cXML Release Notes


This document describes the changes between minor versions of cXML. For the changes between major versions, see the cXML User's Guide.

 

1.2.007

 

InvoiceDetail Documentation

The InvoiceDetail transaction is now fully described in Chapter 9, "Invoices" in the cXML User's Guide.

 

version Attribute Deprecated

The version attribute of the cXML wrapper element has been deprecated. This attribute is not needed, because applications can detect the cXML version from the system identifier in the DOCTYPE declaration.

 

InvoiceStatus Added to StatusUpdateRequest

StatusUpdateRequest documents can contain a new element named InvoiceStatus. Buying organizations can now use these documents to update the status of invoices on commerce network hubs, which can forward them to suppliers. Invoice status can be reconciled, rejected, or paid.

The new InvoiceStatus element can contain a new PartialAmount element, which specifies the amount paid against the InvoiceDetailRequest. If this element exists, the buying organization does not pay the full amount specified within the InvoiceDetailRequest.

 

Multiple Provider URLs Returned by ProfileRequest

The Profile transaction can now return multiple variations of a single transaction type. Previously, if a cXML server supported multiple variations of a transaction, there was no standard for distinguishing them.

For example, a marketplace might provide two services within the ProviderSetupRequest transaction: signin and console. The ProfileResponse document can now specify the location of each variation:

<Transaction requestName="ProviderSetupRequest">
  <URL>http://service.hub.com/signin</URL>
  <Option name="service">signin</Option>
</Transaction>

<Transaction requestName="ProviderSetupRequest">
  <URL>http://service.hub.com/console</URL>
  <Option name="service">console</Option>
</Transaction>

 

Contact Role Enhancements for Compatibility with EDI

To enable easier data translation between EDI and cXML documents, there are new values for the Contact role attribute and the IdReference domain attribute.

 

1.2.006

 

New InvoiceDetail.dtd

The InvoiceDetail transaction was added to support detailed invoicing. This transaction enables suppliers to invoice buying organizations through network commerce hubs for the entirety or portion of single or multiple orders. This transaction introduces the InvoiceDetailRequest document and uses a standard cXML Response document.

Use this transaction to inform buying organizations of invoice details, including order references, line item references, partners involved, accounting and financing, discount terms, shipping and special handling, applicable taxes, deposit and payment, and contact and remittance information. Use InvoiceDetail to send an invoice for any portion of all or selected line items from single or multiple orders. You can also use InvoiceDetail to send a credit or debit memo, or a duplicate copy of invoices sent earlier.

 

1.2.005

 

Added addressID Attribute to Contact

This attribute supports address codes for relationships that require id references.

 

Added TaxDetail Element to Tax

Tax element can contain repeatable TaxDetail elements. TaxDetail provides information regarding taxable amount, tax amount, tax location, tax purpose, tax category, tax rate, whether the tax is VAT recoverable, and textual description.

 

Added MasterAgreementRequest Transaction

Provides the capability of negotiating and creating Master Agreements with suppliers and creating Release Orders from these Master Agreements. Master Agreement documents can be routed from a procurement application to a supplier via a network hub.

Significant MasterAgreementRequestHeader Elements and Attributes Are:

Significant AgreementItemOut Elements and Attributes Are:

Added orderType, agreementID, and agreementPayloadID Attributes to OrderRequest

orderType indicates whether the Order Request is a Release Order from an existing Master Agreement contract. The default is regular.

agreementID identifies the associated agreement corresponding to the Release Order.

agreementPayloadID specifies the PayloadID of the referenced Master Agreement.

Added agreementItemNumber Attribute to ItemOut

Identifies the corresponding item on a particular Master Agreement.

 

Added Elements and Attributes to Support RFQ (Request For Quote)

When initiating a PunchOut session for sourcing an item rather than extending a catalog search to the PunchOut site, some additions to the PunchOutSetupRequest and related documents improve the application integrations. These additions should be used only when the originating application is sure the destination supports them. They are not completely compatible with existing PunchOut destinations.

Added "source" operation to PunchOutSetupRequest

The operation attribute of the PunchOutSetupRequest now has an additional option in its enumeration. This allows a procurement application to begin a PunchOut session with reference to information present in the ItemOut element list rather than the SelectedItem element. Otherwise, the new operation is very similar to a "create" operation.

