[2000] Bowstreet has announced Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) as "the XML Standard for Directories that Enables Friction-free eCommerce. DSML is a markup language for representing directory services in XML. The intention of the working group is to establish it as an open standard, so that developers and vendors will be able to adopt it into their systems. DSML helps XML-based applications make better use of directories. With a recognized standard, applications can be written to make use of DSML and capture the scalability, replication, security and management strengths of directory services. With a DSML standard, any XML-based application will be able to leverage directory information expressed as XML. [From the FAQ:] 'DSML is an XML-Schema for representing Directory Services content and structure. An XML-Schema is a format for specifying rules covering the structure and content of XML documents. DSML will be defined using a Document Content Description (DCD).'
Specifically, DSML will allow these applications to utilize profile and resource information from directories in their native environment, by providing the standard schema for representing this meta-data in XML documents. Such documents can then be used by applications or transmitted via the Internet to other DSML-enabled applications. This effectively extends LDAP across firewalls and to any Internet transport protocol -- a major benefit to all inter-company efforts. DSML Working Group: Bowstreet has created the initial draft of the DSML specification. The effort is supported by IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and the Sun-Netscape Alliance. The participants have committed to working with standards bodies, such as XML.ORG or W3C, to develop a standard schema for describing directory services in XML. Other developers and vendors are invited to participate."
"DSML Leverages LDAP: "LDAP provides a means for accessing directory information. DSML provides the means for reading and understanding directory content. Today, without the DSML standard, developers who want to use directory policy and profile information must write code for each directory they want to support. Many use LDAP access protocols to generate LDIFF or XML documents that can drive customization within applications such as electronic commerce. But such proprietary solutions impede inter-company integration, making it expensive and time-consuming to build and manage such systems as supply chain management and distribution channel management. With a DSML standard, any XML-based application will be able to leverage directory information expressed as XML."
References:
- DSML 2.0 XML Schema [source]
DSML Data Sheet [PDF]
Directory Services Markup Language (DSML). Futures Document.
[February 25, 2002] ['DSML version 1 and DSML version 2'.] Differences, dependencies. By Pete Rowley (Developer, Netscape Directory Server). 2002-02-25. "The two specifications address different needs. v1 is a directory data representation format similar to LDIF whereas v2 is a protocol alternative to LDAP. Although v2 may also 'represent' directory data, it does so by intertwining the data with operational directives. That means that to use a v2 data dump to initialise a new server instance one must use a utility of some kind to transform the protocol elements from their 'read' form to their 'write' form. v1 has no such requirement since it has no operational component and hence is arguably more convenient (and also arguably more human readable) than v2 for this kind of use. In my view v2 does not really supercede v1 since it does not provide an operation agnostic representation of the data, therefore the two specifications are complimentary..." Note also: [1] Tom Beauvais: "v1 also had a nice way of representing the LDAP schema, which is not in the v2 spec." [2] Christine Tomlinson: "v1 was deficient as an LDIF replacement in at least the area that it provided no means to indicate the modification or deletion of an entry in a directory. This along with the intent to support non-sequential ldif-like applications via the mode='parallel' mark the departure of v2 from v1..." [3] Jeff Parham: "The original goal of maintaining consistency with DSMLv1 was pretty quickly abandoned by the TC..." [notes from the DSML list, February 2002]
[September 20, 2001] "Directory Services Markup Language Version 2.0." From OASIS TC for Directory Services Markup Language (DSML). Draft. September 19, 2001. 38 pages. "The Directory Services Markup Language v1.0 (DSMLv1) provides a means for representing directory structural information as an XML document.1 DSMLv2 goes further, providing a method for expressing directory queries and updates (and the results of these operations) as XML documents. DSMLv2 documents can be used in a variety of ways. For instance, they can be written to files in order to be consumed and produced by programs, or they can be transported over HTTP to and from a server that interprets and generates them. DSMLv2 functionality is motivated by scenarios including: (1) A smart cell phone or PDA needs to access directory information but does not contain an LDAP client. (2) A program needs to access a directory through a firewall, but the firewall is not allowed to pass LDAP protocol traffic because it isn't capable of auditing such traffic. (3) A programmer is writing an application using XML programming tools and techniques, and the application needs to access a directory. In short, DSMLv2 is needed to extend the reach of directories. DSMLv2 is not required to be a strict superset of DSMLv1, which was not designed for upward-compatible extension to meet new requirements. However it is desirable for DSMLv2 to follow the design of DSMLv1 where possible. ... DSMLv2 focuses on extending the reach of LDAP directories. Therefore, as in DSMLv1, the design approach is not to abstract the capabilities of LDAP directories as they exist today, but instead to faithfully represent LDAP directories in XML. The difference is that DSMLv1 represented the state of a directory while DSMLv2 represents the operations that an LDAP directory can perform and the results of such operations...." With the draft XML schemas: Batch Envelope, [imported].
