standard.
VeriSign, Microsoft, webMethods, Baltimore Technologies,
Hewlett-Packard Company, International Business Machines Corp.,
IONA, PureEdge, and Reuters all offered endorsements for the XML
Key Management Specification (XKMS), recently accepted
as a submission by W3C. VeriSign introduced its '2nd-Generation
XML toolkit' as a public key infrastructure (PKI) service; Entrust
Technologies announced a 'Web Services Trust Framework' for trust
relationship management along with a new XML-based solution for
smart card manufacturing. The XKMS specification
"revolutionizes the development of trusted applications by
introducing an open framework that enables virtually any developer
to easily incorporate trust services directly into the application.
Currently, developers must enable desktop and e-commerce
applications to handle digital keys for authentication and digital
signatures via the use of toolkits offered by a range of software
vendors. Functions such as digital certificate processing,
revocation status checking and certification path location and
validation do not always interoperate with all vendors' PKI
offerings. With the new XKMS specification, those functions instead
reside in servers that can be accessed via easily programmed XML
messages. By deploying applications within the XKMS framework,
enterprises can gain broad interoperability, rapid time-to-market,
significant cost savings, and scalability across intranet, extranet,
and Internet commerce applications - benefits unattainable with
proprietary PKI software. XKMS is compatible with the emerging
standard for XML digital signatures. Designed to be implemented as a
Web service, XKMS is built upon Web Services Description Language
(WSDL) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). It is anticipated
that future versions of the XKMS specification will be compatible
with XML encryption and XML protocol." [Full
context]
[April 12, 2001]
IFX Forum Releases Enhanced XML Specification for the Consumer
Banking Community.
An announcement from the Interactive Financial Exchange (IFX)
Forum describes the release of an updated Business Message
Specification with an accompanying XML DTD and W3C XML Schema. The
IFX Forum, "charged with developing a robust framework for the
business-to-business exchange of financial data, released the
enhanced version of its XML specification governing
business-to-business transactions for the operation of ATMs, and the
means to communicate corporate payments. The new version ultimately
extends the reach of IFX into the business to business markets,
laying a common foundation for marketplaces and ERP vendors to build
products that can interact directly with their customers' banks.
Utilizing Extensible Markup Language (XML), IFX 1.1.0 provides a
framework that supports the exchange of information between (1)
Cooperating financial institutions, (2) Financial institutions and
cooperative consumer portals, and (3) Businesses and their financial
service providers." [Full
context]
[April 12, 2001]
OBI Consortium Releases XML-based Transaction Processing
Standard.
The OBI Consortium (Open Buying on the Internet) has announced
the release of its OBI Version 3.0 framework, "which adds high
volume support for XML based transactions. Version 3.0 of the
framework enables users to conduct catalog-based purchasing
transactions using the rapidly evolving XML platforms, in addition
to the more traditional back-end systems business document
standards, EDI and EDIFACT. Support of XML transactions now allows
version 3.0 to encompass all the most common standards for
electronic exchange of business transactions. The 3.0 framework
represents the combined work of many leading eCommerce
organizations, including CommerceOne, Ariba, SupplyWorks, EPIC
Systems, Netfish, and iPlanet. Also contributing to the development
of the spec are the leaders of high volume online commerce
consisting of both buyers and sellers including Office Depot, BOC
Gases, WW Grainger, Sun Microsystems, barnesandnoble.com and several
leading financial institutions including JPMorgan Chase, American
Express, and VISA. In addition, several international consortia --
ebXML, LEXECOM, ECP-NL, and AIAG -- played an active role in
building 3.0. OBI is also deploying a compliance program where
implementers can test their ability to process OBI transactions
regardless of the format, whether it is EDI (ANSI x12), UN/EDIFACT,
and now XML. The conformance program will make it easier for buyers
to find suppliers and quickly begin doing business using OBI."
