[January 27, 2000] A preliminary specification for XML Messaging has been published as an IETF Internet Draft in conjunction with the IETF TRADE Working Group and its Internet Open Trading Protocol.
Summary: "This specification contains requirements for a generic approach to the reliable, resilient, secure, tamper resistant, authenticated exchange of XML or other electronic documents over insecure transport mechanisms." The facilities elaborated in the specification "are largely based on the ideas contained within the Internet Open Trading Protocol.
"The specification provides the requirements and framework for a set of related specifications on XML Messaging covering: (1) Requirements for XML Messaging (this paper) (2) Common XML Message Elements; (3) Document Exchange and Transactions; (4) Reliable Messaging; (5) Secure Messaging; (6) Document Choreography Definitions; (7) Common Document Exchanges; (8) Transport Protocol Supplements. Although much work has been carried out on the other parts of the XML Messaging specification described above, they are still in development.
"The following principles and assumptions have been applied in developing this specification: (1) will be used to define any data required to support XML Messaging; (2) XML Messaging shall support the exchanging of documents in any digital format; (3) the data used by XML Messaging will be defined using: the W3C XML Schema language [XDSL], and an [XML] Document Type Definition (DTD); (4) Schema and DTD definitions will be placed in a repository such as those being developed by [XML.org]."
The requirements specification "is one of a set of related specifications on XML Messaging covering: (1) Requirements for XML Messaging; (2) Common XML Message Elements (XMLMSG-CME) - defines the XML elements and attributes used to construct Messages that conform to XML Messaging; (3) Document Exchanges and Transactions [XMLMSG-DET] - defines standard templates for exchanging documents between parties that can be used to implement transactions that support different types of services and processes; (4) Reliable Messaging [XMLMSG-RM] - defines how to exchange messages in a way that is reliable, robust and resilient and results in "guaranteed once-only" message delivery; (5) Secure Messaging [XMLMSG-SM] - describes how digital signatures and other methods such as [SSL] may be used to ensure the tamper resistance and authenticated exchange of message; (6) Document Choreography Definitions [XMLMSG-DCD] - describes how the sequence in which documents are exchanged may be defined...; (7) Common Document Exchanges [XMLMSG-CDE] - defines a number of Common Document Exchanges that are generally applicable to many situations; (8) Transport Protocol Supplements."
References:
Requirements for XML Messaging Version 1.0 Release 00. [XMLMSG/1.0.] IETF Internet Draft (draft-ietf-trade-xmlmsg-requirements-00.txt). January 2000. By David Burdett (Commerce One). 60 pages. Expires: July 2000.
Internet Open Trading Protocol (IOTP) HTTP Supplement. Abstract: "Internet Open Trading Protocol (IOTP - RFC 2801) messages will be carried as XML documents. As such, the goal of mapping to the transport layer is to ensure that the underlying XML documents are carried successfully between the various parties. This documents describes that mapping for the Hyper Text Transport Protocol (HTTP), Versions 1.0 and 1.1." [cache]
Digital Signatures for the v1.0 Internet Open Trading Protocol (IOTP). "This document covers how digital signatures may be used with XML documents to provide authentication and tamper-proof protocol messages specifically for Version 1.0 of the IOTP protocol. The reader should recognize that an effort towards general XML digital signatures exists but is unlikely to produce its final result in time for IOTP Version 1.0. Future versions of IOTP will probably adopt by reference the results of this general XML digital signature effort. . . The Internet Open Trading Protocol (IOTP) provides a payment system independent interoperable framework for Internet commerce as documented in [RFC 2801]. All IOTP messages are XML documents. XML, the Extensible Markup Language [XML], is a syntactical standard promulgated by the World Wide Web Consortium. XML is intended primarily for structuring data exchanged and served over the World Wide Web. Although IOTP assumes that any payment system used with it provides its own security, there are numerous cases where IOTP requires authentication and integrity services for portions of the XML messages it specifies." [cache]
See also: "[Internet] Open Trading Protocol (OTP)"
Contact: David Burdett, Commerce One. 1600 Riviera Ave, Suite 200, Walnut Creek, California 94596 USA. Tel: +1 (925) 941 4422 or +1 (650) 623 2888. Email: david.burdett@commerceone.com