[June 11, 2001] "Microsoft's Proposal for Directory Services Markup Language v2.0." Posted by Peter J. Houston (Microsoft Corporation, Group Program Manager, Active Directory). "The Directory Services Markup Language v1.0 (DSMLv1) provides a means for representing directory structural information as an XML document. DSMLv2 goes further, providing a method for expressing directory queries and updates (and the results of these operations) as XML documents. DSMLv2 documents can be used in a variety of ways. For instance, they can be written to files in order to be consumed and produced by programs, or they can be transported over HTTP to and from a server that interprets and generates them. DSMLv2 functionality is motivated by scenarios including: (1) A smart cell phone or PDA needs to access directory information but does not contain an LDAP client. (2) A program needs to access a directory through a firewall, but the firewall is not allowed to pass LDAP protocol traffic because it isn't capable of auditing such traffic. (3) A programmer is writing an application using XML programming tools and techniques, and the application needs to access a directory. In short, DSMLv2 is needed to extend the reach of directories. DSMLv2 is not required to be a strict superset of DSMLv1, which was not designed for upward-compatible extension to meet new requirements. However it is desirable for DSMLv2 to follow the design of DSMLv1 where possible... DSMLv2 focuses on extending the reach of LDAP directories. Therefore, as in DSMLv1, the design approach is not to abstract the capabilities of LDAP directories as they exist today, but instead to faithfully represent LDAP directories in XML. The difference is that DSMLv1 represented the state of a directory while DSMLv2 represents the operations that an LDAP directory can perform and the results of such operations. Therefore the design approach for DSMLv2 is to express LDAP requests and responses as XML documents. For the most part DSMLv2 is a systematic translation of LDAP's ASN.1 grammar (defined by RFC 2251) into XML-Schema. Thus, when a DSMLv2 element name matches an identifier in LDAP's ASN.1 grammar, the named element means the same thing in DSMLv2 and in LDAP..." See also comments in the posting.
[June 15, 2001] "Microsoft Furthers Adoption of Directory Standards." - "Microsoft Corp. continued its commitment to directory leadership and its support of industry standards with the submission this week of a Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) 2.0 proposal to the DSML.org forum. Widely supported by leading industry vendors, DSML 1.0, of which Microsoft was a key contributor, offers a way to represent directory data using XML. DSML 2.0, which is yet to be ratified, will extend DSML to support common directory access operations such as queries and updates. Microsoft's unique approach is designed to enable all vendors of existing LDAP V3-compliant directory services to quickly develop a DSML 2.0 implementation. Microsoft expects that, with a widely supported and comprehensive way to access directory data using XML, directory services will become a powerful enabler of e-business solutions. Microsoft also expects that DSML 2.0 will enable directory access for a wider range of application developers than are enabled by current LDAP implementations.."
DSML 1.0 Specification, with DTD version 1.0, '1999-11-30'. A ".ZIP file containing the specification, DTD, XSD (XML Schema) and XDR (Biztalk Format)." [cache]
DSML Version 1.0 from cached files; see the ZIP archive for documentation. Source was http://www.dsmltools.org/dsml.org/.
OASIS DSML Mailing List: - "Bowstreet has requested creation of a mailing list for the purpose of founding a Technical Committee to establish DSML as an open standard, through OASIS, so that developers and vendors will be able to adopt it into their systems. The TC will also refine and enhance the standard, using version 1.0 as a base. . ."
Slides from the July 12, 1999 press conference (HTML); or download the Powerpoint presentation.
Bowstreet - DSML References
[April 05, 2001] "Comparison of Technologies Submitted for the DSML 2.0 Specification." Draft document prepared by Jeff Bohren (Access360), submitted by Gavenraj Sodhi to the DSML TC for discussion. April 4, 2001. "Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) is a proposed standard for representing LDAP in XML. The first version (1.0) of DSML defined how to represent LDAP schema and data, but did not address LDAP operations and protocol issues. This paper is a summary of three technologies that have been submitted to the DSML organization for consideration as the next generation (2.0) for the DSML standard... Directory Access Markup Language (DAML), Submitted by Access360 Access360 has offered the DAML specification to DSML.org for consideration as part of the DSML 2.0 specification. The DAML specification was defined by Access360 as the protocol for communication to agents. To be as standards based as possible, the DAML syntax matches the LDAP syntax very closely, but is represented as XML text rather than BER encoded data ... Novell has submitted a XML specification (NDS-DTD) that is currently part of the Dir-XML product for consideration as part of the DSML 2.0 specification. The NDS-DTD is designed mainly to support the concept of an LDAP join engine (system that keeps data from 3rd party data sources synchronized with it's representation in an LDAP directory)... iPlanet has submitted the XML schema from the iPlanet XMLDAP Directory Gateway (iXDGW) product to DSML.org for consideration as part of the DSML 2.0 specification. The XMLDAP, unlike DAML and Dir-XML, does not define an XML DTD. Instead, it defines a generic template specification that can be used in conjunction with their product to transform representation of data in XML from one form to another. They then define a default implementation of that transformation language that can transform LDAP like data..." [source.
