[March 29, 2002] "Versioning Extensions to WebDAV. (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning)." By Geoffrey Clemm (Rational Software), Jim Amsden (IBM), Tim Ellison (IBM), Christopher Kaler (Microsoft), and One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 90852 Jim Whitehead (UC Santa Cruz, Department of Computer Science). IETF Network Working Group. Request for Comments: 3253. March 2002. "This document specifies a set of methods, headers, and resource types that define the WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) versioning extensions to the HTTP/1.1 protocol. WebDAV versioning will minimize the complexity of clients that are capable of interoperating with a variety of versioning repository managers, to facilitate widespread deployment of applications capable of utilizing the WebDAV Versioning services. WebDAV versioning includes automatic versioning for versioning-unaware clients, version history management, workspace management, baseline management, activity management, and URL namespace versioning... The benefits of versioning in the context of the worldwide web include: (1) A resource has an explicit history and a persistent identity across the various states it has had during the course of that history. It allows browsing through past and alternative versions of a resource. Frequently the modification and authorship history of a resource is critical information in itself. (2) Resource states (versions) are given stable names that can support externally stored links for annotation and link server support. Both annotation and link servers frequently need to store stable references to portions of resources that are not under their direct control. By providing stable states of resources, version control systems allow not only stable pointers into those resources, but also well defined methods to determine the relationships of those states of a resource... WebDAV Versioning defines both basic and advanced versioning functionality. Basic versioning allows users to: (1) Put a resource under version control (2) Determine whether a resource is under version control (3) Determine whether a resource update will automatically be captured (4) Create and access distinct versions of a resource. Advanced versioning provides additional functionality for parallel development and configuration management of sets of web resources... To maximize interoperability and the use of existing protocol functionality, versioning support is designed as extensions to the WebDAV protocol (RFC2518), which itself is an extension to the HTTP protocol (RFC2616). All method marshalling and postconditions defined by RFC 2518 and RFC 2616 continue to hold, to ensure that versioning unaware clients can interoperate successfully with versioning servers. Although the versioning extensions are designed to be orthogonal to most aspects of the WebDAV and HTTP protocols, a clarification to RFC 2518 is required for effective interoperable versioning... When an XML element type in the DAV: namespace is referenced in this document outside of the context of an XML fragment, the string DAV: will be prefixed to the element type. When a method is defined in this document, a list of preconditions and postconditions will be defined for that method. If the semantics of an existing method is being extended, a list of additional preconditions and postconditions will be defined. A precondition or postcondition is prefixed by a parenthesized XML element type that identifies that precondition or postcondition..." Other documents on versioning are referenced with deliverables from the IETF Delta-V Working Group. See "WEBDAV (Extensions for Distributed Authoring and Versioning on the World Wide Web."

[March 29, 2002] "WebDAV." By Rael Dornfest. Emerging Technology Brief from O'Reilly Research. March 26, 2002. "WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, also called DAV) is a set of extensions to HTTP/1.1 (HyperText Transfer Protocol, the protocol spoken by Web browsers and servers) allowing you to edit documents on a remote Web server. DAV provides support for: (1) Editing: creating, updating, deleting (2) Properties: title, author, publication date, etc. (3) Collections: analogous to a file system's directory or desktop folder (4) Locking: prevents the confusion and data corruption caused by two or more people editing the same content at the same time WebDAV is platform independent, both in terms of client and server. This means that Macintosh, *nix, and Windows users can collaborate on Web content without all the usual conversion problems. Furthermore, it doesn't matter whether your documents are hosted on an Apache or Microsoft IIS server... WebDAV is an open standard, published by the IETF (the Internet Engineering Task Force) (RFC 2518). A completely open process, all it takes to join the WebDAV working group is subscription to and participation on a mailing list. Involved in the original development of WebDAV were representatives of companies the likes of Microsoft, Netscape, Novell, and Xerox. WebDAV support appears in a veritable cornucopia of Open Source projects, programming languages, commercial products, and services. WebDAV is baked right into the Windows (Web Folders) and Mac OS X operating systems as folders, that for all intents and purposes appear to be on your local machine, but are actually network connections to a remote server. The Zope Open Source content management system affords editing of content from well-known authoring tools like Adobe GoLive 5. DAV modules exist for most programming languages; they are either native or there are plug-ins for about every Web server in existence..." See "WEBDAV (Extensions for Distributed Authoring and Versioning on the World Wide Web."

[March 29, 2002] "Information Modelling for System Specification Representation and Data Exchange." By Erik Herzog and Anders Törne (RTSLAB, Department of Computer and Information Science, Linköpings Universitet, Sweden). Pages 136-143 (with 20 references) in Proceedings of Eighth Annual IEEE International Conference and Workshop on the Engineering of Computer Based Systems (ECBS '01, April 17-20, 2001, Washington DC, USA). Abstract. "This paper presents the emerging STEP standard AP-233 with focus on the non-functional requirements that have guided the development process. The purpose of the paper is to present and motivate the modelling assumptions and approach selected for the AP-233 information model, and to present how the EXPRESS information modelling language have been used. Although the paper is focused on AP-233 and the constraints imposed by the STEP framework it is believed the structures and requirements presented are general and applicable to other systems engineering information-modelling projects. (Standard for the Exchange of Product model data -- ISO 10303) is an attempt to reduce the cost for implementing tool data exchange capabilities through the definition of a standardised information model for the systems engineering domain. By combining the information model with other STEP elements it is possible to automate significant parts of the interface development process, thus reducing effort and cost for enabling tool data exchange capabilities... The selection of STEP as framework can be questioned in the light of the tremendous interest in the XML standard. However, the choice of framework shall not be over dramatised. An information model developed in express can easily be translated to XML. A standard mapping from EXPRESS to XML is defined in ISO/PDTS 10303-28:2000 Product data representation and exchange: Implementation methods: XML representation of EXPRESS schemas and data.. The end result, a standardised information model, regardless of language used, is the lasting value of the activity... EXPRESS supports the definition of (1) Entities: the basic object of the information model, i.e., a representation of an element within the scope of the information model. (2) Inheritance relationships: The specialisation/generalisation relationship between entities. Inheritance in EXPRESS can take one of the following forms: 'One of', an instantiation of a supertype is exactly one of the subtypes, 'And', an instantiation of a supertype is the union of all subtypes, or 'AndOr', an instantiation of a supertype is a variable subset of the union of all subtypes. (3) Basic types: an elementary type that can not be further subdivided, e.g., an integer or a string. (4) Properties: entities have properties. A property is a special aspect of an entity. From an information modelling view point a property may be expressed using combinations of the constructs below. (5) Attributes: representing an aspect of an entity. Within AP-233 the term attribute is used to refer to aspects represented using basic types. (6) Relationships: Defining associations between two constructs in an information model. Within AP-233 a relationship is always defined between entities. (7) Cardinality constraints: a constraint on relationships and attributes defining the number of instances of one construct that can be associated by another construct. Constraints may be closed or open-ended. (8) Textual constraints: EXPRESS supports the definition of formal constraints on entities, relationships, attributes and other modelling constructs. The expressive power is comparable to the combination of UML and OCL... EXPRESS offer two mechanisms for defining the semantics and ensuring integrity of an information model. As in any other information modelling language semantics may be defined explicitly be using specific entities with for each concept supported. The second approach is to define fewer entities and use formal rules to define valid attribute and relationship value combinations. In AP-233 the preferred modelling approach is to explicitly define entities for each concept supported and to minimise the use of rules for defining the semantics of the model. This approach result in more entities defined, but improves model transparency and readability. [...] This paper has presented the information modelling approach selected for the development of AP-233. The main contribution is an outline of the basic modelling assumptions, how the information modelling language, EXPRESS, has been used in AP-233. Maintaining specification semantics has been the high priority in information model construction. The current revision of the information model is extensive as it captures the semantics as well as syntax of specifications. We believe this to be a crucial prerequisite for the successful standardisation and industrial acceptance of data exchange information models in general and for AP-233 in particular. At the time of writing the latest draft of AP-233 is being validated through the implementation of tool data exchange interfaces. The lessons learned from this exercise will be incorporated and the model will harmonised with the new modular structure in STEP..." See: (1) other STEP/EXPRESS documentation from the SEDRES [System Engineering Data Representation and Exchange Standardisation] Project; (2) STEP/EXPRESS and XML; (3) STEPml XML Specifications. [cache]

[March 29, 2002] "DISARM: Document Information Set Articulated Reference Model." By Rick Jelliffe. Discussion Draft. February 24, 2002. ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 Document #292. "This note proposes an ISO standard 'Document Information Set Articulated Reference Model' be developed, to provide the basis for ISO DSDL and for renewing ISO 8879 SGML... The utility of DISARM might include that it can provide an attractive way to allow a top-down re-specification of SGML in a future ISO 8879. It would might also provide some help for DSDL." Motivation: "Since 1986, there have been four notable streams in markup languages: (1) ISO 8879 SGML, extended by the General Facilities, Architectural Forms Definitions Requirements (ADFR), Lexical Types Definition Requirements (LTDR), Formal System Identifiers (FSI), Annexes J to L, augmented with OASIS Catalogs. A parser implementation of mature SGML in Open Source is James Clark's SP. (2) W3C HTML, in various versions, with dialects including ASP, JSP, PHP, and Blogger. A parser implementation for mature HTML in Open Source is Dave Ragget's Tidy. (3) W3C XML, extended by Namespaces, XBase, XInclude. Widespread implementations of parsers use the mature SAX API. (4) The current ISO DSDL project, informed by RELAX Namespaces, RELAX NG, W3C XML Schemas, Schematron. The Xerces XNI API is a recent attempt to cope with post-processing XML, for uses such as validation and creating typed information sets. In all these cases, the natural increase in complexity of evolving standards has made it difficult to understand the processing order and operation. ISO 8879 has been widely criticized for not being amenable to simple grammatical analysis ('not using "computer science concepts"'), yet the same problems are experienced even with overtly layered specifications such as the XML family, due to this entropy. These problems would be reduced by introducing a reference model which was neutral with regard to each of the four main streams, but allowed clear and diagrammatic exposition of the stages of parsing and processing a marked-up document incrementally from bits to a terminal information set... The reference model uses UML terminology and diagrams at the top-level only. If desired, specific graphical stereotypes could be created, as allowed by UML. It models the kinds of markup processing of interest as a chain of components, one connected to the next, each of which implements a common event-passing interface. Different markup languages and SGML features can be modeled using particular chains of components..." Cf. also the DSDL list. References: see "Document Schema Definition Language (DSDL)." [cache]

[March 29, 2002] "IBM Xperanto Demo." March 2002. ['Get a sneak preview of IBM's exciting new standards-based information integration technologies! Xperanto represents IBM's work combining emerging XML and XQuery standards with the power of data integration. This interactive demo shows how a newly-merged bank and financial services company uses XQuery as a single interface to deliver a single view of data to a customer and to a sales representative.] "The IBM Xperanto demo is a technology preview that illustrates how IBM is advancing the state of integration technology with Xperanto, combining XML and the emerging standard, XQuery, with the power of data integration across relational databases, XML documents, flat files, spreadsheets, Web services, and more. The demo financial scenario page of the demo describes common situations for which this technology is a solution. The technology details pages display the queries and demonstrate how IBM integrates query, federation, Web services, and text search technologies using XQuery, the common query language for accessing XML. Using IBM's Xperanto, you can simplify data integration tasks for the new breed of Web and XML applications that require delivering a complete enterprise view of customers, partners, and services to improve customer service, supply chain management, and enterprise decision-making..." See also (1) "Meet the Experts: Jim Kleewein talks about the Xperanto Technology Demo"; (2) "Xperanto, Bridging Relational Technology and XML"; this second article describes the design and implementation of an XML middleware system to create XML views of relational data, query XML views and store/query XML documents using a relational database system. See "XML and Query Languages."

[March 29, 2002] "XUL Tutorial." By Neil Deakin. March 18, 2002 or later. "This tutorial describes XUL, the XML-based User-interface Language. This language was created for the Mozilla application and is used to define its user interface. The XUL implementation and the Mozilla browser are ever-changing. Some of the information contained within this tutorial may be outdated. The default skin has changed since some of the screen shots were taken, so the images may not match up to recent builds... XUL (pronounced zool and it rhymes with cool) was created to make development of the Mozilla browser easier and faster. It is an XML language so all features available to XML are also available to XUL. Most applications need to be developed using features of a specific platform making building cross-platform software time-consuming and costly. This may not be important for some, but when you consider that users may want to use an application on other devices such as handheld devices or set-top boxes, it is quite useful to allow users to. A number of cross-platform solutions have been developed in the past. Java, for example, has portability as a main selling point. XUL is one such language designed specifically for building portable user interfaces. It takes a long time to build an application even for only one platform. The time required to compile and debug can be lengthy. With XUL, an interface can be implemented and modified quicky and easily. XUL has all the advantages of other XML languages. For example XHTML or other XML languages such as MathML or SVG can be inserted within it. Also, XUL is easily localizable, which means that it can be translated into other languages easily. Style sheets can be applied to modify the appearance of the user interface (much like the skins or themes feature in WinAmp or some window managers)..." See also the "Mozilla XUL and Script Reference." Local references: "Extensible User Interface Language (XUL)."

[March 29, 2002] "Template Languages in XSLT." By Jason Diamond. From XML.com. March 27, 2002. ['Our main feature this week on XML.com takes up where Eric van der Vlist left off in his July 2000 article on "Style Free Stylesheets." Jason Diamond follows up on Eric's observations that XSLT doesn't encourage a good separation between content and presentation, and pursues the development of a higher-level templating language aimed at creating a cleaner XSLT template infrastructure. Jason shows how his example-based template language, implemented in XSLT itself, is easier for everyday use, especially where non-technical colleagues are involved.'] "Despite its simplicity and its original purpose, XSLT is an extremely rich and powerful programming language. Just about anything that can be done with XML can be implemented in XSLT -- all it really takes is a little bit of creativity and a whole lot of pointy brackets. One of the most common uses of XSLT is to transform XML content into something more suitable for viewing. This separation between content and presentation seems to be the most often cited advantage for many XML advocates. XSLT was designed specifically for this task It could be argued, however, that, XSLT fails miserably at separating these two layers. Traversing source documents with any sort of XPath or XSLT instructions like xsl:for-each and xsl:apply-templates in your style sheets is like opening a connection to a database and performing a query in the middle of an ASP or JSP page. Good programmers don't do this because it breaks the separation between the presentation and data tiers in their applications. Thinking about it from an altogether different perspective, having literal result elements interspersed with XSLT instructions in your transforms is like generating HTML by concatenating strings and then printing them to your output (as is often done when implementing servlets). Most designers can't work in an environment like that. Even if they can, they shouldn't have to concern themselves with all the logic of extracting and manipulating the data they're trying to present... Getting XSLT to process your custom templates isn't as easy as I would like it to be, but once the initial framework is created, adding new instructions and variables is relatively painless. Creating a prototype with XSLT is certainly the quickest way to go as you can easily add new instructions when your template designer needs them. I've personally used the techniques described in this article to prototype a template language with close to 200 instructions. The templates that utilized those instructions were still preferable to hardcoded XPath/XSLT, and it was possible to re-implement the template language processor in a more efficient language (a subject for another article) once the design was finalized without requiring any changes to the templates themselves..." For related resources, see "Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL/XSLT)."

[March 29, 2002] "SVG Tips and Tricks, Part One." By Antoine Quint. From XML.com. March 27, 2002. ['Antoine Quint has been busy in his labs, brewing up content for his SVG column. This month, Antoine packs a whole bunch of cool tricks into creating an animated data-exploration widget.'] "The previous installments of this column discussed the two major techniques at the core of interactive SVG: SVG animation and DOM scripting. We saw how the powerful declarative syntax adapted from SMIL brought life to SVG documents, and how SVG's DOM goes further than XML's core DOM. This month's column, rather than a focused exploration of a particular SVG topic, will examine a few helpful tips and tricks. First, I'll introduce the viewBox attribute for zooming purposes, then explain how to use the SMIL DOM interfaces for remote animation startups, and, last, I'll conclude with a closer look at DOM Events. At the end, you will understand the tricks used and abused in the interactive tree map companion demo. Before we turn to specifics, I should tell you a bit about the demo. The SVG code of the tree map was actually generated by XSLT from an XML file. The aim was to construct a mechanism to represent an XML file's hierarchy in SVG and be able to browse it in an interactive way. So we are dealing with a nice little tree app here. If you look at the SVG code you'll see that there is still a strong depth structure here too. The idea is that each time we met a node in the XML file, we would create a rectangle and a text label. If the node had a child, then we would process the subtree according to the same rule..." Note also in this connection the title SVG Essentials: Producing Scalable Vector Graphics with XML, by J. David Eisenberg (O'Reilly, First Edition: February 2002; ISBN: 0-596-00223-8): "Eisenberg begins with basics needed to create simple line drawings and then moves through more complicated features like filters, transformations, and integration with Java, Perl, and XSLT. Unlike GIFs, JPEGs or PNGs (which are bitmapped), SVG images are both resolution- and device-independent, so that they can scale up or down to fit proportionally into any size display or any Internet device -- from PDAs to large office monitors and high-resolution printers. Smaller than bitmapped files and faster to download, SVG images can be rendered with different CSS styles for each environment. They work well across a range of available bandwidths." See: "W3C Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)."

[March 29, 2002] "Basic Training. [XML Q&A.]" By John E. Simpson. From XML.com. March 27, 2002. ['Could you describe XML in simple, concise language? That's the challenge John Simpson has taken up this week in his XML Q&A column. The result is a gentle introduction to XML that will prove useful for beginners.'] "In this month's column, we celebrate XML's fourth year (belatedly) by way of a deceptively simple question... Is it even possible to explain XML in simple English... XML (an acronym for Extensible Markup Language) is a set of rules, published by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), for building new languages..."

[March 29, 2002] "W3C XML Schema Needs You." By Leigh Dodds. From XML.com. March 27, 2002. ['One of the consequences of complexity in an open specification is a decreased likelihood of interoperability in implementation. XML developers have been bumping into this problem with the W3C XML Schema language recently. Leigh Dodds covers these problems, and a call for developers to aid the progress of greater interoperability.] "The W3C XML Schema (XSD) specifications have drawn fire again recently, with a number of concerns being aired about an apparent lack of interoperability between implementations. Jonathan Robie, a member of the Schema Working Group, has issued a rallying cry for developers to unite and help push for interoperability... There was a resurgence of the 'XML Schema is too complex' debate on XML-DEV last week. While this is an oft debated topic, the issues have had a slightly different slant this time around with claims that XSD is so complex that it's proving extremely difficult to implement... A few constructive suggestions were circulated during the discussion, some more radical than others. Rob Griffin suggested producing a list of standard error messages for validators, which ought to help achieve some level of consistency across implementations, as well as clarifying the circumstances in which each error should arise. Andrew Watt recommended the addition of a use case document that would provide an additional means of tackling the specifications. Watt pointed to the XML Query documents as a good exemplar. Rick Jelliffe's suggestion to modularize XML Schema was the most radical. Jelliffe suggested that instead of a rewrite the schema specifications should be split into eight small sections which '...would allow greater modularity, let readers and implementers concentrate and advertise conformance on different parts, and fit in with ISO DSDL, for users who, say, want to use RELAX NG with XML Schemas primitive datatypes'. Jelliffe also commented that rather than criticizing XML Schema, the important first question should be to consider which schema language or combination of languages is most suited to a particular application domain. Jelliffe offered a prediction that document oriented systems will likely settle on DSDL, while database oriented applications will find XML Schemas most suitable..." See: (1) "Document Schema Definition Language (DSDL)"; and (2) "XML Schemas."