[Full
context]
[April 11, 2001]
Microsoft Issues XML Web Services Announcements.
Microsoft Corporation has made "a number of product and
industry announcements at different events dedicated to XML Web
Services. In keynote presentations at XML DevCon Spring 2001 in New
York City and at Web Services World and the W3C Workshop on Web
Services in San Jose, Calif., Microsoft executives debuted a new
SOAP Toolkit, announced native SOAP support for the Microsoft
Windows XP operating system, invited SOAP developers to an
interoperability event, confirmed acceptance of the jointly authored
XML key management specification (XKMS) digital certificate
specification by the World Wide Web Consortium, and presented a road
map for future XML Web Services directions to the W3C Workshop on
Web Services. The updated version 2.0 SOAP Toolkit provides full
support for SOAP 1.1 and the Web Services Description Language
(WSDL). With the new Toolkit, developers can build high-performance,
commercial-quality XML Web Services or add such capabilities to any
existing application that supports the Component Object Model (COM).
In addition to the stand-alone Toolkit, Microsoft also announced
that Windows XP would have native support for SOAP, simplifying the
efforts of developers building XML Web Services on Windows XP and
ensuring that customers will be able to utilize such services
easily. Just as Windows 2000 was the first operating system with
native XML support, Windows XP is expected to be the first in the
industry with native SOAP support. Microsoft also announced its
sponsorship of several upcoming interoperability events to ensure
the highest level of industry compatibility around SOAP 1.1."
Microsoft is supporting
the XKMS specification, recently acknowledged by W3C as a
submission; the specification "helps enterprises and developers
use Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) digital signatures and
encryption with XML Web Services." [Full
context]
[April 11, 2001]
CIP4 Releases Job Definition Format (JDF) Specification Version
1.0.
CIP4 (International Cooperation for the Integration of Processes
in Prepress, Press and Postpress) has announced the version 1.0
release of its XML-based Job Definition Format (JDF) Specification.
The 463-page specification defines the Job Definition Format (JDF)
and its counterpart, the Job Messaging Format (JMF). JDF is an open,
extensible, XML-based format "built upon the existing
technologies of CIP3's Print Production Format (PPF) and Adobe's
Portable Job Ticket Format (PJTF). JDF has the ability to unify the
pre-press, press, and post-press aspects of any printing job. It
also provides the means to bridge the communication gap between
production services and Management Information Systems (MIS). JDF is
also able to carry out both of these functions no matter what system
architecture is already in place, and no matter what tools are being
used to complete the job. JDF works in tandem with a counterpart
format known as the Job Messaging Format, or JMF. JMF provides the
means for production components of a JDF workflow to communicate
with system controllers and administrative components. JMF will
provide the complete job tracking functionality that is defined by
the IFRAtrack messaging standard." [Full
context]
[April 10, 2001]
Media Industry Standards Initiative to Develop XML Specifications
for Spot Advertising.
A group of twelve companies currently involved in developing
technology and services for the media industry recently announced
that the companies are "joining forces to develop open and
freely-available XML-based standards. The group initially intends to
develop a set of standards that encompass the business transactions
that occur over the life cycle of a television advertising
order." An announcement on "Open Standards For Spot
Advertising" outlines the collaborative effort to "define
and publish a set of XML-based schemas that will support the
business transactions necessary for advertising airtime sales."
A first set of standards is scheduled for release by June 30, 2001.