[December 29, 2000] Gervase Markham announced the availability of 'DSML Tools' Version 1.0. The DSML Tools suite is a set of Java utilities for handling Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) data, under development as part of Markham's third year project. The DSML Tools "provide the following capabilities: (1) Querying of any LDAP directory, with search results output as DSML (2) Import of DSML data into any LDAP directory (3) Directory-context validation of DSML (checking for illegal attributes in the entries, etc.) (4) Calculating the differences (for a directory) of two DSML documents - an XML Diff algorithm for DSML data In other words, this software makes all LDAP-supporting directories DSML-enabled. In addition to that, it provides the useful function of checking the integrity of generated DSML data, and showing at a glance how two data sets represented as DSML differ. Within this tool suite, 'LDAP2DSML' performs an LDAP search and outputs the results as DSML; 'DSML2LDAP' takes a DSML file and modifies a directory based on its contents; 'DSMLDiff' shows the effective differences in the data between two DSML files; 'DSMLValidate' checks the integrity of DSML against a directory schema." The code is MPL/GPL dual-licensed. This is, as far as Markham is aware, the first open-source implementation of an LDAP to DSML gateway. Development background: "DSML (Directory Services Markup Language) is an XML dialect for directory information. A directory is a hierarchically-organised data store - in other words, a tree of data nodes. For example, a company may have organisational units, each unit will have employees, and each employee will have a name and an email address. Such hierarchically-organised data does not fit well in a database, but is much more suited to a directory. There is a common standard for directory access in LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), version 3 of which is defined in RFC 2251. This allows clients to connect to any directory to read information. There is also a common interchange format, called LDIF (LDAP Data Interchange Format) defined in RFC 2849. However, with the new generation of web applications being XML-aware, an XML dialect for directory information was thought necessary. Hence DSML. DSML allows the new generation of XML-aware applications to use directory information."
[September 12, 2000] DSML 2.0 Requirements - the article includes "a wish list for DSML 2.0"; see more specifically the posting from James Tauber. DSML 2.0 Requirements discussed 9/12 on list: "(1) A purpose of DSML 2.0 is to provide an XML-oriented interface to information that is presumed to be stored in one or more LDAP directories. (2) To the extent that the DSML 2.0 specification will provide a canonical mapping of XML document structure to an LDAP directory/schema the focus will be on LDAP version 3 directories. This does not preclude development of support for LDAP version 2 but that is not the focus of DSML 2.0. (3) DSML 2.0 will provide support for serialization of LDAP (version 3) directory contents, expression via XML-based facilities of both search and update/creation operations of documents that are then mapped into LDAP operations. (4) DSML 2.0 will not necessarily adopt the DSML 1.0 serialization as the canonical DSML 2.0 serialization of LDAP directory content."
[November 13, 2000] "DSML gives you the power to access your LDAP information as XML. The Directory Service Markup Language adds XML functionality to your directory services. [Directory Services and XML.]" By Lanette Poe and Michael Ball. In JavaWorld (November 2000). ['These days, directory services and XML form the backbone of good data management. With Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) -- a new standard for representing directory information as XML -- directory services can take advantage of XML's most powerful features. In this article, Michael Ball and Lanette Poe discuss the many uses of DSML and provide examples illustrating some of those uses'] "In today's e-business environment, effective and efficient data management is crucial. As such, two technologies prove vital to proper data management: directory services and XML. Directory services allow you to store and manage data, and are thus a necessary prerequisite for conducting online business. XML provides an effective way to present and transfer data. With that in mind, there's a clear need to bridge the two technologies. The solution may be the new Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) standard, designed to make directory services more dynamic by employing XML. DSML, in conjunction with technologies like XSL and EJB, provides a unique way to solve many business problems, such as supply chain management and customer support. The technology was developed out of work done by Bowstreet and completed by the DSML Working Group; the latter submitted the technology to the W3C and OASIS standards groups in December 1999. Numerous products now support DSML, including Sun's recently released DSML Service Provider 1.2 technology, released for use with J2EE 1.2, and Exolab's Castor API, which provides services to extract information from LDAP as DSML, as well as . With the DSML Service Provider, which implements the javax.naming.directory.DirContext interface, you can access a DSML document, manipulate and update its contents by using the JNDI APIs, and then re-export the contents in DSML format. In this article, we will discuss how to create dynamic content and manipulate a directory server with DSML. We will do this using Exolab's Castor, servlets, and XSL... Directory services are powerful tools common in most of today's architectures. They store information about people, hardware, and even objects. But as directory-service use becomes more pervasive, a standard way to manipulate the information inside of them and transfer data between them becomes necessary. By taking advantage of the power of XML, DSML provides a powerful interface into directory servers. As XML tools become more and more common, using them to access DSML will become easier, and your directory servers will become more useful and dynamic."