[March 29, 2002] "Thinking XML: Basic XML and RDF Techniques for Knowledge Management. Part 5: Defining RDF and DAML+OIL schemata." By Uche Ogbuji (Principal consultant, Fourthought, Inc.). From IBM developerWorks, XML Zone. March 2002. ['Uche Ogbuji moves on to define RDF and DAML+OIL schemata for the issue tracker application, continuing the discussion of modeling as he goes along.'] "In my last installment of this column, I discussed how XML knowledge management systems such as RDF shed a different light on age-old problems of data design and modeling. This was done toward the goal of nailing down a schema for the issue tracker package that I have been using to illustrate the use of RDF in association with XML applications. Now I'll complete the definition of the issue tracker schema, in RDFS and DAML+OIL form. Again, familiarity with RDF, RDFS, and DAML+OIL are required. Since the last installment, I have published an introduction to DAML+OIL with my colleague Roxane Ouellet, so you no longer have to slog through the dense specifications to get a handle on it. [...] Generally, even if you wish to apply constraints in the loose way discussed in the last installment of this column, you should have a schema of some sort, for documentation if nothing else. RDFS is still the simplest and most pervasive choice, but DAML+OIL has many things to recommend it: not just the additional features, but the cleaner core semantics as well. Now that we have a schema for the issue tracker, we'll move on to improving the way we construct our queries: We'll look at Versa, an open query language for RDF that will make all the query code we've presented simpler and faster..." Also available in PDF format.

[March 28, 2002] "Encoded Archival Context (EAC) - Recent Developments." By Per-Gunnar Ottosson (Riksarkivet, Stockholm). In LEAF Newsletter Issue 1 (March 2002). The EAD (Encoded Archival Description) SGML/XML DTD "has elements for names of corporate bodies and persons with attributes allowing for links to authority files. There are also elements for the narrative administrative histories and biographies, as well as elements for controlled access in terms of functions and geographic names. However, EAD does not provide support for separate files of authority and context information. In response to this need, an international group of archivists and information scientists met in Toronto in March 2001 to lay down the principles for governing such an encoding standard. The group prepared for the meeting by drafting and reviewing a set of principles and criteria to direct its work, and agreed that the standard needs to address more than traditional authority control of headings and that accompanying documentation is needed for contextual information. The name of the format became the 'Encoded Archival Context', thereby stressing its wider scope: Archival context information consists of information describing the circumstances under which records (defined broadly here to include personal papers and records of organisations) have been created and used. This context includes the identification and characteristics of the persons, organisations, and families who have been the creators, users, or subjects of records, as well as the relationships amongst them. For the development of the DTD, a special working group was assigned consisting of Daniel Pitti (University of Virginia), Joanne Evens (University of Melbourne), Stephan Yearl (Yale University), and, from LEAF, Gunnar Karlsen (University of Bergen) and P-G Ottosson (National Archives of Sweden). During a meeting in Charlottesville in June, the group came up with a draft DTD, which was ready for circulation to the full group in the middle of July. The DTD has been successfully tested on LEAF data by Gunnar Karlsen. The EAC DTD is adopted to librarian standards for authority records, such as UNIMARC/Authorities. Especially when it came to the elements of the header and the entry elements it was regarded as crucial to keep a compatibility with MARC records. A special attribute (ea= encoding analog) documents the relation between an EAC element and the MARC field of the source. The Committee for Description Standards of the International Council of Archives is now reviewing the ISAAR(CPF): International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families . Some of the members of the committee took part in the development of EAC, and it is proposed that the new version of ISAAR(CPF) shall accommodate the structure of EAC..." See: (1) "Encoded Archival Context Initiative (EAC)"; (2) "Linking and Exploring Authority Files (LEAF)"; (3) "Encoded Archival Description (EAD)"; general references in (4) "Markup Languages for Names and Addresses."

[March 27, 2002] "XN3 - XML for N3." By Graham Moore (Vice President Research and Development, empolis GmbH). "This is a short paper that describes how the N3 notation can be represented using XML. We acknowledge that RDF exists and that the result of processing a N3 document can be equivalent to processing an XML RDF document. However there has been much comment in the RDF community about the verbosity and lack of clarity that exists in the XML serialisation of RDF. The community seems agreed on what the XML is expressing and this has been captured succinctly in N3. This paper shows how the ideas in N3 can be captured as an XML language. We have developed such a language and called it XN3 (XML N3). The aim of this language is to gain the useful property of parsability inherent in XML while being as simple, powerful and elegant as N3. We conclude this paper with some areas for improvement and make a general statement about XML development activities... The N3 notation and the associated primer are responsible for clearly communicating the elegance and simplicity that lies behind the RDF model. It achieves this through prose but also through a syntax, concise and precise syntax. The RDF XML serialisation does have these properties and is further confused by a 'concise' format. The RDF XML serialisation does have the benefit that it is XML. However the RDF model is not the XML model and any serialisation should enable easy, understandable interchange between the model and the syntax. What we attempt to do with XN3 (XML N3) is to maintain the power of XML as an easy to process markup language and keep the simplicity and elegance of N3... The following section describes how we have taken N3 and turned it into an XML language. It describes the different constructs from N3 and how they are represented in the XN3..."

[March 27, 2002] "Specifying OLAP Cubes on XML Data." By Mikael Rune Jensen, Thomas H. Møller, and Torben Bach Pedersen (Database Systems Group, Institute for Electronic Systems, Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University, Denmark). In Journal of Intelligent Information Systems: Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Database Technologies Volume 17, Numbers 2/3 (December 2001), pages 255-280 (with 35 references). "On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) enables analysts to gain insight about data through fast and interactive access to a variety of possible views on information, organized in a dimensional model. The demand for data integration is rapidly becoming larger as more and more information sources appear in modern enterprises. In the data warehousing approach, selected information is extracted in advance and stored in a repository, yielding good query performance. However, in many situations a logical (rather than physical) integration of data is preferable. Previous web-based data integration efforts have focused almost exclusively on the logical level of data models, creating a need for techniques focused on the conceptual level. Also, previous integration techniques for web-based data have not addressed the special needs of OLAP tools such as handling dimensions with hierarchies. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is fast becoming the new standard for data representation and exchange on the World Wide Web. The rapid emergence of XML data on the web, e.g., business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, is making it necessary for OLAP and other data analysis tools to handle XML data as well as traditional data formats. Based on a real-world case study, this paper presents an approach to specification of OLAP DBs based on web data. Unlike previous work, this approach takes special OLAP issues such as dimension hierarchies and correct aggregation of data into account. Also, the approach works on the conceptual level, using Unified Modeling Language (UML) as a basis for so-called UML snowflake diagrams that precisely capture the multidimensional structure of the data. An integration architecture that allows the logical integration of XML and relational data sources for use by OLAP tools is also presented... Motivated by the increasing use of OLAP tools for analyzing business data, and XML documents for exchanging information on the Web, this paper provides techniques that enable existing OLAP tools to exploit XML and relational data, without requiring physical integration of data. This paper proposed a multidimensional model, the UML snowflake diagram, enabling a precise specification of an OLAP DB based on multiple XML and/or relational data sources. The UML diagramming method was used for describing and visualizing the logical structure of XML documents, easing the design of the OLAP DB. The paper described how to handle the special considerations that need to be taken when designing an OLAP DB on top of XML data. Also, an architecture for integrating XML data at the conceptual level was presented. The architecture also supported relational data sources, making it well suited for building OLAP DBs which are based partly on in-house relational data and partly on XML data available on the web. We improve on previous work on integration of web-based data by focusing on data integration at the conceptual rather than the logical level. Also, the data integration approach takes special OLAP issues, such as handling dimensions with hierarchies and ensuring summarizability, into account. The implementation of a prototype using the approach described in this paper is currently in progress. A very important aspect of the implementation is to investigate efficient query processing techniques such as query translations and data caching. Storing higher-level summaries of the data can also speed up query processing considerably. Furthermore, if XML Schema advances to a W3C Recommendation it would be interesting to consider using this richer formalism for describing XML data sources instead of using DTDs. Other aspects of XML, such as whether preservation of document order is of relevance to OLAP analysis should also be investigated..." [abstract in part from the related Technical Report R-01-5003, Department of Computer Science, Aalborg University, June 13, 2001. For similar publications, see the bibliography page of Mikael R. Jensen.

[March 27, 2002] "JavaOne: Sun Wades into Open-Source Waters with Java." By Ashlee Vance. In InfoWorld (March 27, 2002). "Sun Microsystems answered a long-standing call from open-source software developers Tuesday, saying Java fans will be able to submit some changes for the platform under open-source licenses and receive financial support from Sun for their projects. Sun's move toward a more open Java was announced by company Chairman and CEO Scott McNealy during a keynote address here at the JavaOne conference. Sun teamed with The Apache Software Foundation (ASF), maker of the popular Apache Server, to refine the procedures for open-source modifications of Java. The changes are designed to address issues that have dogged open-source companies looking to certify their products as Java compatible through the JCP (Java Community Process) that governs Java's maturation. Companies have been wary of submitting open changes for Java because of licensing issues, confidentiality concerns and the costs associated with running compatibility tests, said Jason Hunter, vice president of the ASF, joining McNealy on stage. As a response to some of these concerns, all Sun-led JSRs (Java Specification Requests) for standardizing a feature through the JCP can be submitted under an open-source license. In addition, test kits may also be submitted under the open licenses, Hunter said. Some existing JSRs will also be available for open-source implementations, he said. Sun has submitted more current JSRs than any other vendor... Sun did not say give the specifics of the open source license it will use for Java. Officials however indicated it would not use a license as broad as the GPL (General Public License) used in some open-source projects, which allows developers to freely modify and distribute code as long the changes are made public. Sun has long been under the watch of developers who were concerned about how much control the company exerts over a technology used by myriad companies. Sun, however, had voiced worries about the fragmentation of Java due to incompatible implementations of the technology from outside parties... With the move Tuesday, Sun may have assuaged some of the developers' fears and found a way to tap the talents of the Java community and open-source programmers as a whole. One company, however, remains unimpressed with Sun's new stance after fighting with the company in the past over open-source Java projects... Sun's close ties to the Apache Software Foundation on this project lend some credence to the company's intentions, as the ASF manages many of the open-source world's most successful projects. In a press conference after his speech, McNealy highlighted the importance of maintaining XML as a standard technology and of not allowing vendors to implement their own versions..." See "Java Community Processs Embraces Open Source."

[March 27, 2002] "Microsoft Opens .Net Code to Academics." By George A. Chidi Jr. and Matt Berger. In InfoWorld (March 27, 2002). "Microsoft will allow academic researchers to view the nuts and bolts of some of the .Net source code the company will use in its wide-ranging initiative to supply applications and services over the Internet, Microsoft announced Wednesday. More than one million lines of source code for .Net will be made available under Microsoft's previously announced 'Shared Source' licensing program to academic researchers in university computer-science departments. Shared source is Microsoft's response to the open-source software movement and the growing popularity of the Linux operating system. Open-source software such as Linux typically is developed by programmers collaborating and freely sharing code updates. Under Microsoft's shared source license, developers have been able to view source code, but not modify it as they can with Linux. The shared-source implementation for .Net and Microsoft's Common Language Infrastructure for academics will run on the Windows XP operating system and the open-source FreeBSD derivative of the Unix operating system. Windows source code is also available to academics under shared source licensing, allowing noncommercial modification for academic and research purposes. Microsoft's source-code announcement Wednesday came as Sun Microsystems Inc. handed developers more pieces of its Java programming technology designed for building and deploying Web services, at the JavaOne Developer Conference in San Francisco. Sun Tuesday said developers will be able to submit some changes for Java under open-source licenses and receive financial support from the company for their projects. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., has made a number of moves recently that have been seen as a reaction to both Sun's Java efforts and growing momentum for open-source projects. For example, Microsoft has submitted some of the underpinnings of its .Net initiative to a European standards body. Those technologies, which include the C# programming language and a component of its .Net Framework called CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), were approved as standards by the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA) in December. Microsoft also funded an effort by software maker Corel to implement the ECMA standards and create the version of the .Net Framework for FreeBSD and testing. That implementation is what Microsoft will hand out under its latest academic deal... C#, a component-oriented programming language Microsoft developed, has been compared to Java in that, among other things, it is intended to allow developers to write code and reuse pieces of it when building various applications. CLI is the underlying technology for enabling developers to write .Net applications in more than 20 programming languages. Microsoft's implementation of those technologies is called the .Net Framework. The company intends to use .Net Framework as the common platform for Web services and software that link business processes together over the Internet with XML..." See "Microsoft Releases Shared Source CLI and C# Implementation Availability of Over 1 Million Lines of Source Code for FreeBSD and Windows Underscores Microsoft's Commitment to Open Standards, Academia and Developers."

[March 26, 2002] "Exploring XML Encryption, Part 1. Demonstrating the Secure Exchange of Structured Data." By Bilal Siddiqui (CEO, WAP Monster). From IBM developerWorks, XML Zone. March 2002. ['XML Encryption provides end-to-end security for applications that require secure exchange of structured data. XML itself is the most popular technology for structuring data, and therefore XML-based encryption is the natural way to handle complex requirements for security in data interchange applications. Here in part 1 of this two-part series, Bilal explains how XML and security are proposed to be integrated into the W3C's Working Draft for XML Encryption.'] "Currently, Transport Layer Security (TLS) is the de facto standard for secure communication over the Internet. TLS is an end-to-end security protocol that follows the famous Secure Socket Layer (SSL). SSL was originally designed by Netscape, and its version 3.0 was later adapted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) while they were designing TLS. This is a very secure and reliable protocol that provides end-to-end security sessions between two parties. XML Encryption is not intended to replace or supersede SSL/TLS. Rather, it provides a mechanism for security requirements that are not covered by SSL. The following are a two important areas not addressed by SSL: (1) Encrypting part of the data being exchanged; (2) Secure sessions between more than two parties. With XML Encryption, each party can maintain secure or insecure states with any of the communicating parties. Both secure and non-secure data can be exchanged in the same document. For example, think of a secure chat application containing a number of chat rooms with several people in each room. XML-encrypted files can be exchanged between chatting partners so that data intended for one room will not be visible to other rooms. XML Encryption can handle both XML and non-XML (e.g., binary) data. We'll now demonstrate a simple exchange of data, making it secure through XML Encryption. We'll then slowly increase the complexity of the security requirements and explain the XML Encryption schema and the use of its different elements... In our next installment of this series of articles, we will discuss and implement the details of cryptography. We'll demonstrate the working of encryption and decryption classes and their interaction with parsing logic, and present applications of XML Encryption in Web services." See: "XML and Encryption."

[March 27, 2002] "Donald Eastlake on XML Digital Signatures. An Interview With One of the Specification's Pioneers." By Larry Loeb [and Donald Eastlake]. From IBM developerWorks, XML Zone. March 2002. ['In this exclusive developerWorks interview, XML Digital Signatures pioneer Donald Eastlake responds to Larry Loeb's recent article on the topic by clarifying a number of issues about how this technology is used. Note from Larry Loeb: In a recent article on XML Digital Signatures, I questioned their utility and usefulness. Since the proposal has just been recommended for passage into general usage, I decided it was time to check back on the topic again. This time, I talked with Donald Eastlake, the editor of the XML Digital Signature (XMLDSIG) RFC, and someone who should know something about the subject, since he has been intimately involved with XML specifications since the effort began in the 1990s. He has also served on IETF efforts too numerous to list. His responses appear unedited, except for minor grammatical changes.'] Eastlake on real world use of XML digital signatures: "I believe there will be a full spectrum of usage but two areas of particular prominence seem likely: documents and messages. While these sometimes blend into each other, documents tend to be longer lived and the signatures on them tend to indicate human approval of all or part of the document, although they may also have time stamp signatures affixed automatically. Messages tend to be transient and would more commonly have authentication automatically affixed and removed. Of course, a message could include one or more documents, in the sense I'm using the word here, in its content... Documents are most likely to use public key techniques while messages, depending on the application, could use public key or symmetric secret key techniques. Documents are more likely to be something "important" like a mortgage or court filing. But if XML digital signatures are widely used for messages, messages could be several orders of magnitude more numerous." Article also in PDF format. See "XML Digital Signature (Signed XML - IETF/W3C)."

[March 26, 2002] "Streaming API for XML (StAX)." Java Specification Request #173. Specification Lead: Christopher Fry (BEA Systems). ['The Streaming API for XML (StAX) is a Java based API for pull-parsing XML.'] Initial Expert Group Membership: BEA Systems; James Clark, Thai Open Source Software Center; K Karun, Oracle Corporation; Gregory Messner, The Breeze Factor; Aleksander Slominski, Indiana University; James Strachan, dom4j; Anil Vijendran, Sun Microsystems. "The Streaming API for XML (StAX) parsing will specify a Java-based, pull-parsing API for XML. The streaming API gives parsing control to the programmer by exposing a simple iterator based API. This allows the programmer to ask for the next event (pull the event) and allows state to be stored in a procedural fashion. Two recently proposed JSRs, JAXB and JAX-RPC, highlight the need for an XML Streaming API. Both data binding and remote procedure calling (RPC) require processing of XML as a stream of events, where the current context of the XML defines subsequent processing of the XML. A streaming API makes this type of code much more natural to write than SAX, and much more efficient than DOM. The goal of this API is to develop APIs and conventions that support processing XML as a stream. The specification will address three main areas: (1) Develop APIs and conventions that allow a user to programmatically pull parse events from an XML input stream. (2) Develop APIs that allow a user to write events to an XML output stream. (3) Develop a set of objects and interfaces that encapsulate the information contained in an XML stream. The specification should be easy to use, efficient, and not require a grammar. It should include support for namespaces, and associated XML constructs. The specification will make reasonable efforts to define APIs that are 'pluggable'... Two standard main approaches for processing XML exist: (1) the Simple API for XML processing [SAX] and (2) DOM [Document Object Model]... To use SAX one writes handlers (objects that implement the various SAX handler APIs) that receive callbacks during the processing of an XML document. The main benefits of this style of XML document processing are that it is efficient, flexible, and relatively low level. It is also possible to change handlers during the processing of an XML document allowing one to use different handlers for different sections of the document. One drawback to the SAX API is that the programmer must keep track of the current state of the document in the code each time one processes an XML document. This creates overhead for XML processing and may lead to convoluted document processing code... DOM provides APIs to the programmer to manipulate the XML as a tree. At first glance this seems like a win for the application developer because it does not require writing specific parsing code. However this perceived simplicity comes at a very high cost: performance. Some implementations require the entire document to be read into memory, so for very large documents one must read the entire document into memory before taking appropriate actions based on the data. Another drawback is the programmer must use the DOM tree as the base for handling XML in the document. For many applications the tree model may not be the most natural representation for the data..." See the full list of JSRs.

[March 26, 2002] "The Java XML Pack, Spring 02 Release." "The Spring 02 Release includes the following: (1) Java API for XML Messaging (JAXM) v1.0.1 EA2; (2) Java API for XML Processing (JAXP) v1.2 EA2; (3) Java API for XML Registries (JAXR) v1.0 EA2; (4) Java API for XML-based RPC (JAX-RPC) v1.0 EA2. This release of the Java XML Pack has been tested with various configurations, using Tomcat 4.0.1 and J2EETM 1.3_01 and 1.3.1 with Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition (J2SETM) versions 1.3.1_02 and 1.4 on the following platforms: Solaris 2.8, Windows 2000, Professional Edition, Windows XP, Professional Edition, RedHat Linux 7.2... The Java XML Pack is an all-in-one download of Java technologies for XML. Java XML Pack brings together several of the key industry standards for XML -- such as SAX, DOM, XSLT, SOAP, UDDI, ebXML, and WSDL -- into one convenient download, thereby giving developers the technologies needed to get started with web applications and services. Bundling the Java XML technologies together into a Java XML Pack ensures Java developers of a quick and easy development cycle for integration of XML functionality and standards support into their applications. Through support of these technologies in conjunction with the Java Platform, Java XML Pack technology enables interoperability between applications, services, and trading partners through a vendor-neutral platform that allows for sharing of custom industry standard data formats. The Java XML Pack includes current publicly-available releases of Java APIs and Architectures for XML, both production and early access (EA) versions. The Java XML Pack will have frequent quarterly refreshes to ensure the underlying Java XML technology is the latest available..." See also: "Java Technology and XML: Frequently Asked Questions."