The companies "believe this initiative will help reduce
inefficiencies in the ad buying and selling process, shorten the
development cycle required to bring new innovations to market, and
accelerate acceptance of online transaction processing in the media
industry. The goal is that these standards will be published and
made freely available in the public domain so that they can be used
by companies involved in developing technologies that facilitate
media buying and selling without licensing requirements or other
restrictions. Acting as spokesperson for the group, W. Lowell
Putnam, president and CEO of Video
Communications Inc., said the standards initiative began after
several companies expressed an interest in developing and adhering
to a common set of standards. VCI invited representatives from each
of the companies to participate in the initial discussion, during
which the group established a timetable, prioritized a list of
transactions, and organized into smaller working groups focused on
creating draft standards. Other organizations interested in
participating in the effort are invited to contact any member of the
group, many of whom will also be exhibiting at NAB in Las Vegas,
April 23-26, 2001." [Full
context]
[April 10, 2001]
New W3C Recommendation: Modularization of XHTML.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has announced the publication
of Modularization
of XHTML as a W3C Recommendation. The recommendation
"defines a method for separating XHTML
1.0 into a collection of modules, each enabling a group of
familiar and related HTML functionalities, such as lists, forms,
tables, and images. This gives product and specification developers
standard building blocks for creating content, and standard methods
for specifying which blocks are used. Modules provide the means for
both subsetting and extending XHTML, which make it suitable for use
on many types of devices, large or small. Modularization of XHTML
gives content developers the ability to choose modules, either alone
or in combination with others, which are all components of the XHTML
family, ensuring interoperability. The abstract modules are
implemented in the specification using the XML Document Type
Definition language, but an implementation using XML Schemas is
expected. This is the third Recommendation the W3C HTML Working
Group has produced in the past 15 months, building from XHTML 1.0 in
January 2000, and XHTML Basic in December 2000. A W3C
'Recommendation' indicates that a specification is stable,
contributes to Web interoperability, and has been reviewed by the
W3C Membership, who are in favor of supporting its adoption by
academic, industry, and research communities." [Full
context]
[April 05, 2001]
Jato: Open Source Java/XML Translator.
Andy Krumel recently
announced the 'Beta 3 preview release 2' version of Jato, a new
library for converting between Java and XML. The preview release
contains the initial version of the Jato debugger and improved
expression support. With development hosted on SourceForge, Jato is
"a GPL open-sourced, XML based non-procedural language for
transforming any XML document to/from any set of Java objects.
Non-procedural languages describe the operations to perform, leaving
the algorithms for implementing the operations to an interpreter. A
Jato script expresses the relationships between XML elements and
Java objects and frees the developer from writing iteration loops,
recursive routines, error checking code, and many other error prone,
verbose, and monotonous XML parsing chores. Jato encourages XML and
Java designs to be optimized for their specified tasks. Developers
simply express the XML elements that map to or from specific Java
classes. The Jato interpreter then implements the necessary parsing
and generation algorithms to accomplish the desired actions." [Full
context]
[April 04, 2001]
W3C Working Draft on Media Queries Supports Single-Source Content
for Multiple Devices.
As part of the W3C Style
Activity, the W3C CSS working group has released a working draft
specification for Media Queries that would apply to CSS
and HTML. According to the abstract: "HTML4 and CSS2 currently
support media-dependent style sheets tailored for different media
types. For example, a document may use sans-serif fonts when
displayed on a screen and serif fonts when printed. 'Screen' and
'print' are two of the media types that have been defined. To
describe in more detail what type of devices a style sheet applies
to, this document proposes media queries. A media query
consists of a media type and one or more expressions to limit the
scope of a certain style sheet. Among the proposed media features
that can be used in expressions are 'width', 'height', and 'color'.
By using media queries, content presentations can be tailored to a
range of devices without changing the content itself. Finally, it is
proposed that the media features described in this document should
be registered in IANA's central registry for media feature
vocabularies." The design team sought a solution for media
queries which (1) would describe, in some detail, what kind of
devices a style sheet can be applied to; (2) had a syntax compatible
with the namespace reserved in HTML4; (3) adopted a syntax usable in
future versions of CSS and XHTML; (4) would offer significantly more
expressive power than the current solution without adding
significant extra costs; (5) would use a vocabulary in line with CSS
and HTML. [Full
context]
[April 04, 2001]
W3C Publishes Revised Specification on XForms Requirements.