[August 21, 2000] "Bowstreet's Web Factory: Mass-Producing Business Webs." By Brian J. Dooley. In The Seybold Report on Internet Publishing Volume 4, Number 12 (August 2000), pages 1, 3-6. ['As Web publishing continues to blend with e-business, companies face new challenges in pulling content from diverse sources onto their sites. Whether your service connects to consumers, to other businesses, or to both, it's no easy feat to integrate personalized, real-time data from your partners with the content of your site. To help streamline this complicated process, Bowstreet has developed the Business Web Factory, a toolkit sites use to glue each others' services into an intergated whole for their customers. Its innovation -- exposing LDAP directory services as XML files -- has become the basis for an emerging standard (DSML) endorsed by rivals Microsoft, Novell, Sun, Oracle and IBM. It also is the foundation for Bowstreet's Business Web Factory and its new online service (at www.BusinessWeb.com) for building Web exchanges. . . Using XML to describe directory resources and profiles, Bowstreet's Business Web Factory and its sister service Business Web Exchange help companies build, share and snap on reusable software building blocks to create customized Web sites. Bowstreet's approach is designed specifically to scale when multiple trading partners collaborate on commercial sites for their customers.'] "Bowstreet's Business Web Factory is one of a new generation of tools designed to meld services and content from different vendors into a seamless web-based package, which might be presented to the customer as an integrated account or purchasing experience. Business Web Factory simplifies the complex task of rolling out customized sites in the thousands by applying a building-block approach. This is the same concept touted by Microsoft in its .NET initiative and supported in various ways by all of the vendors who are proponents of XML. Integration of third-party services in Web sites is hardly a new idea; it has existed since Web-based delivery tracking could be hot linked to a vendor's ordering system, or since financial and ordering services were made available to vendors via a seamless third-party checkout process. The difference lies in the level of integration, the flexibility in adding whole new kinds of services, and the ease with which new standards such as XML and SOAP permit integration between systems, legacy data, databases, delivery paradigms and the like. Business Web Factory relies upon two standards whose support base is now solidifying: XML and LDAP. XML uses rule files and descriptive tags to unambiguously identify and describe data and provide vendor-neutral hooks for processing it. Directory services based on LDAP keep track of services and profiles needed to create a customized Web site. Business Web Factory ties XML and directory services together with an automatic building process based on reusable models. This approach simplifies development and deployment by making it possible to construct complex Web operations using XML-based building blocks containing attributes that can be switched on or off according to need. If your services have not yet been converted to XML, Business Web Factory provides tools to either convert them or to directly incorporate other components, such as Java classes, COM and CORBA objects and Enterprise Java Beans..."
[March 31, 2000] "DSML is the glue for future directories. Language addresses the shortcomings of other protocols." By Rawn Shah. In (March 2000). ['To support a truly enterprise-scale directory service, products from major vendors such as Microsoft, Novell, Sun, and others must speak the same language. The Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) might just be the key. This month Rawn Shah reviews DSML.'] "Although there have been numerous directory services products over the years, Microsoft's recent release of Active Directory, which is bundled with Windows 2000, promises to make itself mandatory in medium- to large-scale Windows-centric networks. It may not be the most versatile system in the world, but it can improve the management of hundreds or thousands of Windows desktops and servers. Although Active Directory implements version 3 of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), it also extends it and adds some Windows specific features. Microsoft isn't alone in adding to LDAPv3, which does have its limitations. For example, Novell's NetWare Directory Services (NDS) also enhances the LDAPv3 protocol to add their own features. One important missing feature is object-level access control. Each entry object in the directory should have its own access control list that indicates which users are allowed access to the data contents of the entry and which aren't. Both NDS and Active Directory have this, albeit in different forms. Such enhancements alter the way directory entries may be accessed from an application, thus making, for example, a NetWare-based application incompatible with some of the data stored in Active Directory. . . . Like XML, DSML has platform-independent syntax that can be implemented on practically any platform available today. It separates the context-specific semantics of the document contents from the platform-specific semantics, which makes an entry in one directory understood as an entry in all directories. Some entries may have additional attributes that others don't, so DSML provides a way to translate an entry from one directory format to another. Each directory accepts the attributes it can store and creates default values or queries for additional information on missing entries. DSML is language that describes the structure of directories (schema), and the contents of directory entries. In other words, it's a structured form that describes another structured form. Because both directories and XML commonly use terms such as attributes, schema, objects, etc., it's important to distinguish the difference when talking about DSML. A directory schema thus refers to the structure of the data elements contained within the directory, as opposed to the DSML schema that refers to the ruleset of how to translate between directories..."