[March 26, 2002] "System Integrated Automaton Parser for XML (SIA Parser)." Communiqué 2002-03-26 from Robert Berlinski. Version: March, 2002. "Available for free... "...a new implementation of the parser. The most important is a new automaton engine that improves efficiency by 14% to 22%. Besides that classes have new interface and are not compatible with the previous versions. Please expect a few minor improvements in the near future... The SIA Parser improves SAX by integrating an automaton within it. Generally speaking the SIA Parser retains all SAX's functionality and additionally makes very simple to: (1) Uniquely identify XML nodes by state numbers. In other words a reference to a particular node can be made by a unique state ID. And the process of matching nodes with state numbers is very simple. (2) Automatically generate a source code to parse a particular XML. Just run the generator against your XML data file, save the source code, fill in business logic, generate code and your application is done. (3) Parse altering XML that might include nested XML and process the nested XML. (4) Work in self-learning mode to accept any XML and perform general tasks. (5) Provide statistical and structural information about an XML... The SAX parser offers a great efficiency and is faster than DOM parser. On the other hand the DOM parser provides structure information regarding parsed XML. It is very important since, an XML might have might have different nodes in different positions but with the same names. The SAX parser provides only local information about the structure (events: startDocument, endDocument, startElement, endElement). Then it is up to the application to keep track of the information to build the global state. The SIA Parser was introduces to fill up the gap. It is possible by integrating an automaton with the SAX parser. An universal automatic mechanism builds a new interface for application. The interface provides information about global state plus all the information available from SAX parser. Additionally it is possible to build universal tools based on the SIA parser to solve common issues like: Formatting an XML to a readable form Providing statistics about an XML Automatically generating dedicated parsers for an XML The SAX roots guarantees high performance while the integrated SIA automaton helps with Rapid Application Development and reduce code maintains costs..."

[March 26, 2002] "Using Object-Oriented Attribute Grammars as ODB System Generator." By Takashi Imaizumi, Takeshi Hagiwara, Katsuhiko Gondow, and Takuya Katayama. Department of Information Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan. Presented at the Third Workshop on Attribute Grammars and their Applications (WAGA'00), Ponte de Lima, Portugal. July 7, 2000. 20 pages. "This paper presents MAGE2 system. It implements a computational model OOAG (Object-Oriented Attribute Grammars) and creates its attributed object trees in object-oriented database (ODB) using persistent object allocation mechanism of object-oriented database management systems (ODBMS). The MAGE2 is a programming support and execution environment for OOAG. The focus of this paper is on an execution system. We indicate core techniques to implement MAGE2, that is, how to execute specifications of OOAG and how to generate an ODB system. We are planning to use MAGE2 to design databases for storing data that have logical structures such as program source files, XML documents and so on... OOAG has been derived from attribute grammars. Declarative structures, separation of semantics and syntax definition, and local description resulting in high readability and high maintainability, and clear description due to functional computation of attributes are all desirable characteristics of AGs. We summarize the OOAG features as a generator of database systems as follows: (1) OOAG has been derived from attribute grammars; (2) We can program how to manipulate software objects by message passing; (3) We can describe data structure and manipulation method of software objects at the same place; (4) We can generate software repository system automatically from formal repository specification written in OSL language. An OOAG description is separated into two parts: one is a static specification and the other is a dynamic specification. They are described in a specification language OSL 'Object Specification Language'. We describe briefly each part and then give the correspondence of OSL language constructs to conventional attribute grammars constructs... A tool constructed by the MAGE system creates attributed object trees in an ODB persistently. Operations to persistent object trees can be described in OSL specifications by the message passing mechanism of OOAG model. Programmers who use MAGE will only write interface codes between generated tool. Created ODBs will be maintained by the OOAG evaluator. This includes updating, adding, or deleting objects. They will be described in dynamic subtrees operation by message passing. If the state of object trees in the database will be inconsistent, OOAG evaluation loop will keep them consistent. From above features of the MAGE system, we can develop complicated object-oriented database systems which manage structured data effciently..." See also "XML and Attribute Grammars." [source, Postscript]

[March 26, 2002] "SmartTools: A Development Environment Generator Based on XML Technologies." By Isabelle Attali, Carine Courbis, Pascal Degenne, Alexandre Fau, Joël Fillon, Didier Parigot, Claude Pasquier, and Claudio Sacerdoti Coen. In XML Technologies and Software Engineering, Toronto, Canada. ICSE'2001, ICSE Workshop Proceedings. "SmartTools is a development environment generator that provides a structure editor and semantic tools as main features. SmartTools is easy to use, thanks to its graphical user interface. Being based on Java and XML technologies offers all the features of SmartTools to any defined language. The main goal of this tool is to provide help and support for designing software development environments for programming languages as well as domain-specific languages defined with XML technologies... From the abstract syntax definition of programming (e.g., Java) or domain-specific languages, it is possible to easily generate an interactive environment with SmartTools. This latter automatically offers a well-known visitor pattern technique to specify semantic analysis on DOM tree structures. Its graphical part is mainly based on free existing implementations of standards (XSLT, BML). We have chosen to use non-proprietary APIs in the concern to be open and take advantage of future or external developments. Thus, we can focus on semantics tools (visitor technics, aspect-oriented programming). There are already some examples of easy and successful integration of research tools, and technology transfer in industrial environment. Additionally, we hope to benefit from the large fields of applications that appear through XML technologies. Also in Postscript format. See similarly "SmartTools: A Generator of Interactive Environments Tools," in ETAPS'2001: Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science (ENTCS). Tools Demonstrations at CC'01, edited by Reinhard Wilhelm. Project URL: see "SmartTools System: Aspect and XML-oriented Semantic Framework Generator." From the section 'Using XML technologies': "As XML will be more and more used as a communication protocol between applications, we wanted to be able to handle any XML document in SmartTools. Any XML document importing a DTD (Document Type Definition) has a typed structure. That DTD describes the nodes and their types, that is very similar to our AST formalism. In order to obtain this result, we have specified and implemented a tool which converts a DTD formalism into an AST equivalent formalism. With this conversion, we automatically offer a structure editing environment for all languages defined with XML in the SmartTools framework. It is important to note that XML documents produced by SmartTools are well-formed... We are also studying XML schemas and RDF (Resource Description Framework) schemas, the successors of DTD. Thus any application that respects the implementation of the APIs, can be XML-compliant. All the manipulated trees in SmartTools are Java DOM Trees to ease the integration with other tools and to have a very open data structure. We offer a tool to automatically generate parsers. This tool can be useful for a designer to define a user-friendly concrete syntax for his language. But, extra data are required in the definition of the language. We have also integrated the XSL (XML Style-sheet Language) specifications that describe the layout of a document as well as the XSLT (XSL Transformation).

[March 26, 2002] "Standardizing XML Rules: Rules for E-Business on the Semantic Web." Invited Presentation (45-minutes, presentation, with slides in PDF format). By Benjamin N. Grosof (MIT Sloan Professor in E-Commerce Information Technology). August 5, 2001. Presented at the Workshop on E-business and the Intelligent Web at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-01). See also the short paper; preliminary prose outline of the talk, and appears in the Workshop Proceedings. The principal topic of discussion is the Rule Markup Language (RuleML). See: "Rule Markup Language (RuleML)." [alt URL for paper; cache]

[March 26, 2002] "Facilitating Semantic Web Search with Embedded Grammar Tags." By Gautham K. Dorai and Yaser Yacoob (Department of Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA 20742). August 5, 2001. Presented at the Workshop on E-business and the Intelligent Web at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-01). 6 pages. "We propose a new framework for intelligent information access. The backbone of this framework consists of embedded grammar tags (EGT's) that capture natural language queries. These embedded grammar tags reflect information content in web pages by anticipating the queries that may be launched by users to retrieve a particular content. These grammars provide a unifying component for speech recognition engines, semantic web page representation and speech output generation. We demonstrate the new EGT representation to enable a software agent to respond to natural speech input from users in narrow domains such as weather, stock market and news queries. [...] In this paper a new semantic tagging representation (i.e., EGT) was proposed and developed. The tagging approach is a departure from existing definition and use of tags in XML, RDF and DAML. Employing BNF grammar to represent the queries which users may employ to recover information changes the current view of semantic content of web pages since we reach beyond meaning into anticipation of query syntax and semantics. There are far reaching impacts to this proposal. First, the designer of the web is given the role of anticipating the queries that are matched to particular content items. Second, the web-search engine is relieved from the load of performing NLP since the mapping between queries and content has been already programmed into the page. Third, users can creatively expand the semantic reach of the content of web-pages by simply creating new EGTs that reflect potential queries." [cache]

[March 26, 2002] "An Expressive Constraint Language for Semantic Web Applications." By Peter Gray, Kit Hui, and Alun Preece (University of Aberdeen, Computing Science Department, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, Scotland). Presented at the Workshop on E-business and the Intelligent Web at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI-01). 8 pages. "We present a framework for semantic web applications based on constraint interchange and processing. At the core of the framework is a well-established semantic data model (P/FDM) with an associated expressive constraint language (Colan). To allow data instances to be transported across a network, we map our data model to the RDF Schema speci- fication. To allow constraints to be transported, we define a Constraint Interchange Format (CIF) in the form of an RDF Schema for Colan, allowing each constraint to be defined as a resource in its own right. We show that, because Colan is essentially a syntactically-sugared form of first-order logic, and P/FDM is based on the widely-used extended ER model, our CIF is actually very widely applicable and reusable. Finally, we outline a set of services for constraint fusion and solving, which are particularly applicable to business-tobusiness e-commerce applications. All of these services can be accessed using the CIF... XML Constraint Interchange Format: "In defining our Constraint Interchange Format, we were guided by the following design principles: (1) the CIF would need to be serialisable into XML, to make it maximally portable and open; (2) constraints should be represented as resources in RDF, so that RDF statements can be made about the constraints themselves; (3) there must be no modification to the existing RDF and RDF Schema specifications, so that the CIF would be layered cleanly on top of RDF; (4) it must be possible for constraints to refer to terms de- fined in any RDF Schema, with such references made explicit. As we showed in the previous section, the entity-relational basis of both our P/FDM data model and RDF made it relatively straightforward to map from the former to the latter. In building the RDF Schema for our CIF we were guided by the existing grammar for Colan which relates constraints to entities, attributes and relationships present in the ER model. This grammar serves as a metaschema for the Colan constraints (such metaschemas are very common in relational and object database systems). A number of issues arose in developing the RDF Schema for CIF, discussed in the following subsections... At the core of the framework is a well-established semantic data model (P/FDM) with an associated expressive constraint language (Colan). To allow data instances to be transported across a network, we have mapped our data model to the less expressive (but adequate) RDF Schema. To allow constraints to be transported, we have provided a Constraint Interchange Format (CIF) in the form of an RDF Schema for Colan, allowing each constraint to be defined as a resource in its own right. Because Colan is essentially a syntactically-sugared form of first-order logic, and P/FDM is based on the widely-used extended ER model, our CIF is actually very widely applicable and reusable... In linking Colan to RDF Schema, we also allow its usage with more expressive data modelling languages built on top of RDF Schema, including DAML-ONT and OIL. However, a basic requirement of our approach in defining the RDF Schema for Colan expressionswas that it should in no way require modification to the underlying RDF definitions (this is in contrast to the OIL approach, which requires modification at the RDF layer in order to capture certain kinds of expression. Our constraint interchange and solving services are being incorporated into the AKT infrastructure, as one of the basic knowledge reuse mechanisms in the AKT service layer. Further information on this work can be found at www.aktors.org..." [cache]

[March 26, 2002] "Generating Web Content with Cocoon. [Exploring XML.]" By Michael Classen. From WebReference.com. March 18, 2002. ['Cocoon provides for developers a way to generate content dynamically using XML data. XML expert Michael Classen takes a look at the version 2 release, which, among other things, improves scalability by using SAX instead of the DOM.'] "The Apache project is well-known for the Web server software it produces that is carrying its name. In the past, many other interesting software projects were also started there, mainly in the Java and XML space. Cocoon is one of them. Cocoon is a Java Web-application for generating dynamic content using XML. It can be installed on any Java Servlet Engine and comes with a wide variety of components for generating, transforming and outputting data with XML. Cocoon 2 was recently released as a complete rewrite of its predecessor, with improved flexibility and scalability. The central concept in Cocoon is the pipeline, a number of components plugged together in a serial configuration to process incoming data that will be passed along... The Cocoon developers set out to create a similar system for generating content on the Web by piping XML through a configurable set of tools. The first version of the software was passing around full DOM documents, limiting scalability with regard to the size of documents that could be processed, and the amount of parallelism in the pipeline. Furthermore, the pipeline was defined through processing instructions within the documents, making reuse in different contexts difficult. Version 2 eliminates these problems by using SAX instead of DOM, and connecting the processing components through SAX events. This way XML documents of arbitrary size can be processed, and the components can work in parallel on the same document. The configuration of the pipeline is now moved out of the data documents and into a separate sitemap file... out of which components can a pipeline be built? Cocoon comes with many configurable components for generating, transforming and serializing data with XML... The Cocoon framework is a powerful software application for dynamically generating Web content without needing to know a programming language. Although it is written in Java, by no means do you have to use or know Java, short of configuring a Web application for a servlet engine such as Tomcat. Cocoon 2 eliminates the shortcomings of Version 1 and provides an interesting alternative to your favorite scripting language..."

[March 26, 2002] "HP Adds Transaction Support To Web Services: Java One." By Richard Karpinski. In InternetWeek (March 25, 2002). "Hewlett-Packard this week will release what it claims is the first implementation of an emerging XML protocol that will let emerging Web services infrastructures better handle business transactions. HP's new Web Services Transaction Server 1.0 is based on the OASIS Group's Business Transaction Protocol (BTP) specification. While Web services offer great flexibility with their loosely coupled architecture, that doesn't translate well into a more transaction-oriented environment where messages must be passed in a timely and reliable manner. Traditionally, systems such as transaction-processing monitors have emerged to enable such highly reliable software environments. The BTP specification aims to bring the same reliability to the world of XML and Web services, said Joe McGonnell, HP's product manager for Web services. The HP transaction server features an implementation of JTS, or Java Transaction Service, underneath the covers, working at an API level, said McGonnell. Meanwhile the new BTP implementation works at a higher level, coordinating how SOAP messages are sent back and forth by a Web service... In other news from Java One, HP is releasing its Web Services Platform version 2.0, a developer environment for creating, deploying, and registering Web services. The tool integrates with the HP Application Server, as well as app servers from other vendors. The HP platform also places a major emphasis on bridging the gap between Java- and .Net-based Web services. HP -- which runs a public UDDI node -- is also releasing a new version of its Web Services Registry 2.0, to help users build private UDDI registries..."

[March 25, 2002] "A URN Namespace for the Web3D Consortium (Web3D)." By Aaron E. Walsh (Mantis Development Corp.; WWW). IETF Network Working Group, Internet-Draft. Reference: 'draft-walsh-urn-web3d-00.txt'. March 25, 2002, expires: September, 25 2002. "This document describes a Uniform Resource Name (URN) namespace for the Web3D Consortium (Web3D) for naming persistent resources such as technical documents and specifications, Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) and Extensible 3D (X3D) files and resources, Extensible Markup Language (XML) Document Type Definitions (DTDs), XML Schemas, namespaces, style sheets, media assets, and other resources produced or managed by Web3D. Web3D is the only non-profit organization with a mandate to develop and promote open standards to enable 3D for the Internet, Web and broadcast applications. Web3D is responsible for developing, advancing, and maintaining the VRML97 ISO/IEC International Standard (ISO/IEC 14772-1:1997), X3D (the forthcoming official successor to VRML) and related technologies..." See: "VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and X3D." [cache]

[March 25, 2002] "Java, XML, and Web Services." By Jon Udell. In InfoWorld (March 22, 2002). "Simple text messages, readable and writable by people and computers, live at the core of every successful Internet application. XML seeks to grow the expressive power of these texts while preserving their accessibility. Java, although born to the Internet, has been oddly slow to embrace these paradigms. For example, regular expressions are the most basic tool for working with patterned text. Yet only now, in the JDK (Java Development Kit) 1.4 release, do regular expressions become a standard feature of the Java platform. Likewise, basic XML facilities such as parsing with SAX (Simple API for XML) and DOM (Document Object Model) interfaces, and transformation with XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Transformation) -- although long available from other sources -- make their first official debut in J2SE (Java 2 Standard Edition) 1.4. Although Sun's Java/XML engine may have started slowly, it's really cranking now. A set of unbundled XML and Web-services APIs, in various stages of development, seeks to complement the XML core that's built into the platform. These "JAX Pack" APIs define a Java framework within which developers can perform several tasks... So what exactly are the features of Sun's emerging Web services model? For Hal Stern, CTO of iPlanet's software division, there are three core activities: creating service endpoints, assembling services into business processes, and deploying these in ways that administrators can control and users can comprehend... Creating context for Web services is the charter of ebXML, one of the messaging profiles supported by JAXM (Java API for XML Messaging); another JAXM profile is WS-Routing, formerly SOAP-RP. But business-collaboration protocols such as ebXML will not soon, and may never, solve the kinds of semantic problems that plague systems integrators who regularly struggle with the need to match one company's definition of supplier, customer, or purchase order to another's... Clearly there will be lots of ways to produce and consume SOAP services in Java. Too many, perhaps, but when you're bootstrapping it's wise to accommodate a broad range of legacy systems and attitudes. The real question for Java developers, and indeed for all developers, is how to contextualize the use of those services. To that end, iPlanet's Stern argues for "a thin waistline of core standards" -- just SOAP and WSDL and UDDI. "Then let's innovate on top of these to solve the assembly problem," he says. At this level, conventional programming languages fade into the woodwork. The focus shifts to languages that are today spoken, and protocols that are today enacted, by people. When a company signs a new supplier, Stern points out, lawyers gather in a room to negotiate terms and conditions, and all documents subsequently exchanged fall within the scope of that agreement. ebXML addresses this realm. So does IBM's WSFL (Web Services Flow Language), and Microsoft's XLANG, the orchestration dialect of BizTalk Server. Until basic Web services find their way into routine use, we won't be able to fully evaluate these approaches to composing systems based on them..."

[March 25, 2002] "Iona Advances Web Services Platform, Adds Security: JavaOne." By Richard Karpinski. In InternetWeek (March 25, 2002). "Vendor Iona Inc. is adding new capabilities to its Web services tools, including support for the latest Java standards and a new security framework that addresses a key missing piece of the Web services puzzle. Iona this week is rolling out a new version of its core developer platform. Iona XMLBus Edition 5.1 includes new security tools, improved developer features, and the promise of a new UDDI server to be added shortly. The big addition is the security framework, the Iona Security Service, which lets developers use existing security databases -- initially LDAP but later Active Directory and other platforms -- to implement a password-protection scheme for their Web services. The service is based on SAML, or Security Assurance Markup Language, which provides standards for distributing authentication, such as in a Web services architecture. In later releases, IONA will add single sign-on and other security features to the product, including integration with PKI products from VeriSign and others... In addition to the new security framework, Iona is also adding new intelligent interface mapping tools to XMLBus that will let developers build WSDL -- or Web Services Description Language -- descriptions of Web services without a lot of hand-coding, Rymer said. In addition, the vendor plans to add a private UDDI repository to the tool within the next 30 days..." See the announcement: Iona Announces Web Services Security Framework. IONA Security Services Deliver Open and Comprehensive Solution for End 2 Anywhere Integration of Enterprise Applications Across the Internet."