The W3C XForms Working Group has released an updated version of
the XForms
Requirements Working Draft, reflecting changes made at
the recent meeting of the XForms Working Group and superseding the
working draft of 2000-08-21. The working draft "outlines the
requirements for 'XForms', W3C's name for the next generation of Web
forms. The WG envisages the design work being conducted in several
steps, starting with the development of a core forms module,
followed by work on additional modules for specific features. The
Modularization of XHTML provides a mechanism for defining modules
which can be recombined as appropriate for the capabilities of
different platforms. XForms will be an application of XML 1.0 plus
Namespaces. It will be possible to define a rich form, including
validations, dependencies, and basic calculations without the use of
a scripting language. As an application of XML, it will be possible
to combine XForms with other XML based languages such as XHTML.
XForms provide considerable benefits compared with classic XHTML
forms. In particular, the separation of the purpose from the
presentation of a form enables a separation of concerns such that
differing skills can be applied to the design of a form. These
skills may be embodied in a single person or many depending on both
the sophistication of the Form being designed as well as the skills
of individuals involved in the design process." [Full
context]
[April 04, 2001]
XSLT Standard Library Version 0.1 Released.
Steve Ball (Zveno) has
posted an announcement for the first release of an 'XSLT Standard
Library' of commonly-used XSLT templates created through the
corresponding SourceForge project. This initial release of the XSLT
Standard Library is "to promote the library, establish the
engineering standards for the library and also acts as a Call For
Participation. Anyone who has useful XSLT templates and feels that
they may be of use to a wide range of XSLT developers and
applications is invited to submit their templates for inclusion in
the library." The XSLT Standard Library, xsltsl,
"provides the XSLT developer with a set of XSLT templates for
commonly used functions. These are mostly implemented purely in
XSLT. Some templates call extension functions provided by XSLT
processors, in order to provide a common interface. Goals of the
'xsltsl' project include: (1) Provision of a high-quality library of
XSLT templates, suitable for inclusion by vendors in XSLT processor
software products. (2) Demonstration of best practice in XSLT
stylesheet development and documentation. (3) Provide examples of
various techniques used to develop XSLT stylesheets (i.e., a
working FAQ). 'xsltsl' uses XML Namespaces, so there is no need to
worry about clashing template names." Contributions to xsltsl
through the SourceForge project are solicited; contributed code must
use the LGPL license to be accepted into the LGPL'd library.
Documentation is to be written using the DocBook standard: all
templates in each stylesheet must be documented as a DocBook
'RefEntry'. [Full
context]
[April 03, 2001]
FpML.org Publishes FpML Architecture Specification 1.0 as an
Approved Recommendation.
The FpML.org Standards
Committee has now released FpML Architecture Version 1.0
as a Recommendation, according to co-chair Brian Lynn. "The
architectural specification addresses topics such as rules for
expressing object-oriented (OO) concepts in XML, rules for
referencing a single object from several places within an FpML
document, rules for identifying the version of an FpML document and
naming conventions. The specification also provides a base for the
other FpML specifications by providing a consistent way for these to
handle the complexity of structured derivatives products. A
'Recommendation' is a work that represents consensus within FpML.org
and has the Standards Committee stamp of approval. The Standards
Committee considers that the ideas or technology specified by a
Recommendation are appropriate for widespread deployment and promote
FpML.org's mission. The FpML 1.0 architectural specification
containing rules for translating business content into XML has
completed its trial recommendation phase and is now endorsed as a
recommendation by FpML.org. This version represents a major step
forward to establish Financial products Markup Language as the
e-Commerce standard for OTC trading of derivatives products, a
market that exceeded $88 trillion in notional at year-end 1999.
FpML.org is developing the freely licensed FpML standard to automate
the flow of information across the entire derivatives partner
network, independent of the underlying software or hardware
infrastructure supporting the transactions. The consortium is
comprised of leading banks and financial institutions that together
account for more than 80% of derivatives trading, along with
information and software vendors and systems integrators." [Full
context]
[April 03, 2001]
Microsoft Releases SOAP Toolkit 2.0 RC0.