[August 01, 2000] "Sun Microsystems, other tech pioneers advance DSML in directory-enabled e-business products. Bowstreet, Critical Path, iPlanet, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and others embark on XML-based Directory Services Markup Language 2.0." - "Bowstreet, a leading provider of XML infrastructure for business-to-business (B2B) web marketplaces, today announced that eight new technology companies, including technology giant Sun Microsystems, have implemented Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) in their solutions. This vendor commitment to DSML, the Bowstreet-initiated XML standard that bridges the gap between directories and XML-based e-business applications, highlights the power of directory information in connecting multiple companies' business webs. Sun has introduced a technology preview of a DSML module for the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI). JNDI is part of the Java 2 platform, providing Java applications with seamless connectivity to heterogeneous enterprise naming and directory services. Using JNDI, developers can access data - including information about people and computing resources - from any vendor's directory. The DSML module fits beneath the JNDI API, allowing developers to manipulate and update directory contents and export them in DSML format, making it easier to customize and deploy B2B applications on a massive scale using a standard API. With the addition of the DSML module, JNDI will power highly customized B2B applications that employ rich data about people, machines, web services and other resources. Seven additional technology companies are also implementing DSML support. Novell has added DSML functionality in its DirXML, a product that allows organizations to distribute data ownership while centralizing information availability. IBM's Business Transformation and CIO organization is leveraging and exploiting DSML as part of its strategic initiative with XML; SLAPHAPI allows quick, easy access to LDAP directories from web applications written in any language. Critical Path places DSML in leading LDAP directory and meta-directory products. iPlanet recently released a DSML-enabled version of its LDAP software developer's kit, a tool that allows programmers to easily use the iPlanet Directory Server. Radiant Logic recently introduced DSML into its Virtual Directory Server software, a technology that enables directories to become central aggregation points for all key enterprise data. In addition to the directory, application and server vendors, DSML is also gaining strong momentum with XML companies like infoShark, which integrates DSML into its XML-based data interchange technology. Another XML company, Intalio, is planning to use DSML to enable process repositories that allow business partners to collaborate on the definition of Partner Interface Processes and manage their entire lifecycle."
[June 27, 2000] Emerging Technology: DSML and DEN: Signs of Things to Come. The Directory Services Markup Language is poised to make directory interoperability come true." By Doug Allen. In Networking Magazine (June 14, 2000). If Directory Enabled Networking (DEN) isn't the Holy Grail of most network managers, it's safe to say that enhanced service creation is. As an underlying technology, DEN is attractive (at least conceptually) because directories can efficiently store and relate subscriber profiles, service definitions, and network-resources data. This creates an intelligent pool of information that acts as the brains of the network when delivering applications. . . [But] DEN is rarely interoperable with the full variety of players found in a large private or public network. Directories themselves suffer from the lack of a common schema, which is sort of an index to the directories' contents, stored by category name. . . . Enter Directory Services Markup Language (DSML), which seeks to put interoperability problems into the past tense. The brainchild of the DSML Working Group -- which consists of leading directory vendors Bowstreet, Microsoft, Novell, the Sun/ Netscape Alliance, IBM, and Oracle it was unleashed at the close of 1999 as an attempt to solve the interoperability issue. Some observers hoped it would help jump-start DEN again. Such is not the case, but DSML is nonetheless important to understand. The DSML specification defines an open, extensible, standards-based format for publishing directory schemata and interchanging directory contents. As you might guess, it's based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML), which is one key to understanding its usefulness. The protocol also works across a variety of Internet protocols -- including HTTP and SMTP, in addition to Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) 3ML as a universal translator. Because of this, DSML can access directories in cases where Internet firewalls screen out LDAP requests. It can also be used for nondirectory-based applications, such as e-commerce transactions. What does all this mean to the enterprise network manager? 'The primary goal of this initial specification is to provide a format that supports the core requirements of metadirectory tools and directory-enabled applications that need access to directory information via XML. DSML allows today's XML-capable applications to leverage directory services more easily. Any application that can parse or produce XML documents can process DSML interchangesrmediate format, such as LDAP Directory Interchange Format."
[April 30, 2000] "Directory Services Markup Language (DSML). [Technology QuickStudy.]" By Christine McGeever. In ComputerWorld Volume 34, Number 15 (April 10, 2000), page 82. "Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) is a proposed standard for using XML to define the data content and structure of a directory and maintain it on distributed directories. DSML gives developers a simple and convenient way to implement XML-based applications on the Internet. Such support is crucial to e-commerce applications... A combination of XML and DSML will be essential to Internet directory services, enabling a new generation of applications that use directories more effectively. In particular, DSML will be important to supply-chain and customer service applications, all of which rely heavily on customized presentation of data. DSML metadata descriptions will be the tools for that job."
[December 07, 1999] Bowstreet, a "leader in mass customization of business-to-business e-commerce, today delivered a universal directory service language for the Internet to three key Internet standards bodies. This language, called Directory Services Markup Language (DSML), represents an e-commerce milestone and is supported by the collective efforts of IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and the Sun-Netscape Alliance. By helping establish directories as the infrastructure for e-commerce applications, DSML enables easy sharing of valuable business data and processes within and across company boundaries. DSML will also accelerate the industry shift toward business-to-business applications built on Web services, modular units of software functionality located anywhere on the Internet. DSML and Web services will enable companies to develop dynamic e-commerce Web sites that can uniquely meet the needs of a company's customers and business partners. The DSML 1.0 specification submission enables different vendors' directory services to work together more easily by describing their contents - including data about people and computing resources - in the Internet's lingua franca for commerce, XML. Particularly convenient for e-commerce applications, XML is the emerging standard for business-to-business data interchange. Today's announcement keeps the working group's July 12 promise to reach consensus on a draft standard this year. End users will also benefit from DSML as Web-based applications discover and act upon directory-resident data related to users' roles, preferences, affiliations and available computing resources. The six companies today turned over the DSML 1.0 specification draft to OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, a nonprofit, international consortium considered the world's leading independent organization for the standardization of XML applications in e-commerce. In an effort to gain rapid and widespread acceptance, DSML 1.0 information is also being provided to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and BizTalk. The W3C is an international industry consortium developing protocols that promote the Web's evolution and ensuring its interoperability. W3C is jointly run by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) in France and Keio University in Japan. BizTalk is driving the rapid, consistent adoption of XML for e-commerce and application integration. The DSML 1.0 schema in XDR format will be made available to the BizTalk framework." For details, see the text of the announcement: "Industry Leaders Publish Ground-breaking XML Standard for E-commerce and Directories. Bowstreet, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and Sun-Netscape submit Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) 1.0 to industry standards bodies." See also "Twenty Companies Sign On To Support XML-based Directory Standard For e-Commerce."