Added SupplierList Element to ItemOut

This new element may be used instead of a single SupplierID in the ItemOut element. SupplierList element defines a list of suppliers that might be associated with a sourced item. The ItemOut elements may specify a list of suppliers that could be involved in the sourcing process. The Supplier List needs the name and the list of SupplierIDs for that particular supplier.

Added SourcingStatus Element to PunchOutOrderMessageHeader and StatusUpdateRequest

Transfers information for the update of a given RFQ transaction, including the type of update. The content of the element can be a textual description of the update, such as the actual status update string used in the UI for display.

 

Added quoteStatus Attribute to PunchOutOrderMessage

Specifies whether the quote is still pending or final. This is a replacement for various hacks used to prevent submission of requisitions that include unfinished quotes. If set, the application should return for updates prior to allowing submission.

 

Corrected the Fixed Value of an a-dtype Attribute

The datatypes of the ProfileResponse attributes as expressed in the a-type fixed attribute of that element were incorrect in the 1.2.004 DTD. This was a regression of the defect mentioned below as fixed in 1.2.003.

 

Added itemDetailsRequired Attribute to Node

Indicates that a node would like the ItemDetails element returned in a later PunchOut (edit or inspect) operation. Without this, most procurement applications today default to sending only limited identification information such as the SupplierID, Path and ItemID elements.

This is an extension to the Path Routing feature mentioned in the 1.2.003 notes below.

 

Added DataAvailableMessage Element

A new message option for use within the GetPendingResponse. Indicates new information is available at the target site.

 

Moved InternalID Element Definition

Identifies a subscription or any available data.

 

1.2.004

 

Added PaymentStatus element to StatusUpdateRequest

This optional element allows more detailed information if the original document is a ConfirmationRequest with type="RequestToPay".

 

Added ProfileResponse lastRefresh Attribute

The lastRefresh attribute indicates when the server's profile cache last changed. When an application receives a ProfileResponse from a profile caching entity such as Ariba CSN or AM-NE, it will know the age of the data in the cache.

 

1.2.003

 

Added Path Routing Feature

Path Routing enables documents to be routed by and copied to intermediary systems such as direct and indirect marketplaces, and commerce service providers. In complex relationships between buyers and suppliers, documents might be routed through several intermediary systems before they reach the end node.

Added an optional Path element to the Header and Item level of cXML documents.

 

Corrected Datatype of ProfileResponse effectiveDate Attribute

Changed

a-dtype NMTOKENS #FIXED 'effectiveDate dateTime'

to

a-dtype NMTOKENS #FIXED 'effectiveDate dateTime.tz'

 

1.2.002

 

Added Catalog Upload Transaction

The cXML Catalog Upload transaction enables suppliers to programmatically upload and publish catalogs to a network hub. It can be used to automatically distribute updated catalogs whenever the pricing or availability of products or services changes. The Catalog Upload transaction consists of two cXML documents: CatalogUploadRequest and generic Response. CatalogUploadRequest was added to cXML.dtd.

The Catalog Upload transaction supports both CIF and cXML catalogs.

 

1.2.001

 

Added Provider PunchOut Transaction

ProviderSetupRequest, ProviderSetupResponse, and ProviderDoneMessage were added to the cXML.dtd. Provider PunchOut enables an application to punch out to a provider’s application that supplies some service to the originating application, such as credit card validation, single login, or self registration.

 

Moved Common PunchOut Related Element Definitions

Moved common PunchOut related element definitions to Base.mod from other modules thereby reordering the definitions within cXML.dtd and Fulfill.dtd.

 

Reordered cXML.dtd

Reordering of cXML.dtd  places the contents of Entities.mod and Profile.mod slightly later in the concatenation.

 

New Fulfill.dtd

 

1.2.000

 

Added Extrinsic Element to PunchoutDetail

The PunchoutDetail element can now contain an Extrinsic list. This is used in a IndexItemPunchout (also correct with that capitalization) element in a static catalogue.

Added ConfirmationRequest and ShipNoticeRequest

Released a draft version of Fulfill.dtd containing ConfirmationRequest and ShipNoticeRequest.