Microsoft has announced the Release Candidate edition of the
Microsoft Soap Toolkit Version 2 (Soap Toolkit 2.0 RC0). The RC0
Toolkit "offers functionality similar to the MSDN Soap Toolkit
sample which has been available for several months, but it will be a
fully Microsoft-supported product. The GOLD release of this Toolkit
will replace the current MSDN Soap Toolkit. The major enhancements
since the Beta 1 release include: (1) A new ISAPI listener. (2)
Security fixes and enhancements including Proxy Authentication and
some SSL fixes. (3) Support for messages with complex types in the
WSDL description. This is implemented using a Nodelist in the API or
through a custom type mapper. (4) Support for simple arrays. (5)
WSDL enhancements including stricter standards conformance and
broader datatype support. (6) SDLGen can now generate WSDL for
multiple COM objects in the same dll and allows selection of methods
within each interface. (7) A new trace tool is provided to simplify
troubleshooting. (8) C++ samples are now available." [Full
context]
[April 02, 2001]
Functional XML Parsing Famework Supports XML Namespaces and
Validation.
A communiqué from Oleg Kiselyov
reports on the availability of an XML parser construction kit and
corresponding revised SXML specification. The 'Functional XML
Parsing Framework' is a package of low-to-high level lexing and
parsing procedures that can be combined to yield a SAX, DOM,
validating parsers, or a parser intended for a particular document
type. The procedures in the package can be used separately to
tokenize or parse various pieces of XML documents. The package
supports XML namespaces, character, internal, and external parsed
entities, xml:space, attribute value normalization,
processing instructions and CDATA sections. It is intended to be a
framework, a set of 'Lego blocks' you can use to build a parser that
follows DOM, SAX, or another discipline, and performs validation to
any degree. As an example of such parser construction, the package
includes a semi-validating SXML parser. It converts XML to SXML, an
instance of XML Infoset as S-expressions, an abstract syntax tree of
an XML document. SXML can be queried (in a XPath style),
transformed, and evaluated. The framework parses XML in a pure
functional style, as folding over a text XML document considered a
spread-out tree. The input port is treated as a linear, read-once
parameter. The framework's code does not use assignments at
all." [Full
context]
[April 02, 2001]
Standards Coordination Effort Uses OMG's Unified Modeling Language
(UML) and ACORD's Process Model.
An announcement from The Object
Management Group (OMG) and the Association for Cooperative
Operations Research and Development (ACORD)
reports that the two standards bodies have "teamed up to
leverage their respective strengths to provide a formal
representation of software standards for the insurance
industry." The agreement calls for the creation of a UML
version of the ACORD data model. Also, "when OMG calls for
specifications or recommends Request for Proposal's (RFPs) for the
insurance industry, OMG will use the ACORD model where
applicable." A key goal of OMG's endorsement of the ACORD model
through its RFP process is preventing fragmentation of the
marketplace. "By leveraging ACORD's own processes and existing
models, along with OMG's Unified Modeling Language (UML), both
organizations' members gain a rapid, consensus-based, neutral
standard which benefits many user communities. UML provides the
ability to represent a common platform independent model. This is
important because ACORD will be able to maintain a formal high-level
model while saving time and money as changes in implementation
technology are made. An added benefit for this collaboration between
the two organizations is the implementation of OMG's recently
announced Model Driven Architecture (MDA) which is based primarily
on UML modeling. With MDA, OMG can offer vendors an automated way to
produce implementation models that are highly interoperable, making
future integration easier. MDA builds upon OMG's established
modeling standards: UML, Meta-Object Facility (MOF), XMI Metadata
Interchange (XMI), and the Common Warehouse Meta-model (CWM)."