[December 17, 1999] "Directories to link up via XML." By Stephanie Sanborn. In InfoWorld (December 13, 1999). "Directory Vendors, including Novell and Bowstreet, last week formally proposed an Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based directory-services language that would provide enterprises with a standard set of programming commands to link network directories. A group of vendors led by Bowstreet and known informally as the 'DSML working group' last week submitted a draft version of the Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) to several standards associations. DSML 1.0, which is the result of a promise made in July to create a draft standard by the end of the year, is now in the hands of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), an international standardization group focused on data-exchange formats. Versions of DSML were also submitted informally to the World Wide Web Consortium and Microsoft's BizTalk group. DSML uses XML schema to represent information in the directory, becoming a common means to describe directory content. DSML-enabled directories can work together and share information without requiring knowledge of the directory interfaces. DSML also complements Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)..."
[November 08, 1999] "Bowstreet's Web Automation Factory Breaks Major Bottleneck to e-commerce Adoption: Time, Cost and Pain of Customizing B2b Web Sites. Breakthrough technology for mass-customizing B2B Web sites targeted at Fortune 1000, B2B trading portals and application service providers (ASPs)." - "Bowstreet Software Inc. today announced the much-anticipated commercial release of the Bowstreet Web Automation Factory, which breaks a critical e-commerce bottleneck by enabling companies to quickly deliver affordable, highly customized business-to-business Web sites for multiple customers and business partners. Bowstreet also announced that a growing list of Fortune 1000 companies and e-commerce leaders are beginning to use the XML- and directory-based suite to instantly "mass customize" their B2B Web sites. These customers include Federal Express, B2B industry portal innovator FreeMarkets, IBM, Merrill Lynch, NetRatings (a Nielsen Media company), Nortel, Sabre and Thomson Financial Services. Bowstreet's Web Automation Factory is the first product that uses Directory Services Markup Language (DSML), an emerging e-commerce standard pioneered by Bowstreet and supported by IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and the Sun/Netscape Alliance. The Bowstreet Web Automation Factory, based on patent-pending technology, eliminates what many industry observers believe to be the biggest obstacle to the adoption of B2B e-commerce: the challenge of creating, maintaining and linking Web sites that provide many tightly integrated B2B connections, each customized for the unique needs of a different partner or customer. The Bowstreet Web Automation Factory's four core components are: (1) Publisher is used by IT professionals to create and publish business processes in XML as a directory of Web services, thereby making them available for use by other businesses. (2) Automator is used by IT professionals to create templates that enable customized functionality and processes to be built into Web sites. (3) Customizer is a browser-based system that is used by line-of-business managers to create and manage user profiles that drive the behavior of the Web site or application. (4) The Bowstreet Web Automation Engine is the heart of the Factory. It manages all metadata in corporate directories and generates customized Web sites on the fly at run-time based on the user profile. The Web Automation Engine supports DSML connections to all major directories including those from IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and Sun/Netscape."
[November 08, 1999] "New Language to Sidestep E-com Directory Woes." By Scott Berinato And Jim Kerstetter. In PC Week [Online] (November 08, 1999). "A group of big-time developers - led by a small New Hampshire startup - is seeking to cure many of the interoperability woes involving directories with a new language tailored for e-commerce. Vendors such as Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. are integrating DSML (Directory Services Markup Language) into their directory services, hoping to jump-start development of directory-based e-commerce applications that are smarter and more agile than the business-to-business software infrastructure available today. The DSML working group, which is headed by Bowstreet Inc., of Portsmouth, N.H., and includes Microsoft, Novell, Oracle Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and IBM, plans to submit the technology to the World Wide Web Consortium standards body this month. The group also will announce at that time that as many as 20 developers, including Cisco Systems Inc., Red Hat Software Inc. and Oblix Inc., plan to incorporate the specification into their software, sources said. DSML working group members declined to comment on their standardization efforts or new partners. DSML applies the lingua franca capabilities of XML (Extensible Markup Language) to directory schemata, which define how data is stored in a directory... despite its promise, DSML faces challenges similar to XML's. Developers that have tried to use XML to cure interoperability woes in other fields, such as electronic data transfer, have struggled with maintaining similar DTDs (Document Type Definitions) when applying XML to applications. DTDs are used to tag XML documents, and if a vertical market segment creates its own DTDs, it can disrupt data exchange."