[March 25, 2002] "OASIS Hones Web Services Standards." By Tom Sullivan and Ed Scannell. In InfoWorld (March 22, 2002). "Looking to take Web services protocols higher up the interoperability stack, two groups within the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) are developing specifications for content delivery and end-user interfaces. Known as Web Services for Interactive Applications (WSIA) and Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP), which met this week, the groups were created to advance user-facing Web services and enable Web services and other applications to plug and play with portals and portlets. Building on this momentum, Sun Microsystems and IBM plan to announce on Monday at JavaOne a portlet specification submitted to the Java Community Process (JCP) that complements Billerica, Mass.-based OASIS' WSRP group. Thus far, the core Web services standards -- SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), XML, UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration), and WSDL (Web Services Description Language) -- have focused on system-to-system interoperability. The standard expected to emerge from the WSIA, however, would improve any service that requires users to fill out online forms, for example, said Dwight Davis, an analyst at Summit Strategies in Kirkland, Wash... recognizing this need, a host of companies have backed the WSIA initiative, including IBM, BEA Systems, Bowstreet, divine, Documentum, Epicentric, and Plumtree. And the lineup of WSRP supporters looks similar, with Documentum, Epicentric, divine, IBM, Sun, Hewlett-Packard, Iona, and Oracle all on board. 'There is a certain set of base functions that we are trying to do jointly between the two committees, and then WSIA will try to go beyond that and do some things that are not required for portals,' explained Charles Wiecha, manager of the next-generation user experience frameworks department at Yorktown Heights, N.Y.-based IBM Research and chair of the WSIA committee. The technologies expected to drive the WSIA standard include IBM Research's WSXL (Web Services Experience Language) and the combined work on Web services graphical interfaces done by Epicentric and divine. IBM has also included in its WSXL proposal plans for XLink (XML Linking Language) to be used to hook together a patchwork of Web services to make them appear as a single application..." See (1) "Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP)"; (2) "Web Services for Interactive Applications (WSIA)."

[March 25, 2002] "Extensible Rights Markup Language (XrML) Interoperability with Digital Transmission Content Protection (DTCP)." By ContentGuard, Inc., with contributions from Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation. 2002. ['This paper addresses interoperability across the digital content industry with its multiple devices and a myriad of different business models. This interoperability is based on open widely accepted standards within the industry and will allow for maximum flexibility for content owners, device manufacturers and consumers.'] "As a proof of concept, the following technical discussion will address the manner in which leading industry standards, XrML and the rights expression function within DTCP, are capable of interoperability. XrML is a semantically precise language for expressing rights and business rules related to the use, duplication and distribution of content. DTCP, also sometimes referred to as '5C, is a specification that enables secure distribution of digital content between devices across IEEE 1394 and other home network interconnects. We will discuss the benefits of using XrML in combination with DTCP to expand the range of application of both technologies, and to explore ways for rights management systems using XrML to interoperate with devices that support DTCP. A guiding principle in the technical approach is to ensure systems using either or both technologies can relate to each other in a way that content can efficiently flow between them while retaining the content owner's expressed rights, rules and restrictions... Devices that are built today based on the DTCP specification have been granted certain usage rights for the DTCP protected content that they receive. These rights are bound to the content itself via the CCI bits. XrML has the ability to specify the use of DTCP when permitting the export of content to devices. By enabling interoperability between these technologies, industry and consumers can take part in a broader set of business models and can maximize opportunities throughout the content value chain. As a business case example, Microsoft's DRM technology, incorporating XrML, will be capable of enabling interoperability with DTCP. This approach will bring together the benefits of a robust digital rights language and a high degree of protection for entertainment content distribution to the consumer. This in turn will help to demonstrate the foundation of technology and standards needed to enable a more rapid transition to the digital economy..." See "Extensible Rights Markup Language (XrML)" and the recent TC proposal, "OASIS Members Propose a Rights Language Technical Committee."

[March 22, 2002] "RELAX NG Schemas for TEI P4." Prepared by Sebastian Rahtz (OUCS Information Manager). See also the ZIP package. Sebastian has prepared RELAX NG schemas for the TEI "which are up to date with the latest version of P4 (now effectively frozen), and are derived automatically from the [ODD] source of TEI P4. I have been working on this for some time, but please regard it as a personal project for now, and not a product of the TEI. It is not intended to be used in production... There is no documentation yet, and only one example. You can validate test0.xml against test0.rng. test0.rng is the base example showing how to construct an instance schema. I will be added more complex test cases in due course... I have tested this with James Clark's "jing", and Sun's "MSV" tool. Sun's "relmes" tool, which allows Schematron assertions to be added, also works, but not the public release. The author is hoping to get a new release out soon. Anyone attending XML Europe 2002 in May may like to come and hear me give a talk about this work. Or of course I am happy to discuss it in public or private..." [XML Europe 2002, Wednesday, 22-May-2002: "TEI and RELAX NG." Presented by: Sebastian Rahtz, Information Manager, Oxford University Computing Services, United Kingdom. This presentation describes work undertaken to show how the Guidelines can use fragments of the Relax NG schema language internally, and generate either full schemata or DTDs on demand. It will also show how it can evolve to keep up with modern standards."] References: "Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) - XML for TEI Lite."

[March 22, 2002] "What is XSL-FO?" By G. Ken Holman. From XML.com. March 20, 2002. ['In an extended excerpt from his renowned training materials, Ken Holman explains the W3C's XSL Formatting Objects technology, XSL-FO, intended to facilitate page-based formatting of XML documents. Ken introduces XSL-FO's basic concepts and processing model, and places it in the context of XML and XSLT. Including plenty of examples and diagrams, "What is XSL-FO?" should give you a good grounding and leave you ready to start experimenting with this exciting technology.'] "Crane Softwrights Ltd. has published Practical Formatting Using XSLFO covering every formatting object of XSLFO and their properties, according to the final XSL 1.0 Recommendation of October 15, 2001. The first two chapters of this book have been rewritten in prose and are made available here as an introduction to the technology and its use. This material assumes no prior knowledge of XSLFO and guides the reader through background, context, structure, concepts, introductory terminology, and a short introduction of each of the formatting objects. Note that neither the Recommendation itself, nor Crane's training material, attempt to teach facets of typography and attractive or appropriate layout style, only the semantics of formatting, the implementation of those semantics, and the nuances of control available to the stylesheet writer and implemented by the stylesheet formatting tool. XSLFO is a very powerful language with which we can possibly create very ugly or very beautiful pages from our XML-based information... Two vocabularies specified in separate W3C Recommendations provide for the two distinct styling processes of transforming and rendering XML instances. The Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) is a templating markup language used to express how a processor creates a transformed result from an instance of XML information. The Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects (XSLFO) is a pagination markup language describing a rendering vocabulary capturing the semantics of formatting information for paginated presentation. Formally named Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL), this Recommendation normatively incorporates the entire XSLT Recommendation by reference and, historically, used to be defined together in a single W3C draft Recommendation..." See also the two "how-to" articles of J. David Eisenberg on XSL-FO, published last year: [1], [2]. For related resources, see "Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL/XSLT)."

[March 22, 2002] "What's New in XPath 2.0." By Evan Lenz. From XML.com. March 20, 2002. ['Evan Lenz presents the first part of a two-part series on the next generation of XSLT and XPath. In "What's New in XPath 2.0" Evan explains the new features available in XPath, and its relationship to the W3C XML Query language.'] "This article provides a brief tour through some of the new features in XPath 2.0. It assumes that you already have a basic understanding of XPath 1.0, and that you've most likely used it in the context of XSLT. It is by no means an exhaustive overview but merely points out some of the most noteworthy features. Relationship between XPath 1.0 and XPath 2.0: Both the XPath 1.0 recommendation and the latest XPath 2.0 working draft say that "XPath is a language for addressing parts of an XML document". This was a fairly appropriate characterization of XPath 1.0. (Of course, it doesn't mention that you can have arithmetic expressions and string, number, and boolean expressions, but those features were kept to a minimum.) On the other hand, as a characterization of XPath 2.0, it leaves a lot to be desired. XPath 2.0 is a much more powerful language that operates on a much larger domain of data types. A better way of describing XPath 2.0 is as an expression language for processing sequences, with built-in support for querying XML documents. Querying? Isn't that XQuery's job? Relationship between XPath 2.0 and XQuery 1.0: For over a year now, the W3C XSL and XML Query Working Groups have been working closely together. The goal has been to share as much between XSLT 2.0 and XQuery 1.0 as is technically and politically feasible and to give that common subset the name "XPath 2.0". This effectively means that the driving forces behind XPath 2.0 include not only the XPath 2.0 Requirements document but also many of the XML Query language requirements... XPath 2.0 is a strict syntactic subset of XQuery 1.0. In fact, both working drafts and language grammars were automatically generated from a common source..."

[March 22, 2002] "Introducing XML::SAX::Machines, Part Two." By Kip Hampton. From XML.com. March 20, 2002. ['Kip Hampton returns with the second installment of his introduction to the XML::SAX::Machines Perl module.'] "In last month's column we began our introduction to XML::SAX::Machines, a group of modules which greatly simplifies the creation of complex SAX application with multiple filters. This month we pick up where we left off by further illustrating how XML::SAX::Machines can be used to remove most of the drudgery of building SAX-based XML processing applications..."

[March 22, 2002] "Web Service Sublimation." By Martin Gudgin and Timothy Ewald. From XML.com. March 20, 2002. [Tim Ewald and Martin Gudgin plunge naked into the slimy pool of debate and attempt to catch the slippery fish that is the real definition of a "web service."] "In the broadest possible sense, Web Services are an attempt to use XML to build distributed information processing systems that work across the Internet without necessarily requiring a browser as the client. Many present Web Services as a silver bullet that makes building this sort of system easy, but this view is naive. Serialized XML messages are easy to parse because the syntactical rules of XML 1.0 + Namespaces are well understood. Once parsed, XML messages are easy to manipulate using a range of technologies. However, while the ability to parse and interpret messages is necessary, it is not sufficient to build a distributed system. There are a lot of other issues that must be resolved. How should messages flow between different parts of the system? Should the messages by typed or untyped? If they are typed, what type system should be used? And should parts of the system be strongly or loosely coupled? Answering these questions is key to deciding what Web Services really are. But deciding on answers is extremely difficult, as recent debates in the XML world have shown ... Collectively, while people envision Internet-based distributed information processing applications sending messages based on a wide array of patterns, including but not limited to request-response, it isn't clear how that will be done relative to HTTP as it is defined today. Independent of message flows, people have not yet agreed on whether messages should be typed, which type system to use, and what degree of coupling is acceptable. (For the record, messages should be typed, described in XSD, and as loosely coupled as possible -- as specified in their XSD definitions.) So what is a Web Service? It is an Internet-friendly distributed application that uses XML. That's about all anyone can say for now."

[March 22, 2002] "SAML Advances Single Sign-On Prospects." By Andy Patrizio. In XML Magzine Volume 3, Number 2 (March 2002), pages 10-11. ['Promising a standard means of authentication and authorization, SAML passes an important OASIS milestone.'] "The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) has completed the heavy lifting on its latest XML standard, the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), a standard for exchanging authentication and authorization information between domains. SAML (pronounced 'sam-el') is designed to offer single sign-on for both automatic and manual interactions between systems. It will let users log into another domain and define all of their permissions, or it will manage automated B2B exchanges between two parties. SAML addressed the need to have an industry standard way of representing assertions of authentication and authorization for users and interactions, according to Jeff Hodges, co-chair of the Security Services Technical Committee (SSTC) at OASIS that developed the spec and principal engineer at Oblix... SAML replaces two previous efforts by OASIS to create an authorization and authentication protocol, called S2ML and AuthXML. These efforts were being carried out by separate camps, but the SSTC decided it was in everyone's best interests to get all of the camps under one spec and combined the two efforts, because they handled two separate functions. What does pass for Web-based single sign-on is proprietary, the most well known being Microsoft's Passport. SAML is meant to be vendor neutral and is based on XML encoding rather than ASN.1 protocol, which is used in other areas of network sign-on and permissions, such as LDAP. For various reasons, people are gravitating toward using XML rather than ASN.1, according to Hodges. One reason is that XML is textual while ASN.1 is compiled into a binary language. The Web world to a fair degree expects things to be textually based, he said. Another reason is the knowledge level out there. There's a lot more available in terms of learning for XML over ASN.1. SAML is designed not only for user logon to a system, but also for automated B2B transactions that require a secure transaction between the two parties. Again, the automated services run the same as the manual, human-driven functions. The connecting party gives the authorization to access the system and specifies the tasks it can perform -- in this case, a data exchange..." See: (1) the Security Assertion Markup Language website; (2) references in "Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)."

[March 22, 2002] "State of the Union." By Daniel F. Savarese. In XML Magzine Volume 3, Number 2 (March 2002), pages 18-24. Cover story. ['XML data and Java logic form a partnership that is growing ever deeper -- take a tour of XML-related specs for the Java platform.'] "In the past year or two, the Java platform has been criticized for lagging behind competing platforms in integrating with XML, and Sun Microsystems has been accused of deliberately dragging its feet to adopt XML as part of its distributed computing strategy. Whatever truth there may have been to those appraisals, it is evident that XML is of strategic importance to the continued evolution of the Java platform and that in a short period of time Java has become an ideal environment for developing XML-based applications. In fact, the inroads XML has made into the Java platform are too numerous to account for completely. Here, we'll take a tour of the places in the Java platform that XML is or will be used and that merit developer attention... Without parsers, schema validators, and high-level APIs for applying XML to specific uses such as messaging and object serialization, developing XML-based applications becomes rather burdensome. XML did not catapult into the limelight of application development because many of these elements did not exist initially and took time to develop. Even though the potential synergy between XML and Java was touted from early on, it was on the backs of other programming languages that XML began its steady climb to the summit of cross-platform computing. Although many independent efforts produced Java-based XML processing APIs, it was not until March 2000 that a standard API, Java API for XML Processing (JAXP), was released. With that foundation, it was possible for the nearly score of additional XML-related Java APIs to be developed and implemented. [Figure 1] shows an example Web service scenario for a fictional coffee retail chain that makes use of Java APIs for XML to solicit price bids from distributors and provide online ordering for customers. The uses of XML in the Java platform can be divided into two categories: APIs that directly manipulate XML documents or specific schemas and APIs that make incidental use of XML. Table 1 lists most of the APIs in the first category that the Java Community Process (see Resources) is working on. Those in the second category are listed in Table 2. Categorizing some of the APIs is rather subjective, but in general, the APIs in Table 1 provide primitive functionality for processing generic XML documents or documents belonging to a specific XML schema. Those in Table 2 provide a specific functionality other than XML processing through a Java API that happens to produce or use some data in XML. For example, logging has little to do with XML processing, but the Logging API allows logs to be formatted as XML records... [Schema Manipulation. These are Java APIs that manipulate XML or specific schemas: SR-5/JSR-63 Java APIs for XML Processing (JAXP); JSR-31 XML Data Binding Specification (JAXB); JSR-67 Java APIs for XML Messaging (JAXM); JSR-93 Java APIs for XML Registries (JAXR); JSR-101 Java APIs for XML-based RPC (JAX-RPC); JSR-102 JDOM 1.0; JSR-106 XML Digital Encryption APIs; JSR-110 Java APIs for WSDL; JSR-157 ebXML CPP/A (Collaboration Protocol Profile/Agreement) APIs for Java.]"

[March 22, 2002] "Stay in Sync While on the Go." By Jeff Jurvis. In XML Magzine Volume 3, Number 2 (March 2002), pages 52-53. ['Use the common protocol SyncML to pass text-based updates from one source to the other.'] "... Sponsored by Ericsson, IBM, Lotus, Motorola, Nokia, Matsushita, Openwave, Psion, and Starfish Software, the SyncML consortium organized the work around establishing an open, common language to synchronize compliant devices, applications, and services running over any network. SyncML is designed to work over HTTP; Wireless Session Protocol (WSP) for wireless Web applications that run over Wireless Application Protocol (WAP); OBEX (an object exchange protocol that runs over infrared and Bluetooth connections and that is built into most operating systems); lower level TCP/IP; and e-mail protocols such as SMTP, POP3, and IMAP. SyncML uses XML to encode commands and data and is designed to run on top of tried and true Web protocols such as HTTP, SSL, and WAP, and therefore is compatible with the applications developed for Web-friendly mobile platforms such as J2ME. A developer looking to add synchronization capabilities to a mobile app needs only the bare minimum tools... The SyncML language is supported by a corresponding SyncML framework that lays out the architecture for a complete end-to-end cross-platform synchronization solution that encompasses nearly all mobile, desktop, and server data sources, but even the SyncML consortium does not aim to override existing end-to-end single platform solutions. Microsoft's ActiveSync technology works great across Windows platforms and will likely stay proprietary. But look for Microsoft to join Palm, IBM, the major mobile phone manufacturers, and the rest of the world in providing hooks to SyncML for those ever-so-common instances where proprietary devices need to talk to each other..." [Note: the SyncML Data Synchronization Specifications and SyncML Device Management Specifications advanced to version 1.1 in February, 2002. The release of the version 1.1 specifications began a 45-day review period; specifications are subject to change prior to final approval (expected) on Tuesday, April 2, 2002.] See "The SyncML Initiative."

[March 22, 2002] "Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB): A Primer." By Tai-Wei Lin. From [Sun] Java Developer Connection. March 13, 2002. "This article introduces you to the basics of Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) Early Access Implementation v 1.0. You will learn a few basic uses of the API and tools that the EA v 1.0 provides. This paper provides brief explanations on how to create simple binding codes using the API and tools. In addition, this paper also discusses a few situations where JAXB shows its strengths, and is intended for developers who have working understanding of the Java programming language, are familiar with XML, and interested in getting a brief introduction to JAXB. Introduction to JAXB Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB) provides an API and tool that allow automatic two-way mapping between XML documents and Java objects. With a given Document Type Definition (DTD) and a schema definition, the JAXB compiler can generate a set of Java classes that allow developers to build applications that can read, manipulate and recreate XML documents without writing any logic to process XML elements. The generated codes provide an abstraction layer by exposing a public interface that allows access to the XML data without any specific knowledge about the underlying data structure. In addition to DTD support, future versions of JAXB will add support for other schema languages, such as the W3C XML Schema. These features enable the JAXB to provide many benefits for the developers..." See: "Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB)."

[March 22, 2002] "Java Web Services Developer Pack Part 1: Registration and the JAXR API." By Ed Ort. With contributions from Ramesh Mandava. From [Sun] Java Developer Connection (February 28, 2002). ['This first article in a series on the Java Web Services Developer Pack shows you how to use the Java API for XML Registries (JAXR) API to publish and search for Web services in a registry.'] "You will find the following topics covered in this article: (1) An Introduction to Web Services; (2) Web Services Technologies [XML, UDDI, SOAP, ebXML]; (3) Java Technologies and Tools for Web Services; (4) JAXR [Clients and Providers, JAXR Packages, JAXR Example]... This article is the first in a series that describes the Java WSDP. The series highlights the technologies and tools included in the Java WSDP, and shows how you can use those technologies and tools to build Web services and applications that access Web services. This first article focuses on registration, in particular, the JavaTM API for XML Registries (JAXR) API, an API in the Java WSDP that you can use to register a Web service. Later articles in the series will focus on other components of the Java WSDP. However before describing JAXR, let's look at some fundamental technologies that drive the Web services model -- especially those that are specifically pertinent to registration. The Java technologies in the Java WSDP support these fundamental Web services technologies. For example, the JAXR API can be used to access standard registries such as those that conform to UDDI or ebXML. A business can use the JAXR API in a Java program to register its Web services in a standard registry, or search for Web services that are registered in standard registries. [...] This article focused on one of the Java APIs in the Java Web Services Developer Pack: JAXR. This API enables you to request Web service registration operations in the Java platform. The article showed how you can use the JAXR API to register a Web service in a standard business registry such as a UDDI registry. It also showed how you can use the API to search a registry for Web services. Later articles in the series will focus on other components in the Java WSDP, and illustrate how you can use them to access and use Web services in the Java platform."