 

1.1.010

 

Added CopyRequest Element

The CopyRequest element enables copying and forwarding of messages to new recipients, similar to forwarding an e-mail messages. To accomplish this, a new message is created and sent that includes the original message. At the moment this request is rarely used within the Ariba infrastructure. Currently, it is primarily used by Ariba CSN for service partners and might in the future be relevant for Marketplace participants.

 

Added Comments to Country-Related Elements and Attributes

Better explanations of the country-related elements and attributes have been added to the CountryCode element, and the isoCountryCode attribute on the Address, Country, and CountryCode elements.

 

1.1.009

 

Change in Data Type of role Attribute of Contact Element

The data type of the of the Contact element's optional role attribute has been changed from an enumeration containing endUser, administrator, purchasingAgent, technicalSupport, customerService, and sales, to a string with the same allowed values. This change enables the usage of the Contact element to be more easily expanded.

 

Addition of a lastChangedTimeStamp Attribute to the Identity Element

An optional lastChangedTimestamp attribute has been added to the Identity element. This attribute enables automatic synchronization of data between systems.

 

Addition of a domain Attribute to the InternalID Element

An optional domain attribute has been added to the InternalID element and provides scoping for this subscription catalogue identifier. The default domain value is "NetworkSubscription".

 

Addition of a DocumentReference Element to the OrderRequestHeader Element

An optional DocumentReference element has been added to the OrderRequestHeader element. DocumentReference provides explicit links between an update or delete action and the most recent OrderRequest for the same order. DocumentReference contains the payloadID of the most recent OrderRequest document in the list, not always the original OrderRequest (with type set to "new").

 

Definitions Rearranged

DocumentReference and StatusUpdateRequest have been moved to new locations within the cxml.dtd file. The constituent file status.mod no longer exists.

 

1.1.008

 

New Entity for cXML Version

The cXML version string (for example, 1.1.008) is now stored in a single-parameter entity named cxml.version. You can use this new entity to keep the version number consistent throughout cXML documents. For example,

<!DOCTYPE cXML SYSTEM "http://xml.cXML.org/schemas/cXML/1.1.008/cXML.dtd">
<cXML version="&cxml.version;" payloadID="992662" xml:lang="en-US" timestamp="2000-03-12T18:39:09-08:00">

Using this technique is not recommended when interacting with non-validating XML parsers. Non-validating parsers will have no version information as they load the cXML document, and will behave as if the version attribute were absent.

 

SGML Entity-Redefinition Conditionalized

cXML 1.1 followed a general XML recommendation to redefine five entities (lt, gt, amp, apos, and quot) for interoperability with SGML parsers. However, it was found that these redefinitions cause some XML parsers to complain.

These redefinitions are now conditionalized for better compatibility with XML parsers. In the future, commerce network platforms might have an option for setting the XML flag SGML-help to trigger these redefinitions for interoperability with SGML parsers.

 

Transaction Definitions Rearranged

The definitions of the %cxml.messages, %cxml.requests, and %cxml.responses entities have been moved to a separate module (Entities.mod) for improved maintainability. By moving these definitions to Entities.mod, they appear together within the .dtd, separate from their uses in the Message, Request, and Response elements.

 

New License Agreement

The copyright notice in the .dtd and .mod files has been replaced by a reference to the license agreement on www.cXML.org:

For cXML license agreement information, please see
http://www.cxml.org/home/license.asp

 

1.1.007

 

Deterministic Declaration of cXML Element

The top-level cXML element has a new declaration:

            Old element type declaration:
        <!ELEMENT cXML ((Header, Message) | (Header, Request) | (Response))>

            New declaration:
        <!ELEMENT cXML ((Header, (Message | Request)) | Response)>

The new declaration uses a deterministic grammar that is compatible with more XML parsers.

 

OrderReference Changed to DocumentReference

The proposed element name OrderReference was changed to DocumentReference so that it is more generic.

 

Less Restrictive Data Type for Attributes

The data types of the following attributes have been changed from NMTOKEN to CDATA so that they can contain less restrictive data:

isoCountryCode
currency
alternateCurrency
xml:lang

 

 

November, 2001

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