[November 08, 1999] "Bowstreet Looks to XML to Link Commerce Sites." By Matthew Nelson. In InfoWorld (November 08, 1999). "Bowstreet Software intends to make the daunting task of connecting disparate business commerce sites together easy, using XML (Extensible Markup Language) and its derivatives in the Bowstreet Web Automation Factory. Bowstreet's Web Automation Factory allows users to integrate information between different Business to Business (B2B) partners using a combination of XML and directory services entitled Directory Services Markup Language (DSML). Bowstreet has already lined up IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and the Sun-Netscape Alliance to support DSML. The Web Automation Factory is intended to allow for easy integration and connection of data between Web sites when new members are added to a B2B site, according to the company. The Publisher component is used by IT professionals to create and publish business processes in XML as a directory of Web services, to make them available for use by other businesses. An Automator component is used to create templates that enable customized functionality and processes to be built into Web sites, including loosely coupled 'Builders' within the template to automate the calls to the various processes and data at run time. The Customizer aspect is a browser-based system that is used by line-of-business managers to create and manage user profiles that drive the behavior of the Web site or application. The Bowstreet Web Automation Engine then manages all metadata in corporate directories and generates Web sites based on the profile of the user. The Web Automation Engine supports DSML connections to all major directories including those from IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and Sun-Netscape, according to the company." See the announcement: "Bowstreet's Web Automation Factory Breaks Major Bottleneck to e-commerce Adoption: Time, Cost and Pain of Customizing B2b Web Sites. Breakthrough technology for mass-customizing B2B Web sites targeted at Fortune 1000, B2B trading portals and application service providers (ASPs)."
[July 12, 1999] "DSML Launch Press Release: IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and Sun-Netscape Alliance Support Effort to Develop Directory Services Markup Language (DSML)." - "Bowstreet Software, Inc. today announced at the Catalyst 99 conference that it will lead work to define an industry standard for describing directory service information in the eXstensible Markup Language (XML). The effort to develop a Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) builds upon work performed by Bowstreet while creating its Web Services Architecture. The DSML effort will be supported by industry leaders IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and the Sun-Netscape Alliance to provide customers more flexibility in using and sharing directory information in XML-enabled applications. 'DSML increases the value of directory services by enabling a new breed of XML applications,' said Jamie Lewis, president of the Burton Group. 'With the advent of DSML, companies can use directory information in web-based applications and exchange information with their customers and partners, regardless of which directory products they use. The combination of directory services and XML is a significant step forward in creating directory-enabled applications and accelerates the shift toward web service architectures.' DSML provides a way to use directory information without knowing the specific data formats of each directory. End users will benefit because Web-based applications can be aware of their directory policy and profile information and adapt accordingly. Additionally, DSML enables 'friction-free' eCommerce value chains to be integrated across corporate boundaries based on directory information. This capability provides an essential building block as directories play a more significant role on the Internet. Furthermore, DSML complements the goals of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and helps to extend the power of LDAP to web-based applications."
[July 12, 1999] "Bowstreet, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and Sun-Netscape Alliance to Hold Teleconference July 12." - "Live broadcast from the Catalyst 99 Conference, Lake Tahoe, California. Bowstreet, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and Sun-Netscape Alliance to Hold Teleconference July 12 at 2:40 PDT time to Announce Joint Standards Initiative for 'Friction Free' e-Commerce. Teleconference to announce new standards initiative, based on XML and directory services, for e-Commerce. Dial-in number: 888-606-8407. For playback of teleconference: 800-964-3648 through Friday; Password: Bowstreet." Topic: 'Directory Services Markup Language (DSML). DSML to be put into the public domain. Microsoft will extend Zoomit to support XML and bridge to DSML.' See DSML Web site.
[July 14, 1999] "XML Directory Standard Debuts." By Brian Riggs. In Information Week (July 13, 1999). "IBM, Microsoft, Netscape, Novell, Oracle, and others plan to tie a new generation of Extensible Markup Language customer- support management, supply-chain management, and other E-business applications to directory services. The plans hinge on the development of the Directory Services Markup Language standard, which was introduced yesterday at the Catalyst 99 conference. With DSML, any XML application will be able to access information stored in directories such as Novell Directory Services, Microsoft's Active Directory, and directories used in conjunction with database, messaging, and other applications. For example, with DSML, customer information stored in the directory of a customer-relationship management application will become accessible to any XML-enabled application, letting intranet and extranet users have access to that information."
[July 21, 1999] "Vendors Unite To Back XML Directory Standard." By Jeffrey Schwartz. In InternetWeek Issue 774 (July 19, 1999). "XML has emerged as the glue most likely to tie together multivendor directories. In a rare display of unanimity, IBM, Novell, Microsoft, Oracle and the Sun-Netscape Alliance, as well as start-up Bowstreet Software, agreed to support a newly proposed interoperability specification, called the Directory Services Markup Language, or DSML. The announcement, made at the Burton Group's Catalyst conference here, is the largest show of support for a directory standard since 1996, when some 40 vendors agreed to support LDAP. LDAP, now a universal standard for client access to directories, does not address the issue of linking disparate directory servers. While DSML does not purport to solve the issue of multimaster replication, which has pitted Microsoft against other vendors, it does provide a common means of letting vendors map the schemas of their directories in a common format. DSML is designed to link XML-based data to LDAP directory data."