[March 22, 2002] "Deploying Web Services on Java 2, Enterprise Edition (J2EE)." By Qusay H. Mahmoud and [with contributions from] Ramesh Mandava. From [Sun] Java Developer Connection (March 08, 2002). "The Java Web Services Developer Pack (Java WSDP) is an all-in-one download containing key technologies to simplify building of Web services using the Java 2 Platform. JWSDP is a collection of tools and APIs developed by Sun, and other members of the Java community, that allow you to build Web services quickly and easily. The J2EE platform has established itself as the platform of choice for building multi-tiered enterprise applications and has been adopted as the preferred platform for developing enterprise information systems because of its flexibility and scalability. Deploying web services on the J2EE platform is a natural extension. The Java WSDP components can be integrated with the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), and they can be run on J2EE. The SQE team has come up with guidelines for integrating and deploying web services on J2EE 1.3.1. This article: (1) Presents an overview of Web Services; (2) Shows how to set up the J2EE environment for web services; (3) Shows how to integrate Web services with J2EE; (4) Shows how to deploy sample web services on J2EE; (5) Shows how to run web services on J2EE. [...] This article showed the step-by-step instructions for configuring the J2EE SDK 1.3.1 so that web services can be deployed on top of it. The integration process involved copying some JAR files from JWSDP to J2EE, and configuring port numbers and setting security permissions. The rest of the article showed how to deploy sample web services that come with the JWSDP, on the J2EE platform."

[March 22, 2002] "Content Repository for Java Technology API." Java Specification Request #170. Specification Lead: David Nuescheler. This JSR "specifies a standard API to access content repositories in Java 2 independently of implementation." Supporting this JSR: Laird Popkin, 3path, Remy Maucherat, Dirk Verbeeck, ATG, Day Software, Deloitte Consulting, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Nat Billington, Oyster Partners, SAP Portals, Software AG. Description: "The API should be a standard, implementation independent, way to access content bi-directionally on a granular level within a content repository. A Content Repository is a high-level information management system that is a superset of traditional data repositories. A content repository implements "content services" such as: author based versioning, full textual searching, fine grained access control, content categorization and content event monitoring. It is these 'content services' that differentiate a Content Repository from a Data Repository. Many of today's (web) applications are interacting with a content repository in various ways. This API proposes that content repositories have a dedicated, standard way of interaction with applications that deal with content. This API will focus on transactional read/write access, binary content (stream operations), textual content, full-text searching, filtering, observation, versioning, handling of hard and soft structured content... Today, (web) applications have to adapt to every vendor's proprietary API to interact with content repositories. This has the negative effect of locking a large percentage of information assets in vendor specific formats, limiting access to information, impacting system evolution/migration, and availability of third party content management tools. This API will examine solutions to these and other issues deemed important by the expert group. There is no easy way to integrate content-producer-applications (CMS) and content-consumer-applications (CRM, Personalization, Portal, etc.) independently of the actual underlying content repository. The expert group will examine solutions to this problem also... The Content Industry has defined a number of specifications on a protocol level to exchange content (ICE, WebDAV, etc.). However, there is no specification on an API level that addresses the unique requirements of a Content Repository. As well, there exists no Content Repository centric standard that appears to address issues such as version handling, full-text searching, and event-monitoring in a coherent manner... Proposed functional areas: (1) Granular Read/Write Access: This is the bi-directional interaction of content elements. Issues with access on a property level and not just on a 'document' level should be examined. A content transaction is any operation or service invoked as part of a system interaction with a content repository. (2) Versioning: Transparent version handling across the entire content repository, would provide the ability to create versions of any content within the repository and select versions for any content access or modification. (3) Hard- and Soft-structured Content. (4) Event Monitoring (Observation). (5) Full-text Search and filtering: The entire (non-binary) content of the repository could be indexed by a full-text search engine that enables exact and sub-string searching of content. (6) Access Control: Unified, extensible, access control mechanisms will be examined. (7) Object Classes. (8) Namespaces and Standard Properties. (9) Locking and Concurrency. (10) Linking: A standard mechanism to soft/hard link items and properties in a repository along with providing a mechanism to create relationships in the repository will be examined..." See the dedicated website and JSR ballot review. Compare, in addition to WebDav and ICE, the Interwoven Content Services specification.

[March 22, 2002] "Linking in Context." By Samhaa R. El-Beltagy, Wendy Hall, David De Roure, and Leslie Carr (Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK). In Journal of Digital Information Volume 2 Issue 3 (March 12, 2002). This paper was first presented at ACM Hypertext 2001 in August in Aarhus, Denmark, where it won the SIGWEB Douglas Engelbart Best Paper Award. ['This paper explores the idea of dynamically adding multi-destination links to Web pages, based on the context of the pages and users, as a way of assisting Web users in their information finding and navigation activities. The work does not make any preconceived assumptions about the information needs of its users. Instead it presents a method for generating links by adapting to the information needs of a community of users and for utilizing these in assisting users within this community based on their individual needs. The implementation of this work is carried out within a multi-agent framework where concepts from open hypermedia are extended and exploited. In this paper, the entities involved in the process of generating and using 'context links' as well as the techniques they employ to achieve their tasks, are described. The result of an experiment carried out to investigate the implications of linking in context on information finding, is also provided.'] "... One of the goals of the work presented is to address the limitation of switching between linkbases according to the context of documents. Another is to enable dynamic creation of links to populate linkbases. Manual authoring of links is an expensive and inefficient process. The Web is full of a wealth of handmade links that can be used to generate links independently of the documents in which they were authored and re-applied again in contexts similar to those in which they were originally created. So, in the context of this work, there are three steps involved in the process of linking in context: The creation of links in context (via link extraction) The propagation of links to users based on user interests (which within this work define user context) The rendering of links based on document context Within the developed multi-agent architecture, two types of agents are responsible for carrying out these tasks: link extraction and contextualizer agents, and user interface agents. Details of the architecture and agents used to implement the work described in this paper can be found in [refs]..." Related references in "XML Linking Language."

[March 22, 2002] "Annotated example of Proposed OWL Knowledge Base Language." By Peter F. Patel-Schneider, Ian Horrocks, and Frank van Harmelen. 19-March-2002 or later. "We illustrate the proposed "light" (frame-based) idiom of OWL. These examples are loosely based on the DAML+OIL walkthrough at "Annotated DAML+OIL Ontology Markup" [W3C Note 18-December-2001]. See the W3C OWL requirements document.

[March 22, 2002] "Circumstance, Provenance and Partial Knowledge. Limiting the Scope of RDF Assertions." By Graham Klyne. 13-March-2002 or later. This note discusses attempts to explore some aspects of representing unreliable and incomplete information using RDF (and the structure defined as 'reification' by Resource Description Framework (RDF) Model and Syntax Specification). A simple RDF graph consists of triples, each of which corresponds to a statement that is held or asserted to be true. In this, there is no recognition that truth may vary according to circumstance: [1] some statements may be true in some qualifying circumstance (e.g., at some given point in time, or in some defined situation. Holmes is a detective in some well-known fiction, but a Supreme Court Justice in US legal history is a widely-noted example of this); [2] statements may be accepted as true only if they come from a source considered to be reliable (if a car dealer says some car is sound I don't assume it is, but if an independent inspector says so I may feel it is safe to purchase); [3] statements may be recognized as truth only if the recipient is in possession of certain other information (Clark Kent, being the same person as Superman, is a strong person but Lois Lane doesn't know that Clark is Superman so does not accept that Clark is a strong person). Although these examples are very different, there is a common theme that some statement(s) may be considered true or not according to the circumstance in which they are evaluated. In his PhD thesis, section 1.4, R. V. Guha makes a similar argument for contexts being an appropriate solution for a diverse range of problems. This note revisits some topics that I explored in an earlier paper in the light of some subsequent discussions and experiments, and aims to move towards a goal of formalizing the representation of these ideas in RDF, and their corresponding model theoretic denotation. A key idea that I wish to preserve is that the denotation of a URI reference in an RDF graph is largely invariant according to circumstance; what may change is access to information about what is denoted... Initial exploration suggests that the relationship between interpretations in a context structure can be constrained using RDF properties and classes without introducing any inconsistencies into the overall framework. This supposition is not proven, and such proof might be a future project. Future work might also explore whether the relationship between interpretations in a context structure would be further illuminated by using modal logics, and in particular whether the relationships can be characterized in terms of accessibility relationships between the possible worlds of modal logic..."

[March 21, 2002] "ASC X12 Reference Model for XML Design Rules." Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 and Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA). Version 0.4. Draft. February 25, 2002. 74 pages. ['This paper was motivated by the action item that X12's Communications and Controls subcommittee (X12C) took at the August 2001 XML Summit to develop 'draft design rules for ASC X12 XML Business Document development'. Acting on that action item, X12C's EDI Architecture Task Group (X12C/TG3) determined that XML design rules could not be developed in a vacuum, without a basis for determining which XML features to use and how to use them. Thus the group also set about developing a philosophical foundation and putting forth some general design principals. This Reference Model covers those topics in addition to a preliminary set of design rules. The approach discussed herein is intended to be the foundation for X12's future XML development. It is consistent with the decisions of X12's Steering Committee to develop its XML work within the ebXML framework. We expect it to undergo further refinement as the work progresses from its current status as a Task Group Reference Model to a full X12 standard.'] "This Reference Model addresses the semantic and syntactic representation of data assembled into business messages. The semantic representation defines an overall architectural model and refines the model to an abstract level of detail sufficient to guide the message development process. The syntactic representation utilizes features of the target syntax, while imposing semantic-to-syntax mapping rules and syntax constraints intended to simplify the task of interfacing business messages to business information systems and processes. The large-scale structure of this architecture has five discrete levels of granularity. Each level builds on the levels below it in manners particular to their differing natures. The five levels are: (1) Template; (2) Module; (3) Assembly; (4) Block; (5) Component. The first two levels, Template and Module, provide features that promote interoperability between national cross-industry standards and proprietary user communities. The remaining three levels, Assembly, Block, and Component have characteristics expressly designed around a rational semantic model for granularity. Specifications of optionality and repetition are supported for all levels with the exception of the Template level. Special attention has been paid to the differing needs of senders and receivers in expressing the use of optionality and repetition required by their particular business practices. The five-level structure of this architecture is designed to provide useful granularity, while at the same time preserving a useful semantic clarity. Design rules come in two basic forms: [1] Syntactic, and [2] Semantic. An example of a syntactic design rule in X12 would be the basic data types, i.e. alphanumeric, date, etc. An example of a semantic design rule in X12 would be the general prohibition against duplication. These two aspects of design cannot stand alone. The existing X12 design rules are a direct outgrowth of the particular X12 syntax and the history that created it. For the ASC X12 XML Reference Model, a semantic design approach has been selected, breaking the EDI lexicon into units for re-use. This approach has some pitfalls that result from a decomposition of EDI issues using only syntax as a guide... A primary requirement for this effort has been to meet a need first expressed at the first XML Summit in August 2001. This was a desire for non-X12 participants to contribute and make use of X12 work but in a manner that didn't require an all-or-nothing commitment to either the X12 process or X12 conclusions in every detail. The top two layers, Template and Modules, directly support this need. An external entity, corporation, organization, or individual can contribute fully-constructed Modules that fit into a Template." See "ANSI ASC X12/XML and DISA." [cache]

[March 21, 2002] "The Company Internet." By Mandy Andress. In InfoWorld (March 15, 2002). ['This flexible, granular identity and access management framework is perfect for controlling Web applications and migrating to Web services. Most aspects of the solution can be customized. Support for XML, SAML (Security Assertions Markup Language), and other developing standards is key to NetPoint's flexibility and interoperability. Support for a wide range of Web and directory servers means the solution fits into almost any environment.'] "In steps NetPoint, a new identity management and access control solution from Oblix, which allows you to control how users identify themselves and to determine which services they can access after the authentication process is completed. NetPoint allows you to use the Internet as your corporate network: The solution does not differentiate between requests from company employees and requests made by random Web surfers. That kind of ingenuity impressed us enough to award NetPoint a Deploy rating in our tests. NetPoint has two major components: the Identity System and the Access System. The Identity System allows administrators to create, delete, and manage user information. Software known as the Identity Server processes all user-related requests (including credential management); WebPass, a Web server plug-in, manages the information exchange between the Web server and the Identity Server. The Access System, the second major part, allows administrators to define and enforce policy-based authorization and single sign-on rights. The Access System is configured to prevent everyone but a few select users from making changes. For example, an employee at a key supplier could be given rights to browse inventory data, but not to update it. The Access System consists of three components: the Access Server, WebGate gateway, and AccessXML Server. The Access Server, the heart of the product, processes policy evaluations for access requests. WebGate, an intermediary, takes the requests from the Web server and passes them on to the Access Server for authorization. Finally, the AccessXML Server translates the XML requests from the Web server into Access Server API equivalents..."

[March 21, 2002] "JavaOne: Sun to Bake Web Services Into J2EE." By Paul Krill and Tom Sullivan. In InfoWorld (March 19, 2002). "Facing stiff competition from Microsoft's .Net platform, Sun Microsystems this week will detail its forthcoming J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) 1.4 specification and a second prerelease version of its Web services developer pack. Speaking at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco, executives will announce that the J2EE 1.4 specification supports the full Web services stack, but will not be available for deployment until the first quarter of 2003. Added support for SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration), and WSDL (Web Services Description Language) rounds out J2EE's support for the set of de facto Web service standards as 1.3 already supports XML. 'It fully and completely implements standards-based Web services,' said George Grigoryev, senior product manager for J2EE at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sun. Sun is also moving to accelerate developers' ability to build and deploy Web services using the J2EE 1.3 specification, with the availability this week of a second prerelease version of its Web services developer pack. In addition, the company is merging its JCA (J2EE Connector Architecture), JMS (Java Messaging Server), and Entity Beans to help companies make legacy data available via the Web services model, executives report. But Sun's position in the Web services race is not only drawing fire from Microsoft, it now places Java developers in a position of choosing which specification to adopt..."

[March 21, 2002] "Java Technology and XML Part 2: API Benchmarks." By Thierry Violleau. From [Sun] Java Developer Connection. March 04, 2002. ['Part 2 of this series tests the sample programs from Part 1, providing information about the performance of different APIs.'] "Neither Java nor XML Technology need an introduction, nor the synergy between the two: 'Portable Code and Portable Data'. With the growing interest in web services and e-business platforms, XML is joining Java in the developer's toolbox. As of today, no less than six extensions to the Java Platform empower the Java developer when building XML-based applications... This second article focuses on the relative performance of these APIs as obtained by running the sample programs presented in the first article. This series will conclude with a third article which gives tips on how to improve the performance of XML-based applications from a programmatic and architectural point of view. The purpose of the tests presented in this paper is primarily to highlight the respective performance of different XML processing techniques: SAX, DOM, XSLT, and the impact of validation against a DTD or an XML Schema. The performances of different API implementations: Xerces, Crimson, Xalan, Saxon, XSLTC, and so on when run on different Java runtimes JDK 1.2 and JDK 1.3 (Client and Server) are also compared. The results presented here don't claim to cover all the API implementations available today but underline that the tradeoff between ease of use and performance of a chosen processing models can be biased by the implementation of the underlying parser, document builder or style sheet engine. [...] In this second article, we have tested the different sample programs presented in the first article and analyzed their respective performance when run in different configurations: with different sizes of processed documents conforming to either a DTD or an XML Schema, with or without validation, with different underlying parser or style sheet engine implementations and with different JVM versions. Taking into account the results presented in this document, the next article will attempt to give tips on how to improve the performance of XML-based applications from a programmatic and architectural point of view."

[March 21, 2002] "Java Technology and XML Part 3: Performance Improvement Tips." By Thierry Violleau. From [Sun] Java Developer Connection (March 2002). "Neither Java nor XML Technology need an introduction, nor the synergy between the two: "Portable Code and Portable Data." With the growing interest in web services and e-business platforms, XML is joining Java in the developer's toolbox. As of today, no less than six extensions to the Java Platform empower the developer when building XML-based applications... The first of the three articles in this series gave an overview of the different APIs available to the developer by presenting some sample programs. The differences in performance were addressed in the second article. This third article gives tips on improving the performance of XML-based applications from a programmatic and architectural point of view. XML processing is very CPU, memory, and I/O or network intensive. XML documents are text documents that need to be parsed before any meaningful application processing can be performed. The parsing of an XML document may result either in a stream of events if the SAX API is used, or in an in-memory document model if the DOM API is used. During parsing, a validating parser may additionally perform some validity checking of the document against a predefined schema (a Document Type Definition or an XML Schema). Processing an XML document means recognizing, extracting and directly processing the element contents and attribute values or mapping them to other business objects that are processed further on. Before an application can apply any business logic, the following steps must take place: (1) Parsing; (2) Optionally, validating [which implies first parsing the schema]; (3) Recognizing; (4) Extracting; (5) Optionally, mapping. Parsing XML documents implies a lot of character encoding and decoding and string processing. Then, depending on the chosen API, recognition and extraction of content may correspond to walking through a tree data structure, or catching the events generated by the parser and processing them according to some context. If an application uses XSLT to preprocess an XML document, even more processing is added before the real business logic work can take place... In this article, we presented different performance improvement tips. The first question to ask when developing an XML-based application is 'Should it be XML based?' If the answer is yes, then a sound and balanced architecture has to be designed, an architecture which only relies on XML for what it is good at: open inter-application communications, configuration descriptions, information sharing, or any domain for which a public XML schema may exist. It may not be the solution of choice for unexposed interfaces or for exchanges between components which should be otherwise tightly coupled. Should XML processing be just a pre or post-processing stage of the business logic or should it make sense for the application to have its core data structure represented as documents, the developer will have to choose between the different APIs and implementations considering not only their functionalities and their ease of use, but also their performance. Ultimately, Java XML-based applications are developed in Java, therefore any Java performance improvement rule will apply as well, especially, those regarding string processing and object creation."

[March 21, 2002] "A Design and Implementation of XML-Based Mediation Framework (XMF) for Integration of Internet Information Resources." By Kangchan Lee, Jaehong Min, Kishik Park, and Kyuchul Lee. In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. HICSS 2002. Big Island, Hawaii, USA, January 7-10, 2002. Edited by R. H. Sprague. Los Alamitos, CA, USA: IEEE Computer Society, 2002. Abstract. "As the proliferation of the Internet, especially World Wide Web, numerous information resources have been constructed. The characteristics of information resources on the Internet are that the information resources are distributed, autonomous, and heterogeneous. Moreover each information resource has its own query method, data representation, and schema structure. The integration of information resources is one of the most important research issues in the Internet data management. The task of information resources integration system is to answer queries that require extracting and combining data from multiple information sources. In this paper, we propose an XML-based Mediation Framework (XMF) for integrating the Internet information resources. [...] With the recent advances in information technology such as digital libraries, WWW, data warehouse, and CALS, structured and unstructured data have been widely recognized as important information resources. Moreover, information resources on the Internet are often maintained in heterogeneous, distributed, and autonomous information repositories. Thus, the integration of Internet information resources is one of the significant issues. In this paper, we propose a new integration framework, XMF, which provides uniform views over large number of Internet information resources by using only XML and Internet. XML provides self-describing modeling method for capturing semantic of heterogeneous information resources, and the Internet protocol supports the common data communication mechanism. The features of XMF are integrating various kinds of information sources and its application on the Internet, supporting common data model and run-time integration of information resources by using its mediation mechanism and query language. In consequence, XMF supports common architecture and query language for integrating the Internet information resources and user can easily access XMF with uniform method. Furthermore, XMF can be easily implemented with current Internet technology and XML-related software. We anticipate that flexible, efficient, and generalpurpose heterogeneous and distributed information resource integration methodology is needed as huge amount of information is accumulated on the Internet. XMF is the one of the solutions of seamless integration of Internet information resources." Note: Appendix A supplies the DTD for XMR (XMF Mediation Rules.