[Full
context]
[April 02, 2001]
W3C XML Schema Specifications Developed in the 'OSS Through Java
Initiative'.
A communiqué from Ben
Eng (Nortel) reports on "a significant XML Schema effort
that has been underway in the 'OSS Through Java Initiative' for the
past year. The first three API specifications being developed are
for Service Activation, Trouble Ticketing, and Quality of Service;
extending across all OSS through Java specifications is a common
J2EE Design Guidelines document. All three API specifications are
currently in Community Review ending April 16, 2001, at which time
they will be promoted to Public Review status. We specify APIs in
three styles: EJB session interfaces with Java Value Types, EJB
session interfaces with XML Value Types, and XML messaging
(transportable by JMS, ebXML/SOAP, or whatever). There is functional
equivalence between the styles. Each OSS API will specify all three
styles of APIs; specifying one automatically generates the other
two. The latter two styles of interfaces are specified in XML
Schema." [Full
context]
[April 02, 2001]
Updated Information on GCA's XML Conferences.
Marion L. Elledge of the Graphic
Communications Association has published announcements with
details concerning GCA's upcoming XML Conferences. The XML Europe
Conference and Exhibition (now in its seventeenth year, formerly
'SGML Europe') "is being held in one of the leading
technological capitals in the European community, May 21-25, 2001.
Last year's record breaking event drew over 1,400 attendees from all
over the world. This year's conference and exposition will be held
at the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC) in Berlin, Germany.
The XML Europe conference theme is 'Going Vertical and Beyond: How
XML Powers Industry Applications.' XML Europe 2001 is expected to be
the largest XML conference and exposition outside the USA, will
feature: (1) a lineup of 31 tutorials and 4 Special Interest Day
programmes preceding the conference, (20 three days of intensive,
XML-related conference tracks and keynotes, and (3) an exhibition
area featuring more than 50 of the leading vendors of XML products
and services." GCA also announced that Lauren Wood of SoftQuad
Software will chair the XML 2001 Conference, 'XML Everywhere', to be
held December 9-14, 2001 in Orlando, Florida. "Lauren's
involvement with XML has included work with these leading advisory
bodies since 1995. She was part of the W3C HTML Working Group and
the XML Working Group, and recently chaired the W3C Document Object
Model Working Group." Extreme
Markup Languages 2001 will be held August 12-17, 2001 at Le
Centre Sheraton, Montréal, Québec, Canada. The Graphic
Communications Association is a "leading global membership
organization that advances the process of information
interoperability and dissemination of knowledge in both print and
electronic communications. GCA accomplished this by engaging in and
supporting the creation and adoption of globally recognized
standards for information definition and exchange." [Full
context]
[April 02, 2001]
Two New Test Suites for XML Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1.
OASIS and NIST have announced the addition of "two new test
suites for the XML Document Object Model (DOM) Level 1 to the
growing collection of OASIS Conformance Tests for XML Technologies.
DOM Level 1 provides a standard set of objects for representing HTML
and XML documents, a standard model of how these objects can be
combined and a standard interface for accessing and manipulating
them. The two DOM Level 1 Conformance Test Suites were developed by
NIST and submitted to OASIS for the benefit of the entire XML
community. They include both ECMAScript and Java tests. The
ECMAScript DOM Test Suite is interactive, providing instant
pass/fail results. Developers may view the source code of the test,
link to the test purposes (semantic requirements) and link to the
appropriate section in the W3C DOM Recommendation. The suite
includes more than 800 ECMAScript tests, covering all fundamental,
extended and HTML interfaces. The Java DOM Test Suite also contains
more than 200 tests, covering all fundamental and extended
interfaces. The tests are organized into a set of classes, one for
each interface. The suite includes a test driver that accepts
implementations, interfaces and output files." NIST (National
Institute of Standards and Technology) is also collaborating
with W3C in the development of DOM Conformance Test Suites. [Full
context]