[July 19, 1999] "Vendor politics slow progress of directories." By Matthew Nelson. In InfoWorld (July 16, 1999). "With most IT organizations needing directories to deploy and manage the next generation of enterprise applications, byzantine political battles between Microsoft, Novell, IBM, and the Sun-Netscape Alliance may delay adoption of what is a critical but still emerging technology. In regard to directories, the industry as a whole took one giant step and one halting step in the right direction during the past two weeks. At the Burton Group Catalyst conference in Squaw Valley, Calif., this week, the collective might of Novell, IBM, the Sun-Netscape Alliance, Oracle, and Microsoft rallied behind newcomer Bowstreet in the formation of an open group to create a directory standard based on Extensible Markup Language (XML), called Directory Services Markup Language (DSML). The group intends to present the proposal for a new schema for XML that will allow directories to interoperate by providing a means for directory information to be accessed even when the specific data formats are unknown. Bowstreet contends that this standard will be a perfect fit with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)-enabled products. In addition, several members of the DSML group, including Oracle, IBM, and Novell, had previously given their support to the Directory Interoperability Forum (DIF), which formed two weeks ago. The DIF intends to create a standard that will make use of LDAP to enable data queries across multiple directories. The vendors described these two separate initiatives as complementary and said they will probably be joined at some future point. . ."
[July 14, 1999] "Bowstreet Works to Jump-start XML as Directory Force." By Jack McCarthy. In InfoWorld (July 13, 1999). "Backed by several industry giants, New Hampshire-based start-up Bowstreet Software announced here Monday it is taking initial steps to write open-source specifications for standardizing the Extensible Markup Language (XML) as the lingua franca for network directories. Flanked by representatives from Microsoft, IBM, Novell, Oracle, and Sun, Bowstreet officials said a consensus is growing that XML will form the standard for directory services that will enable businesses to move toward coordinating networks over the Internet. 'We believe directories are the only appropriate service platform to usher in the trend toward Internet management, support channels, customer service, and all kinds of business applications,' said Jack Serfass, president and CEO of Bowstreet at the Catalyst 99 conference here. 'And XML represents a whole new world for these business services.' Bowstreet will coordinate an effort to develop a Directory Services Markup Language (DSML), Serfass said. More information about the project is available at www.dsml.org, although proposed specifications will not be publicly available for two to three months, a company representative said."
[July 14, 1999] "Novell and Microsoft agree on XML-based standard." By John Fontana. In CNN Tech News (July 14, 1999). "Five major vendors Monday joined forces to promote a standard way for their products to talk to each other. This could turn out to be a milestone in the history of directory interoperability. IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and Sun-Netscape all lined up behind a proposed extension to the Extensible Markup Language (XML). This extension will let directories exchange information about the data they hold. Achieving that level of communication is nearly impossible today without a rich set of tools since directory vendors use different formats, or schema, to describe the information they hold. Getting directories to exchange data is important for electronic commerce applications that are likely to link many companies over various platforms. The five companies, along with start-up Bowstreet Software, said at the Burton Group's Catalyst Conference in Lake Tahoe that they intend to present the Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) specification to a standards body in the fall. The intent is to create a standard way to query data, such as a user's name, address and privileges, from a directory regardless of the format the data is in. That data, which is exchanged using XML, can then be used in Web-based applications to identify and control the users access to applications or create custom applications for that user."
[July 14, 1999] "Start-Up Proposes Directory XML Standard." By Stuart Glascock. In CMP TechWeb News (July 12, 1999). "A software start-up has gained the backing of IBM, Microsoft, and Novell along with the alliance formed by Sun and Netscape, to push a new XML-based standard for corporate directories. The Directory XML-based plan, proposed by newcomer Bowstreet Software and backed by the industry veterans, is expected to streamline the way different directories throughout and among organizations communicate with each other. Among other benefits, Bowstreet CEO Jack Serfass said he sees high hopes DXML will fuel growth of e-commerce applications. Bowstreet, which is focused on Internet channel management for business-to-business e-commerce, intends to ship product within a few months."
[July 12, 1999] "An XML Standard for Directory Services?" By Ben Heskett. In CNET News.com (July 12, 1999). "A software start-up hopes to use the emerging Extensible Markup Language standard as a means to streamline the way corporate networks communicate information. The initiative has received the backing of several technology heavy-hitters like Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Netscape Communications alliance, and Novell. The effort floated by Bowstreet Software aspires to bring an XML-based standard to the world of directory services software, a niche populated by many of the largest software companies in the world. The Bowstreet XML-based extensions will be called directory services markup language, or DSML."
Contact via email: info@dsml.org