[March 21, 2002] "XML-Based Supply Chain Management -- As SIMPLEX as It Is." By Peter Buxmann, Luis Martín Díaz, and Erik Wüstner (Freiberg University of Technology, Chair of Information Systems / Wirtschaftsinformatik, Lessingstr. 45 09596 Freiberg / Germany). In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. HICSS 2002. Big Island, Hawaii, USA, January 7-10, 2002. Edited by R. H. Sprague. Los Alamitos, CA, USA: IEEE Computer Society, 2002. Abstract. "In this paper we want to examine to what extent XML is able to support the exchange of business documents in supply chains. Thereby we focus on the problem of converting different data formats of participants of the supply chain. First results show that XML and its surrounding standards of the XML family highly accelerate and simplify the conversion process. Therefore, XML allows using a common standard on a lower level, without reducing variety on a higher level, due to the use of different XML vocabularies. First, we examine different approaches for solving the transformation problem. Second, we show how XML can actually be implemented for a Web-based integration in supply chains. We present a java-based prototype that enables document exchange over the Internet using XML business vocabularies for document representation, XSLT for document conversion and presentation, and both DOM and SAX for processing and integrating documents into in-house-systems. [...] In this paper, we present a prototype for supporting the document exchange in supply chains. The use of XML thereby plays a key role: The documents are described with XML syntax and transferred between the partners of the supply chain. The fundamental advantage is that the XML standard only defines a general language for the description of documents, yet it does not determine their content. That means that any kind of business document and thus, for instance, all currently available EDI standards can be represented with XML. Considering this, multiple standardization initiatives have meanwhile arisen, which define business vocabularies that are industry-specific or at least adapted to certain application needs. The partners in the supply chain can thus use XML as a common fundamental language building upon it different business vocabularies, which best meet their specific requirements. As shown in this paper, the conversion between different business vocabularies using XSLT style sheets is possible. A translation between two standards is indeed still necessary; the advantage, however, is that this translation is relatively simple. Our experience shows that it is possible, with appropriate previous knowledge, to create such an XSLT style sheet in one day. Nevertheless, due to the different degrees of detail of the particular vocabularies, a translation without loss of information cannot always be achieved... At this stage of development, SIMPLEX just supports the exchange, the conversion and the integration of business documents based on XML. In a next step, we want to integrate the XML-data described in planning processes of the supply chain. The optimization of these extended planning processes is the fundamental thought of Supply Chain Management. The entire knowledge base of SIMPLEX will remain XML. This will make all the processing and structuring advantages of the XML family available to support inter-organizational planning and optimization procedures. Furthermore we want to test our solution in different live environments..." See the SIMPLEX website and the similar white paper.

[March 21, 2002] "XBRL: Standard Bearer of Financial Reporting." By Ivan Schneider. In CMP BankTech (March 05, 2002). "An emerging XML standard called XBRL, or Extensible Business Reporting Language, promises to simplify the mechanics of working with financial statements. As XBRL catches on, analysts will be able to spend less time building intricate spreadsheets from scratch and more time scrutinizing companies' finances and accounting practices-which they're bound to be doing more of in the wake of the Enron scandal. Indeed, XBRL, while nothing more than a standard, could have a fundamental impact on the financial services industry, in the manner that the barcode changed inventory management or the MP3 compression standard upended the music business... The beneficiaries of XBRL aren't limited to analysts or public companies. Virtually all of the participants in the financial information supply chain will find it worthwhile to take advantage of the enhanced data. 'No industry will benefit more from XBRL than banking,' said Coffin. 'A bank plays in numerous places around that supply chain.' To wit, banks have controllers, tax analysts, investor relations personnel, loan officers, credit analysts, and regulatory and compliance officers. Furthermore, converged financial institutions have brokerage, investment banking and research capabilities under the same roof. 'Literally, it hits them in about 20 different ways,' said Coffin. Essentially, XBRL allows preparers of business information to designate the purpose, denomination and time frame for each and every number, statistic and statement in a document, drawing from a standard dictionary of financial terms and accounting classifications. Non-standard elements can also be included, as long as they're also described within the document. Standards for describing information make it far easier for software developers to work with financial data. Accordingly, the industry is gearing up to provide XBRL-compatible tools for providers of business information. IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP are among the many software companies involved with the standard-setting body. For example, FRx Financial Reporter, from Microsoft Great Plains, Fargo, N.D., will connect to over 24 general ledger systems. 'Users of the data that need to feed the banks [financial] information will be literally a few mouseclicks away from feeding the banks an XBRL product,' said Rob Blake, the Microsoft representative on the XBRL Committee. Banks, in turn, can benefit greatly from receiving XBRL-formatted financial information from their borrowers. 'It would reduce both the credit risk and the operational risk,' said Philip Walenga, assistant director in the insurance division of the FDIC. Among other things, the ability to systematically process incoming financial information will make it possible for banks to automatically evaluate the fiscal status of a large number of companies, prioritize the workload of loan officers and analysts, and detect loan covenant violations..." See: "Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)."

[March 21, 2002] "The Semantic Web." By Seth Grimes. In IntelligentEnterprise Volume 5, Number 6 (March 28, 2002), pages 16-17, 52. ['A semantic Web will enable automated use of disparate, distributed Internet information sources and services.'] "... The semantic Web relies on three technologies filling key roles: (1) XML for syntax and structure; (2) Ontology systems that define terms and their relationships; (3) The Resource Definition Framework (RDF), which provides a model for encoding ontology defined meaning. Other technologies and concepts also come into play: universal resource identifiers, which are globally recognized and unique element definitions, rules-processing (inference) systems, and the usual Internet-infrastructure protocols. An ontology starts with a taxonomy, a structured arrangement of information into classes that categorizes a subject area and relates its elements. Many ontology projects are underway. (If you want to check one out, try OpenCyc, which I first encountered while researching 'Out in the Open, which discussed open-source decision-support tools. OpenCyc is a planned subset of Cycorp's general-knowledge ontology. Because it's open source, you can freely use and help extend it.) The semantic Web effort mandates that you express ontologies in RDF using XML. XML forms a strong foundation for modern, layered approaches to constructing markup language, and it's great for syntax. But without RDF (or an equivalent), XML-based constructs lack meaning. The RDF specification envisions an object-oriented system of classes forming a schema... The semantic Web will be realized through the continued development of standards and technologies including those I've described and others such as the DARPA agent markup language (DAML). DAML is a family of markup languages providing the power to express ontologies that use RDF to provide semantic meaning. DAML languages incorporate artificial intelligence knowledge-representation concepts and are designed to support agent and inference-engine interactions with suitable marked-up sites. Tools such as W3C's Annotea collaborative metadata-annotation system are essential in completing the picture of a web of semantically defined services..."

[March 21, 2002] "United Front." By Art Taylor. In IntelligentEnterprise Volume 5, Number 6 (March 28, 2002), pages 35-39. ['Web services are only a partial answer to the complexities of enterprise application integration. Complementary approaches may enable a full solution. This article examines the potential effect of Web services on the information-driven enterprise, why Web services represent only a partial solution to some familiar IT problems, and how using J2EE as a complementary approach can help fill some of these gaps.'] "As I'll explain in this article, even assuming that Web services deliver to their full potential, you would still have work to do to develop strategic business applications for information interchange. Fortunately, Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) technology provides a potential complement to Web services; together, the two technological approaches can provide a cost-effective, strategic business application solution... despite their differences, Web services and J2EE are complementary. EJB, the middleware components of J2EE, can be exposed as Web services on a number of application servers, including BEA Systems' WebLogic and IBM WebSphere. J2EE Web components (JSPs and servlets) and client components (applets and Web Start applications) can also be developed as consumers of Web services. For example, an enterprise application that needs to access an information asset could do so by consuming a Web service. This application front end could be implemented using C# and acting as a consumer of a Web service created with a C# component deployed in a Web server that exposes that service. Alternatively, the same C# front end could consume a Web service created using an EJB deployed in a J2EE-compliant application server. Yet another alternative would be to have a JSP front end consume a Web service deployed and exposed within Microsoft IIS. The latter two examples highlight one of the more important values of Web services: Components or applications written in different languages can easily exchange data. They also demonstrate that the concept of Web services doesn't specify a technology; rather, it specifies a development paradigm for the interaction of components or applications. The technology is irrelevant as long as the components or applications communicate via XML-formatted messages on top of recommended standards. J2EE offers a large bag of tricks, and in practice, Web services will only be one of the tricks used by developers. Using an open-minded approach where all technologies are considered based on merit, other J2EE technologies will undoubtedly prove more appropriate for many services..."

[March 21, 2002] "Compare the Mobile Internet Toolkit to XSLT." From Microsoft Corporation. March 15, 2002. ['Compares the Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit to XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation) to create mobile Web applications.'] "Why Is Mobile Development So Challenging? There are a tremendous number of mobile devices available to consumers, and manufacturers are releasing new devices all the time. Each time you develop a mobile Web application, you face the following challenges as a result of this wide variety of devices: (1) Different markup languages, including HTML, compact HTML (cHTML) for Japanese i-mode phones, and WML for wireless application protocol (WAP) phones. (2) Different form factors, including varying screen size, screen orientation (horizontal or vertical), and color, grayscale, or black and white screens. These variables affect content pagination and the type of graphics you must generate. (3) Different device capabilities, including whether the device can display images, initiate a phone call, or receive notification messages. (4) State management, including whether cookies are supported... The Mobile Internet Toolkit contains server-side technology that extends the Microsoft ASP.NET programming model to deliver content to a wide variety of mobile devices. Because each device can have a unique combination of capabilities, the Mobile Internet Toolkit provides an abstraction layer so developers can write applications without worrying about the specific details of each device. The Mobile Internet Toolkit takes advantage of the Microsoft .NET Framework, including the performance gains. In contrast, XSL transformations are typically slower, and the more complex the XSL, the slower the transformation. ... In comparing the Mobile Internet Toolkit to XSL, developers choose the Mobile Internet Toolkit to leverage the rapid application development, performance, and code reuse of ASP.NET. In addition, the Mobile Internet Toolkit integrates seamlessly into Visual Studio .NET, taking advantage of its many benefits, and the Toolkit abstracts mobile device capabilities on two levels..."

[March 21, 2002] "Jaggle XML Web Services Application. Overview of the Jaggle Architecture." From Microsoft Corporation. By Leendert Versluijs (Software Engineer), Jeroen Huitink (Infrastructure Engineer), Sander Duivestein (Public Relations, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young). March 19, 2002. ['An overview of the functionality, architecture, and components of this real estate application, composed of XML Web services and implemented on the .NET Framework.'] "Jaggle is a real estate application composed of XML Web services and implemented on the .NET Framework. The application consumes internal and external Web services with each of the internal Web services itself being an autonomous N-Tier application. The application, source code, and documentation are intended for anyone planning and building Web-based applications on the .NET Framework using Microsoft Visual Studio.NET. The Web application guides users through a product selection process, gathering requirements and then returning products that match those requirements. The Web site is specific to the real estate application, while the underlying business logic is a more generic framework for finding and comparing products. The documentation includes architectural models in UML, discussion of design patterns and decisions, and development details... This set of articles is intended for anyone planning to participate in developing Web-based applications in the .NET Framework using the tools provided in the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET environment. This includes architects, developers, programmers, and testers, as well as planners, system managers, consultants, and Microsoft Certified professional trainers. This overview provides the reader with a basis for understanding the more detailed descriptions found in the other articles in this set... The Jaggle Real Estate Web application offers users the opportunity to find real estate products that will best meet their requirements. The Web application guides users through a product selection process, asking them for specific information about their individual requirements and restrictions. Users' answers are converted into criteria, and based upon these criteria, the Web application offers a selection of real estate products. Users can then select from these matching products to view more detailed product information..." See also the Jaggle sample source code.

[March 21, 2002] "DocBook V4.2 Release Candidate 1." Posted by Norman Walsh for the OASIS DocBook Technical Committee. DocBook "is general purpose XML and SGML document type particularly well suited to books and papers about computer hardware and software (though it is by no means limited to these applications)... The DocBook Technical Committee is pleased to announce the release of DocBook V4.2 Release Candidate 1 in XML and SGML. DocBook V4.2 incorporates numerous enhancements over DocBook V4.1 and DocBook XML V4.1.2. These changes are documented in the DocBook Document Type specification. Development of DocBook V4.2 is 'finished'. The purpose of the Candidate Release phase is to encourage widespread testing of the latest DocBook release. If no problems are reported in the next 30 days, the DocBook Technical Committee plans to advance DocBook V4.2 to Committee Specification status. Please give DocBook V4.2 a try in your favorite tools and report any problems that you encounter to the docbook@lists.oasis-open.org mailing list." See references in "DocBook XML DTD."

[March 21, 2002] "DocBook HTML Forms Module V1.1." Norman Walsh and the OASIS DocBook Technical Committee. The HTML Forms Module is an extension to DocBook XML V4.1.2. It adds support for HTML Forms markup. "Version 1.1 introduces properly parameterized HTML element names (so that the namespace prefix can be changed on a per-document basis) and provides the declaration for that prefix on each HTML element." See the DTD and test instance document.

[March 21, 2002] "XML Character Entities Version 0.2." By Norm Walsh [and the OASIS DocBook Technical Committee]. March 19, 2002. In (March 19, 2002). "This Standard defines XML encodings of the 19 standard character entity sets defined in Non-normative Annex D of [ISO 8879:1986]. Added Latin 1, Added Latin 2, Greek Letters, Monotoniko Greek, Russian Cyrillic, Non-Russian Cyrillic, Numeric and Special Graphic, Diacritical Marks, Publishing, Box and Line Drawing, General Technical, Greek Symbols, Alternative Greek Symbols, Added Math Symbols: Ordinary, Added Math Symbols: Binary Operators, Added Math Symbols: Relations, Added Math Symbols: Negated Relations, Added Math Symbols: Arrow Relations, Added Math Symbols: Delimiters. The SGML declarations for these entities use the specific character data (SDATA) entity type that is not supported in XML, so alternative XML declarations are necessary..." See the reference page and .ZIP archive. References: "SGML/XML Entity Sets and Entity Management."

[March 20, 2002] "Manning Publications Releases J2EE and XML Development." Information in a communiqué from Helen Trimes. From Manning Press: J2EE and XML Development. By Kurt A. Gabrick and David B. Weiss. April 2002. ISBN: 1930110-308. Print edition: Softbound, 304 pages, $39.95. Ebook edition: PDF format, 1.2 MB, $13.50. "J2EE and XML are important technologies in their own right, but applications that use them together benefit from their synergy. Java and J2EE make a powerful platform for building robust application logic. XML facilitates flexible data storage and manipulation. Developers who properly use XML with J2EE develop the most powerful enterprise systems that can be built today. J2EE and XML Development is a rich yet concise guide that teaches how, where, and why to use XML in each layer of a J2EE application. The book categorizes and explains many recent Java and XML technologies and the ways in which a J2EE application can best use them. It untangles the web of Java APIs for XML, including the JAX family, as well as other popular emerging standards like JDOM, explaining each in terms of its functionality, and illustrating its intended use through examples..." See the blurb. The ebook Edition in PDF is available now.

[March 20, 2002] "New Sun Features Will Enhance Web Services Integration." By Jeffrey Burt. In eWEEK (March 19, 2002). "Sun Microsystems "will unveil expanded integration capabilities for its iPlanet Portal and Integration servers, designed to enable developers to more quickly and easily create and deploy Web services applications. The Palo Alto, Calif., company also will announce a joint initiative with IBM to create a portlet API standard, named right now JSR 168. The portal connection specification will enable businesses to aggregate content and data within a portal and move the information between disparate portal platforms, said Sanjay Sarathy, director of developer enablement at Sun... Enhancements to the iPlanet Integration Server include the release of the iPlanet XML Adapter Designer, or XAD, and new import capability for WSDL (Web Services Description Language) and direct support for SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). The combination will enable users to integrate legacy applications and will offer end-to-end management of reusable Web services. Also, the XAD framework gives developers the capability to build and deploy XML adapters for the iPlanet Integration Server, EAI Edition. This will enable them to more quickly integrate back-end systems with a company's Web-based system, said Dave Hearn, director of group product marketing for Sun ONE (Open Net Environment) business integration... The joint project with IBM to create a portal specification will help users move Web services between portal platforms, which Sarathy said was becoming the user interface of choice among developers. The specification is being put before the Java Community Project..."

[March 20, 2002] "StarOffice Goes Commercial, and Stays Open-Source." By Tom Krazit. In InfoWorld (March 19, 2002). "Sun Microsystems's StarOffice 6.0 will come with enhanced features and added support, but at a price, as Sun aims to attract a wider audience, such as businesses, towards the office-productivity software suite. A less sophisticated version of the product will still be available for free download from OpenOffice.org, the open-source community sponsored by Sun, the company announced Tuesday. 'We are positioning this product as a direct competitor to Microsoft's Office,' said Mike Rogers, vice president and general manager of desktop and office productivity at Palo Alto, California-based Sun. StarOffice is an office suite that includes word processing, spreadsheet, Web publishing and database applications. Along with version 6.0, currently in beta-testing, Sun will throw in 'enhanced support features,' such as online and phone support, training and deployment assistance, said Rogers. 'CIOs (chief information officers) at enterprises are uneasy about (adopting) a product without support and training for their IT staff. Our beta testers told us they wouldn't standardize on a product without that,' which led Sun to make those support features available, Rogers said. It will also come with features such as added fonts, a larger clip-art library, a database, a spell-checker, and other third-party applications. The current version, StarOffice 5.2, has been available for download on http://www.openoffice.org/, or purchased via retail outlets for $39.95, which included a CD and documentation. With the release of 6.0, Sun will stop distributing version 5.2 altogether; free downloads will end and the product will not be shipped either, said Rogers..." [StarOffice 6.0 Beta software "previews new features and capabilities, including improved interoperability with Microsoft Office files, support for XML file formats, integrated creativity and productivity tools, and improved international support with unicode technology..."] See: "StarOffice XML File Format."

[March 20, 2002] "A Set Theory Based Approach on Applying Domain Semantics to XML Structures." By Wolfgang Schuetzelhofer (IBM Austria, Obere Donaustrasse 95, A-1020 Vienna, Austria) and Karl M. Goeschka (Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstrasse 27-29/384, A-1040 Vienna, Austria). Pages 1210-1219 in Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. HICSS 2002. Big Island, Hawaii, USA, January 7-10, 2002. Edited by R. H. Sprague. Los Alamitos, CA, USA: IEEE Computer Society, 2002. With 19 references. Abstract. "As XML is gathering more and more importance in the field of data interchange in distributed business to business (B2B) applications, it is increasingly important to provide a formal definition of XML-structures together with a well defined way to map business domain semantics to these structures. An XML-algebra, similar to the relational algebra, is required for the formal definition of operations and transformations and to prove the correctness and completeness of design methods. To develop an XML algebra, we propose a sound mathematical foundation, modeling XML-structures as typed directed graphs based on set theory. Together with a formal method to apply domain semantics to directed graphs we present a three layer meta model to address the separation of structure and content, and we introduce extensible type hierarchies on nodes and links. This allows to model and validate business domain semantics on different levels of abstraction... In this paper we have introduced the concept of a Domain Graph (DoG) as a directed graph with typed nodes and links, being based on what is known as a semantic net. We have outlined, how domain semantics can be applied to a DoG by specifying types and structural constraints. Business domain modeling at the type-level, thus separating structure and content, is proposed as a flexible approach of delivering semantic data. The concept of type hierarchies as well as the approach of link composition have proved to be powerful means of abstraction. In future work, the concept of composition as described in this paper can profitably be generalized introducing the notion of composite graphs. Where a composite graph is a DoG with nodes representing entire graphs called component graphs, and with links representing relationships between component graphs. Assuming a component graph itself is a composite graph, this allows nested graph composition of arbitrary depth. Throughout this paper we have presented static aspects of DoGs using set theory to describe their structure. The set theory based model of a DoG, together with the formal specification of validity, build a sound mathematical basis to develop an XML-algebra allowing to define operations on XML-structures, thus describing dynamic aspects. Manipulating a DoG by inserting, deleting or updating nodes and links, thereby maintaining consistency and validity of the DoG are such dynamic aspects to be described. Set theory as the mathematical basis provides for formal specifications and proofs of correctness and completeness of design methods by proving the equivalence and soundness of transformations. New and extended design methods, which can be formally specified and verified, are seen to be a profitable output of future work based on this paper."

[March 20, 2002] "An Ontology-Based HTML to XML Conversion Using Intelligent Agents." By Thomas E. Potok, Mark T. Elmore, Joel W. Reed, and Nagiza F. Samatova (Oak Ridge National Laboratory). In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. HICSS 2002. Big Island, Hawaii, USA, January 7-10, 2002. Edited by R. H. Sprague. Los Alamitos, CA, USA: IEEE Computer Society, 2002. With 13 references. Abstract. "How to organize and classify large amounts of heterogeneous information accessible over the Internet is a major problem faced by industry, government, and military organizations. XML is clearly a potential solution to this problem, however, a significant challenge is how to automatically convert information currently expressed in a standard HTML format to an XML format. Within the Virtual Information Processing Agent Research (VIPAR) project, we have developed a process using Internet ontologies and intelligent software agents to perform automatic HTML to XML conversion for Internet newspapers. The VIPAR software is based on a number of significant research breakthroughs. Most notably, the ability for intelligent agents to use a flexible RDF ontology to transform HTML documents to XML tagged documents. The VIPAR system is currently deployed at the US Pacific Command, Camp Smith, HI, traversing up to 17 Internet newspapers daily." See also "VIPAR Multi-Agent Intelligence Analysis System": "In VIPAR, intelligent software agents have been successfully developed to address challenges facing the intelligence community in quickly gathering and organizing massive amounts of information then distill that information into a form directly and explicitly amenable for use by an intelligence analyst. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory successfully implemented this technology for the US Pacific Command. The VIPAR project resulted in the development of intelligent software agents that read and organized information from electronically available documents (specifically, in this case, dozens of Internet newspapers). The VIPAR system then visually present information, organized according to the needs of the customer, to the analyst. This system automatically and intelligently provides the leveraging of analysts expertise to process and distill information many times faster and more thoroughly than could be done by the intelligence analysts, themselves..." VIPAR Presentation (/PPT) and VIPAR General Description. [cache]

[March 20, 2002] "Experiments in the Use of XML to Enhance Traceability between Object-Oriented Design Specifications and Source Code." By Jim Alves-Foss (Center for Secure and Dependable Software, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-1008), Daniel Conte de Leon (Center for Secure and Dependable Software), and Paul Oman (Schweitzer Engineering, Laboratory, Inc., Pullman, WA 99163-5603). In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. HICSS 2002. Big Island, Hawaii, USA, January 7-10, 2002. Edited by R. H. Sprague. Los Alamitos, CA, USA: IEEE Computer Society, 2002. With 20 references. Abstract. "In this paper we explain how we implemented traceability between a UML design specification and its implementing source code using XML technologies. In our linking framework an XMI file represents a detailed- design specification and a JavaML file represents its source code. These XML-derivative representations were linked using another XML file, an Xlink link-base, containing our linking information. This link-base states which portions of the source code implement which portions of a design specification and vice-versa. We also rendered those links to an HTML file using XSL and traversed from our design specification to its implementing source code. This is the first step in our traceability endeavors where we aim to achieve total traceability among software life- cycle deliverables form requirements to source code... We successfully used Xlink to design and implement links from a detailed-design specification to its implementing source code for our SeaBASS project. An XMI file represented this detailed-design specification and a JavaML file did it for our SeaBASS source code. These XML-derivative representations were linked using an Xlink link-base containing our linking information. This link-base states which portions of our SeaBASS Java source code implement which portions of our SeaBASS design specification. We modified a version of an XSL stylesheet that transforms an XMI design into an HTML table format. The new stylesheet transforms the XMI file and, at the same time, parses the links stated in our link-base. The result of this new stylesheet is an HTML file showing the design of our SeaBASS project in the same previous table format but now containing links to each of the source code files implementing the class at design level. The main advantage in using XML is that it allows us to automate creation and management of links. In this case-study links in our XMI specification and templates in our XSL stylesheet were manually added. We plan to develop a prototype of a software development environment where links between object-oriented design and source code would be automatically created and maintained by the system based on implicit and explicit information given by the software engineer. Using such a tool would allow engineers to develop large software systems while maintaining consistency between objectoriented design specifications and its implementing source code. We plan to use XML-derivates not just for detaileddesign and source code, though for all software life-cycle deliverables, and this work is a proof-of concept that we can implement traceability among those disparate documents by means of XML and Xlink... Our current view of links stated in a link-base is using simple HTML links. More work is needed to add different behavior to the links and not to limit to today browsers' simple links behavior. For example add behavior to a link in a way that when we right-click on a class, in a graphical UML design, options to see/edit the source code appear or to navigate to the requirements that this class is implementing. This can be done by means of XSL and/or by means of an integrated software development environment..."

[March 20, 2002] "XML-Based Available-to-Promise Logic for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises." By Joerg-Michael Friedrich and Jochen Speyerer (Information Systems Research Network, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Äusserer Laufer Platz 13-15, 90403 Nuremberg, Germany). In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. HICSS 2002. Big Island, Hawaii, USA, January 7-10, 2002. Edited by R. H. Sprague. Los Alamitos, CA, USA: IEEE Computer Society, 2002. With 22 references. Abstract. "At the Information Systems Research Network (FORWIN), Nuremberg, Germany we have prototypically implemented a lean and flexible available-to-promise application which is integrated with a framework of software components fulfilling the functions of supply chain management (SCM). This project is to demonstrate that it is possible to implement cost-effective and flexible software tailored to the needs of small businesses providing reliable information about product availability. To suit a large variety of companies, the way in which the component influences decisions or automates processes can be adjusted through different parameters, such as timeout, substitution, automatic processing or prioritization of suppliers. In order to integrate all sorts of existing MRP or legacy systems along the supply chain the information flow is organized through a transaction-based exchange of standardized XML documents via the Internet... The necessary software to run the CWSCM application includes the Java 2 runtime environment (JRE), Standard Edition, in version 1.3.0, the Java API for XML processing (JAXP) package in version 1.0.1, and the Xalan XSLT processor version 1.2. All these programs are available for most operating systems and can be freely Instead of sending information between the partners of the SC in plain text format, the software utilizes the XML standard. The structuring of information with the help of tags may seem excessive, since the documents contain a redundant overhead of data, but the use of XML offers several advantages, which legitimate this procedure. First of all, it is simple for the software to control if a document contains all necessary data. Not only is the application able to check whether a document is well formed, by using a DTD, the software can also test the validity of a document. Another advantage of XML can be seen in the fact that data is separated from format instructions. With a cascading style sheet (CSS) or extensible style sheet language transformations (XSLT), a document can be transformed into and represented in a wide variety of formats, e.g., hypertext markup language (HTML) or portable document format (PDF), without the need of recoding. Finally, XML adopted Unicode, a character encoding standard that supports most languages, by providing a unique number for every character. This, and the fact that XML is a very strict standard, ensures a platform and software independent way to communicate, no matter the language."

[March 20, 2002] "Using XML to Facilitate Information Management across Multiple Local Government Agencies." By G.M. Bryan, J.M. Curry, C. McGregor, D. Holdsworth and R. Sharply (Centre for Advanced Systems Engineering, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC NSW 1797).. In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. HICSS 2002. Big Island, Hawaii, USA, January 7-10, 2002. Edited by R. H. Sprague. Los Alamitos, CA, USA: IEEE Computer Society, 2002. Abstract. "This paper details a collaborative research initiative between the Penrith City Council, Penrith Australia and the Centre for Advanced Systems Engineering (CASE) at the University of Western Sydney. It details the development of a fully functioning XML-based prototype system that provides for effective integration of services offered by a collaborating group of legacy systems. The key contribution of this work is to provide an open systems based infrastructure that allows collaborating legacy systems, based on heterogeneous database and server platforms, to offer an integrated query service over the Internet... In mediator/translator systems, the mediator contains a centralised knowledge base storing details of how to process a request for a specific type of information. A translator interfaces each data repository to a mediator. The translator converts incoming queries from a system standard format into a format that the underlying database management system can execute. The translator also converts the data resulting from a transaction to conform to the standard required. Examples of mediator / translator based systems include TSIMMIS, BEA System's WebLogic, and IBM's WebSphere... Our approach differs from deployment techniques used in systems based on data gateway or mediator type systems where the required functionally to execute a query is installed in a library which is then replicated throughout system by the system administrator... A typical client interaction with the Information Brokerage would start with a client wishing to access a service and obtaining details of the required service from the Business Exchange. The Business Exchange contains details of electronic services available to clients. The type of information held in a Business Exchange includes a description of the service being offered and details of the service's input/output protocols in the form of two XML documents. (1) The Service Request XML document, which sets out the input requirements of the service and processing instructions. The processing instructions contained in the Service Request document are used by the Service Broker to execute the service. (2) The Output XML document, which, as the name implies, provides the client with a sample output from the system. Once the client has completed the Service Request document they forward it to a Service Broker. Both the Business Exchange and the Service Broker may be located on the client's site or any external site on the Internet. Upon receipt of a Service Request document the Service Broker begins an ACID transaction. The Service Broker unpacks the document and using the Service Provider details (description of XML input and output documents and the URL of the service), processing instructions and input data it contains, executes the required service... The Client Environment provides the user with the tools necessary to build and maintain an interface with the Information Broker. The Client Environment consists of four principle components: (1) Service Selection: which allows the client to select a service from a Business Exchange and execute the service on a Service Broker. (2) EditX: an editor that allows the client to create XSL documents to transform both incoming and outgoing XML documents. (3) The Legacy System Interface; which allows the client to directly interface a legacy system to a Service Broker and (4) GenX: which generates XML documents from non- XML data formats using a sample document..."

[March 20, 2002] "Continuous Queries within an Architecture for Querying XML-Represented Moving Objects." By Thomas Brinkhoff and Jürgen Weitkämper (Institute of Applied Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics [IAPG], Fachhochschule Oldenburg/Ostfriesland/Wilhelmshaven, Ofener Str. 16/19, D-26121 Oldenburg, Germany. Pages 136-154 (with 33 references) in Proceedings 7th International Symposium on Spatial and Temporal Databases (SSTD 2001). July 12-15, 2001, Redondo Beach, CA, USA. Pubished in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 2121. "The development of spatiotemporal database systems is primarily motivated by applications tracking and presenting mobile objects. Another important trend is the visualization and processing of spatial data using XML-based representations. Such representations will be required by Internet applications as well as by location-based mobile applications. In this paper, an architecture for supporting queries on XML-represented moving objects is presented. An important requirement of applications using such an architecture is to be kept informed about new, relocated, or removed objects fulfilling a given query condition. Consequently, the spatiotemporal database system must trigger its clients by transmitting the required information about relevant updates. Such queries are called continuous queries. For processing continuous queries, we have to reduce the volume and frequency of transmissions to the clients. In order to achieve this objective, parameters are defined which model technical restrictions as well as the interest of a client in a distinct update operation. However, delaying or even not transmitting update operations to a client may decrease the quality of the query result. Therefore, measures for the quality of a query result are required. [...] In this paper, an important query in the field of spatiotemporal database systems -- the continuous query -- has been investigated. The work was motivated by applications tracking and presenting mobile objects in an Internet environment where different types of clients including mobile devices are used. For such applications querying moving spatial objects, an architecture has been proposed, which supports an XML-based data representation. This architecture has been the base for discussing continuous queries. After a classification of the update operations in a spatiotemporal database system, a formal definition of the result set of continuous queries has been presented. In order to reduce the volume and frequency of transmissions to the clients, parameters have been defined in order to model technical restrictions as well as the interest of a client in a distinct update operation. A component for performing such a filtering has been integrated into our architecture. However, delaying and not transmitting update operations to a client mean to decrease the quality of the query result. Therefore, two quality measures have been presented. The next step will be the development on efficient algorithms for performing the filtering. A special attention will be given to maintain the quality of the query results. A further requirement to such algorithms concerns their scalability for supporting large number of clients. The definition of continuous queries and the XML-based representation of spatiotemporal objects were based on a quite simple model of spatiotemporal objects. Therefore, future work should cover a definition using a more expressive data model. Especially, the support of motion described by a motion vector instead of a constant object position must be investigated. Another aspect is the behavior of the restricting parameters. The resolution of a client may be changed by performing a zoom operation and the parameters minOps, maxOps and minPeriod may be affected by the traffic of other users of the network connection or by a changed capacity of the connection. For example, using the new mobile telephone standard UMTS, the maximum speed of a connection will depend on the distance of the mobile telephone to the next base station. Therefore, filter algorithms are required, which observe varying parameters."

[March 20, 2002] "BitCube: A Three-Dimensional Bitmap Indexing for XML Documents." By Jong P. Yoon, Vijay Raghavan, and Venu Chakilam (Center for Advanced Computer Studies, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA 70504-4330); Larry Kerschberg (Department of Information and Software Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444). In Journal of Intelligent Information Systems: Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Database Technologies Volume 17, Numbers 2/3 (December 2001), pages 241-254 (with 13 references). "XML is a new standard for exchanging and representing information on the Internet. Documents can be hierarchically represented by XML-elements. In this paper, we propose that an XML document collection be represented and indexed using a bitmap indexing technique. We define the similarity and popularity operations that are suitable for bitmap indexes. We also define statistical measurements in the BitCube: the center and the radius. Based on these measurements, we describe a new bitmap indexing-based technique to cluster XML documents. The techniques for clustering are motivated by the fact that the bitmap indexes are expected to be very sparse. Furthermore, a 2D bitmap index is extended to a 3D bitmap index called the BitCube. Sophisticated querying of XML document collections can be performed using primitive operations such as 'slice', 'project' and 'dice'. Experiments show that the BitCube can be created efficiently and that the primitive operations can be performed more efficiently with the BitCube than with other alternatives... The main contributions of this paper are (1) the application of bitmap indexing to represent XML document collection as a 3-Dimensional data structure: XML document, XML-element path, and terms or words, (2) the definition of BitCube index based schemes to partition documents into clusters in order to efficiently perform BitCube operations, and (3) a document retrieval technique based on application of BitCube operations to subcubes resulting from the clustering phase. Experiments to show that our bitmap approach improves document clustering and performance of document retrieval on the Internet over alternative approaches are in progress. (4) Even for big XML document collections, the indexing is done in considerable amount of time. The time taken for various BitCube operations remained constant." [cache]

[March 20, 2002] "An Aggressive Aggregation of XML Documents for Summary Data Generation." By Jong P. Yoon and Larry Kerschberg. Presented at the Fifth World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (SCI 2001) Orlando, Florida, 22-25 July 2001. With 19 references. "Aggregate functions are critically important and widely used to build summary data in WWW. Aggregation queries, that are used to summarize source data, may often result in incorrect answers due to the irregularity of XML data: an XML-element appears with irregular content structure and contains non-atomic or empty content although it follows a DTD or XML Schema. To cope with this problem, we propose an aggressive aggregation method for summarizing XML data. The contribution of this paper includes sound and complete collection of information from irregular XML data, and construction of summary data for XML documents in WWW. The method proposed in this paper can also be used for many other Web-based applications involving semistructured documents for electronic commerce and for OLAP data cubes. [...] This paper has described the 'aggressive' approach to generate summary data for XML documents in WWW. The summary data contains aggregation information of XML documents. In this paper, we considered only a counting method by using XML Schema and the concept hierarchy. We constructed a concept tree in XML which can be easily integrated with user-provided queries. The proposed approach can be easily applied to other aggregation operations such as SUM, MAX, MIN, AVG. The contribution of this paper includes a new method of generating complete summary data about XML documents. Our extended work includes approximate aggregation of XML documents in WWW..." [cache]

[March 19, 2002] "Ektron Puts XML Editing in the Browser." By [Seybold Bulletin Staff]. In The Bulletin: Seybold News and Views On Electronic Publishing Volume 7, Number 24 (March 20, 2002). "Flush with the success of its browser-based editing software (eWebEditPro), emerging content-management and graphic design toolmaker Ektron is rolling out a new browser-based XML editor. Positioned in the gap between Altova's XML Spy and the higher-end XML editing products (Arbortext's Epic and SoftQuad's XMetaL), eWebEditPro+XML takes a practical approach to embedding XML-tagging functionality to an editing product aimed at nontechnical users... EwebEditPro+XML has several advantages compared with most of the XML capture facilities currently offered by Web content management vendors. First, it's not limited to wrapping tags around the entire contents of a windowful of text. Because the API makes it easy to grab and transform selected text, eWebEditPro+XML offers out-of-the-box functionality for adding XML markup at a very granular level-for example, designating company or product names as elements within an article. At the same time, the product gives the developer plenty of freedom to craft metadata input forms to go with the element tagging... We think Ektron's new product hits a sweet spot in XML editing-a lightweight (browser-based) client designed for business users. Altova's product is better for developers, and Arbortext and SoftQuad are still better choices for full-tiime editorial use, but in between, the market needs tools that are easy to use out of the box, yet don't compromise too much on functionality. Ektron has struck such a balance, and we'll be surprised if it doesn't draw a crowd of imitators later this year..."

[March 19, 2002] "UBL NDR Position Papers." By Members of the UBL Naming and Design Rules Subcommittee (NDR SC). First Public Release. 16-March-2002. 48 pages. Intended audience: EDI experts, business experts, and XML experts interested in the development of an international standard for basic XML business schemas. Version URL: http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/200203/ndrsc/review/draft-ndr-20020316.pdf. This PDF document contains four separate papers (also described below): (1) "Position Paper: Definition of Elements, Attributes, and Types"; (2) "Position Paper: Code Lists"; (3) "Elements versus Attributes"; (4) "Position Paper: Modularity, Namespaces and Versioning." These papers are considered part of the first UBL review cycle, "being made available at this time to gain early input from UBL liaison organizations" and for wider public review and comment. To post comments publicly, subscribe to the list ubl-comment@lists.oasis-open.org through the list manager. See also the announcement "UBL Library Content Subcommittee Releases Draft UBL Library of Reusable Types" for references to other UBL Library review materials. The UBL Library Content Subcommittee is developing "a standard XML business library content by taking an existing library (xCBL 3.0) as a starting point and modifying it to incorporate the best features of other existing business and core component libraries. Its goals are to create a BIE Catalog by identifying the Basic Information Entities out of the xCBL Library, to create XML (XSD) Schemas for business document types, and to document a customization methodology." The review package contains a methodology document describing the approach taken in this design work, draft XML Schemas derived from spreadsheets, and sample XML instances of UBL Order documents. The three XML schemas represent the UBL Library, the UBL Order document, and the Core Component Library. Review comment are being accepted through April 08, 2002. See: "Universal Business Language (UBL)." [cache]

[March 19, 2002] "Position Paper: Definition of Elements, Attributes, and Types." By Mark Crawford (LMI), Arofan Gregory (CommerceOne), and Eve Maler (Sun). Date: 16-March-2002. Reference: 'draft-arofan-tagspec-03.doc'. 9 pages. Published as one of four papers in "UBL NDR Position Papers." By Members of the UBL Naming and Design Rules Subcommittee (NDR SC). 16-March-2002. "In W3C XML Schema (known as XSD), elements are defined in terms of complex or simple types and attributes are defined in terms of simple types. The rules in this section govern the consistent naming and structuring of these constructs and the manner of unambiguously and thoroughly documenting them... These rules refer to the following concepts taken from ISO 11179 and used subsequently in the ebXML Core Components work... [Object Class; Property Term; Qualifier; Representation Term (RT); Core Component Type (CCT)]... Rules are given below on documenting XML constructs to indicate the unambiguous relationship of each construct to its corresponding Core Component-based semantic representation."

[March 19, 2002] "Position Paper: Code Lists." By Eve Maler (Sun). Date: 27-February-2002. Reference: 'draft-maler-codelists-04.doc'. 6 pages. Published as one of four papers in "UBL NDR Position Papers." By Members of the UBL Naming and Design Rules Subcommittee (NDR SC). 16-March-2002. "A code list, for our purposes, is a closed set of codes (possibly with a provision for indicating custom codes) that is defined and maintained by an organization along with documentation of the meaning of each code. A 'code' is a character string (letters, figures or symbols) that for brevity and/or language independence may be used to represent or replace a definitive value or text of an attribute. Codes usually are maintained in code lists per attribute type (e.g., colour)... The mechanism for handling all appearances of codes in UBL markup is the same, whether the code is internal or external. The code is an XML qualified name, or 'QName', consisting of a namespace prefix and a local part separated by a colon... The intent is for the namespace prefix in the QName to be mapped, through the use of the xmlns attribute as part of the normal XML Namespace mechanism, to a URI reference that stands for the code list from which the code comes. The local part identifies the actual code in the list that is desired. Following is an example of a mapping of the 'baskin' prefix to Version 1.0 of a Baskins-Robbins ice cream flavor namespace, assuming that UBL has had to define its own URI reference for this namespace: <IceCream xmlns:baskin="http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/codelists/BR31-V1.0" IceCreamFlavorCode="baskin:Chocolate"/>..."

[March 19, 2002] "Elements versus Attributes." By Gunther Stuhec (SAP). 18-March-2002. 17 pages. Published as one of four papers in "UBL NDR Position Papers." By Members of the UBL Naming and Design Rules Subcommittee (NDR SC). 16-March-2002. "A common cause of confusion, or at least uncertainty, in the design of a schemas is the choice between specifying parts of the document as elements or attributes... Elements are logical units of information in a schema. They represent information objects... Attributes are atomic, referentially transparant characteristics of an object that have no identity of their own. Generally this corresponds to primitive data types (e.g., Strings, Date, etc.). Taking a more logical view, an attribute names some characteristic of an object that models part of its internal state, and is not considered an object in its own right. That is, no other objects have relationships to an attribute of an object, but rather to the object itself... Is the content to be spell-checked? [If 'yes', use an element; if 'no', use an attribute]... The following diagram illustrates a way to find out how want to be an Element or an Attributes necessary to be define it... " [In terms of the Core Components Technical Specification:] "Component Content will be represented as an Element-Value; The Supplementary Components will be represented as Attributes." Note: most characterizations about element and attribute presented in this paper and in previous treatises represent opinions about how one, arguably, ought to best model "content" in XML documents; in most cases, the judgments are arbitrary, as XML 1.0 itself does not make normative statements about element/attribute semantics, nor even about what should constitute "content" or "not-content" from the data modeling perspective. One may recommend guidelines for best practice in particular application scenarios; in general, it will be dangerous as well as antithetical to core principles of XML (having no pre-defined application-level processing semantics, including default non/display semantics) to declare what kind of content should or should not be modeled in element or attribute structures. See other presentations: "SGML/XML: Using Elements and Attributes."

[March 19, 2002] "Position Paper: Modularity, Namespaces and Versioning." By Bill Burcham (Sterling Commerce). Date: March 15, 2002. Reference: 'draft-burcham-modnamver-03.doc'. 12 pages, with addditional 3 pages of examples. Published as one of four papers in "UBL NDR Position Papers." By Members of the UBL Naming and Design Rules Subcommittee (NDR SC). 16-March-2002. "There are many possible mappings of XML schema constructs to namespaces and to operating system files. This paper explores some of those alternatives and sets forth some rules governing that mapping in UBL. It addresses three topics related to namespaces: (1) Namespace Structure: What shall be the mapping between namespaces and XML Schema constructs (e.g., type definitions)? (2) Module Structure: What shall be the mapping between namespaces and XML Schema constructs and operating system files? (3) Versioning: What support for versioning of schema shall be provided?..."

[March 18, 2002] "Aggregate UDDI Searches with Business Explorer for Web Services. Developers can radically simplify their Web services searches with BE4WS." By Liang-Jie Zhang (Researcher, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center) and Qun Zhou (Software Engineer, IBM Software Group). From IBM developerWorks, Web services. March 2002. ['Many developers believe that Web services will open up a world of interlocking business services that find each other over the Internet, thus integrating disparate code into useful programs. But if this vision is to come to pass, users must be able to find services out there on the vast public network. Current searching APIs are rudimentary at best, and a developer must write a lot of code in order to find the Web services he or she desires. Business Explorer for Web Services (BE4WS) is an alphaWorks technology, based on the Java programming language and XML, that aims to simplify Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) searches for developers and users alike. Liang-Jie Zhang and Qun Zhou walk you through some example code to show you how it's done -- and show you how you can a build a Web-based application that will allow users to find Web services without writing any code at all.'] "Web services are typically published to a public or private UDDI registry. The design of UDDI allows simple forms of searching and allows trading partners to publish data about themselves and their advertised Web services to voluntarily provide categorization data. In general, UDDI can locate businesses whose identities are well known; and users can find out what services those businesses offer and how to interface with them electronically. The current UDDI search mechanism can only focus on a single search criterion, such as business name, business location, business category, or service type by name, business identifier, or discovery URL. From an e-business application developer's point of view, it would be ideal to send a few sequential or programmed search commands to the UDDI registry for information aggregation. Potential information sources could include multiple UDDI registries and other searchable sources. Obviously, there is a need to dramatically extend the current search capability for Web services to improve efficiency and performance. All existing UDDI search engines only support a single UDDI registry. For example, Microsoft's UDDI search technology only allows users to search its UDDI registry, and those searches can only use a single search query, based on one of the following categories: business name, business location, business category, and service type by name, business identifier, or discovery URL. The known taxonomy types include NAICS, UNSPSC, SIC, or a geographic code (GEO); the known identifier types include D-U-N-S, Thomas Registry numbers, and US Tax ID. In this article, we will introduce a newly released technology, BE4WS, an XML-based UDDI-exploring engine that provides developers with standard interfaces for efficiently searching business and service information in individual or multiple UDDI registries. BE4WS is written in Java programming language; it uses information in UDDI Search Markup Language (USML) documents to direct UDDI clients like UDDI4J to conduct complex UDDI searches. You can build BE4WS into your Java programs, or invoke it from a servlet and create a BE4WS Web application or Web service..." See "Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)."

[March 15, 2002] "RSS Beta Validator Now Available." Posting from Leigh Dodds to 'rss-dev@yahoogroups.com' mailing list. "I've just uploaded a beta of the revised RSS validator: http://www.ldodds.com/rss_validator/1.0/validator.html. There's a separate form for using the beta. This revised version adds support for the three core modules (DC, Content and Syndication) and provisional support for the proposed modules. Only streaming and taxonomy are not currently supported. I'm hoping to add support for the remaining modules next week. I also fixed up a couple of typos/bugs here and there. The core Schematron schema has actually been heavily reworked and now relies on abstract rules to perform much of the validation -- which is in fact common to many elements. You can grab a beta copy of the original Schematron schemas off of the validator page. Feedback welcomed on or off list..." Documentation: 'Experimental Online RSS 1.0 Validator': "This prototype is based around a Schematron schema for validating RSS 1.0. The schema is used to generate an XSLT stylesheet which performs the actual validation. In this version of the validator the validator produces a simple HTML report listing the errors, as well as copy of the original RSS 1.0 file. This prototype is not meant for production use as yet [2002-03-15], as it's a prototype for demonstration and testing purposes. The validator currently does not generate as nicely formatted a report as I would wish. This is due to limitations in the XSLT processor used by the W3C service. The prototype uses a slightly tweaked version of sch-report2.xsl which generates a tweaked validator..." See also "RSS Validator: A Schematron Schema for RSS." See general references in "RDF Site Summary (RSS)."

[March 15, 2002] "Introduction to DAML: Part II." By Roxane Ouellet and Uche Ogbuji. From XML.com. March 13, 2002. ['Uche Ogbuji and Roxane Ouellet return this week with the second part of their introduction to the DARPA Agent Modeling Language, DAML. Their article develops the ontology from the first installment, demonstrating some more advanced DAML concepts.'] "RDF was developed by the W3C at about the same time as XML, and it turns out to be an excellent complement to XML, providing a language for modeling semistructured metadata and enabling knowledge-management applications. The RDF core model is successful because of its simplicity. The W3C also developed a purposefully lightweight schema language, RDF Schema (RDFS), to provide basic structures such as classes and properties. As the ambitions of RDF and XML have expanded to include things like the Semantic Web, the limitations of this lightweight schema language have become evident. Accordingly, a group set out to develop a more expressive schema language, DARPA Agent Markup Language (DAML). Although DAML is not a W3C initiative, several familiar faces from the W3C, including Tim Berners-Lee, participated in its development. The preceeding article in this series presented basic DAML concepts and constructs, explaining the most useful modeling tools DAML puts into the designer's hands. The present article demonstrates more advanced DAML concepts and constructs, expanding on the Super Sports example... So far we have looked at how DAML+OIL gives us richer means for expressing constraints in schemas. If this were all it did, it would still be a welcome advance over RDFS. But it happens to go well beyond that. DAML+OIL gives modelers a rich expressiveness. It is not just a schema language but also an ontology language, providing primitives that support the general representation of knowledge. For one thing, it allows one to express classifications by inference rather than by explicitly listing which resources go into which buckets. Behind this simply-stated idea lies a surprising range of nuance for accommodating the classic difficulty of translating the models we hold in our minds to the models we mold in our code... In the first two articles of this series, we have presented the basics of DAML+OIL by example. There are additional property restrictions based on the cardinality (number of occurrences) of a property for each instance, and there are many nuances we have not covered. DAML+OIL introduces many constructs, and at first it can be a bit vexing to try to remember all the different constructs from RDF, RDFS, and DAML+OIL. The final article will provide some assistance by tabulating all these constructs, noting which specification defines them, and briefly describing their usage." See "DARPA Agent Mark Up Language (DAML)."

[March 15, 2002] "XLink: Who Cares?" By Bob DuCharme. From XML.com. March 13, 2002. ['Bob observes that XLink took over four years to reach W3C Recommendation status, at which point it has now been for eight months. Despite all that time, there is still very little activity around XLink. In his article, he sets out to find why there's such a lack of interest in the third member of the original XML trinity.'] "... I don't mean it rhetorically. I really want to know: who out there still cares about XLink? I did care, ever since I first heard about the work on 'XML Part 2: Linking,' as it was called at the announcement of XML's existence at SGML '96. (XSL, before XSLT was split away from XSL-FO, was Part 3). I got excited at the concept of linking that was more powerful than HTML's but easier to understand than HyTime's. I looked forward to the creation of out-of-line links that connected two, three, or more resources into a single link without requiring write access to those resources. I saw how the ability to define and assign link types would ease the end user's difficulty in navigating the growing amount of connected information on the Web. I thrilled to the talk of linkbases becoming a new category of information product to buy and sell, creating new information by making intelligent connections between existing information. XLink is the only XML-related W3C specification that took over four years to get from first Working Draft to Recommendation status. Now that it's been a stable, finished spec for eight months, we're still seeing very little activity. So what's out there? Who cares about XLink?... Perhaps the interest isn't dying away, but was merely shifted to RDF and Topic Maps, technologies that seem to be fulfilling much of the promise of XLink. Perhaps their success represents the triumph of the original ideas of XLink, with out-of-line links and linkbases finding success under different names. This would put a positive spin on the history of XLink, but I'm losing hope on seeing any large-scale use of the elements described in the XLink Recommendation. By describing resource traversal in terms of the ending resource displaying in a new window or the same window, and in terms of when it does so, the link semantics are framed in a way that can be implemented on multiple systems, so it has some of the portability and longer shelf life advantages of markup that is not presentation-oriented. But it's still about how the resources are presented to the user and is, therefore, not markup that you'd store in your core XML database or document collection that you use to generate other formats as needed. Your elements that reference footnotes would store the ID information necessary to find the right footnotes, and your news stories, legal briefs, and judges' decisions that reference legal statues would store the ID information necessary to find those. If you decided that the footnotes or legal statutes should appear in a new window, you'd have a stylesheet add the appropriate XLink markup to the version of the markup being sent to the browser -- if the browser knew what to do with XLink markup..." See "XML Linking Language."

[March 15, 2002] "Inside Sablotron: Virtual XML Documents." By Petr Cimprich. From XML.com. March 13, 2002. ['Petr Cimprich, who is behind the Sablotron XSLT processor, explains the internals of Sablotron and expands on a concept of "virtual XML documents", which offer the power of XPath, XSLT and DOM over non-XML data sources.'] "Despite the growing popularity of streaming XML processing, many applications still need or prefer to store an entire XML tree in memory for processing. The internal representation can either stick to the Document Object Model (DOM) or use any other convenient form. DOM-like optimized structures allow fast access to documents using the DOM API methods. On the other hand, the binary representation optimized for the DOM isn't well suited to different kinds of processing, such as XPath and XSLT. The reason is an incompatibility of the DOM and the XPath models: the DOM's 'everything-is-a-node' approach isn't effective for the XPath and slows the resolution of queries down. This is why XPath and XSLT processors usually use their own internal representations rathern than DOM. Whatever internal representation is used, one still needs a convenient interface to access it. The interface needn't be published, as it is typically used for internal purposes only; however, it's hard to imagine a maintainable and extensible XML processor implementation without a well-defined interface to its temporary storage. Beside the fast native interface optimized for specific purposes, the processor can also provide other, standard interfaces allowing to access to documents once they've been parsed. This is true of Sablotron, an Open Source XML processor project I'm currently involved in. I use it here to illustrate the possibilities of XML processors, some of them not deployed quite yet. But back to internals and interfaces; Sablotron uses its own in-memory objects and a set of interface functions optimized for XPath and XSLT, but parsed documents can be accessed and modified via a subset of the standard DOM API at the same time... since the interface working as a base for XPath querying and XSLT transformations can be replaced with user-defined callback functions, external handlers can be used to get an arbitrary XML representation passed to XPath/XSLT directly. What this approach promises is a notable speed increase and a memory consumption decrease when compared to building whole documents. If you would like to experiment with this, I invite you to try out Sablotron. I'm not aware of any other XML processor supporting external handlers currently; information on a similar effort or your experiences with the XPath/XSLT/DOM via callbacks is welcomed."

[March 15, 2002] "Processing Model Considered Essential." By Leigh Dodds. From XML.com. March 13, 2002. ['Leigh Dodds sheds light on an unfulfilled requirement for XML, that of a processing model. As the number of XML-related specifications grow, such a model becomes essential in order to fully understand their interactions. For instance, what is the right order in which to process XInclude inclusions and XSLT transformations?'] "This week's XML-Deviant takes a step backwards in an attempt to foreground an issue that has been behind several recent debates in the XML community, namely, the lack of a processing model for XML... It's historical fact that the syntax of XML was defined before its data model, the XML Information Set (Infoset). While this contributed to the speed of delivery of the XML specification, it also lead to a number of subsequent problems; most notably, the discontinuities between the DOM and XPath, both of which define different tree models for XML documents. Looking at the plethora of additional specifications that have been subsequently produced, it is useful to characterize their functionality as specific manipulations on an infoset. For example, XInclude augments an infoset, XSLT transforms an infoset, and schema validation annotates an infoset with type and validity information. While valid in an abstract sense, this perspective is missing a statement of the possible orderings of these operations. Do certain operations need to be performed before others? Must entities be resolved before XSLT processing? Must one canonicalize a document before generating its signature ? How does one specify the order of operations to be carried out on a document? How do I state that I want to do a schema validation only after I've carried out all inclusions? Or vice versa? The W3C held an XML Processing Model Workshop in July, 2001, to begin discussing these issues... Creating an XML application should be like creating a mosaic: piecing together simple, well-defined pieces to create a whole. The complexity and richness should arise from how that whole is constructed. Individual pieces that don't fit should be clipped accordingly. It's time for the W3C to organize its output around a consistent processing model. A processing model is not merely desirable, it's essential..."

[March 15, 2002] "Tuning In to iTV: The Opportunities and Challenges of Developing Interactive Television Apps With XML." By John Papageorge (CEO, Media Overdrive). From IBM developerWorks, XML zone. February 2002. ['The dream of using your remote control to interact with television broadcast shows has finally become a reality, thanks to interactive television (iTV). Here, John Papageorge explores the opportunities and challenges of creating applications for the set-top box platforms (such as OpenTV, AOLTV, and Worldgate) that allow for interactive television.'] Also in PDF format.

[March 15, 2002] "XPERANTO: Bridging Relational Technology and XML." From International Business Machines Corporation, DB2 Developer Domain. By Catalina Fan, John Funderburk, Hou-in Lam, Jerry Kiernan, and Eugene Shekita (IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA 95120) and Jayvel Shanmugasundaram (Cornell University). [March 2002.] 9 pages. ['The cutting edge of data management research! The XPERANTO research project enables XML-based applications to leverage relational database technology by using XML views of existing relational data.'] "XML has emerged as the standard data-exchange format for Internet-based business applications. These applications introduce a new set of data management requirements involving XML. However, for the foreseeable future, a significant amount of business data will continue to be stored in relational database systems. Thus, a bridge is needed to satisfy the requirements of these new XML-based applications while still leveraging relational database technology. This paper describes the design and implementation of the XPERANTO middleware system, which we believe achieves this goal. In particular, XPERANTO provides a general framework to create and query XML views of existing relational data. One of the features provided by XPERANTO is the ability to create XML views of existing relational data. XPERANTO does this by automatically mapping the data of the underlying relational database system to a low-level default XML view. Users can then create application-specific XML views on top of the default XML view. These application-specific views are created using XQuery, a general-purpose, declarative XML query language currently being standardized by W3C. XPERANTO materializes XML views on demand, and does so efficiently by pushing down most computation to the underlying relational database engine. Another feature provided by XPERANTO is the ability to query XML views of relational data. This is important because users often desire only a subset of a view's data. Moreover, users often need to synthesize and extract data from multiple views. In XPERANTO, queries are specified using the same language used to specify XML views, namely XQuery. XPERANTO executes queries efficiently by performing XML view composition so that only the desired relational data items are materialized. In summary, XPERANTO provides a general means to publish and query XML views of existing relational data. Users always use the same declarative XML query language (XQuery) regardless of whether they are creating XML views of relational data or querying those views. ... XPERANTO exposes relational data as an XML view. Users can then query these XML views using a general-purpose, declarative XML query language (XQuery), and they can use the same query language to create other XML views. Thus, users of the system always work with a single query language In addition to providing users with a powerful system that is simple to use, the declarative nature of user queries allows XPERANTO to perform optimizations such as view composition and pushing computation down to the underlying relational database system." See also "XPERANTO: Publishing Object-Relational Data as XML" and "IBM Federated Database Technology," by Laura Haas and Eileen Lin. Also earlier: "IBM Spills Beans on Xperanto Database Initiative." General references: (1) "XML and Query Languages"; and (2) "XML and Databases."

[March 15, 2002] "New Windows Could Solve Age-Old Format Puzzle -- At A Price." By Mike Ricciuti. In CNET News.com (March 13, 2002). "To achieve the long-elusive goal of easily finding information hidden in computer files, Microsoft is returning to a decade-old idea. The company is building new file organization software that will begin to form the underpinnings of the next major version of its Windows operating system. The complex data software is meant to address a conundrum as old as the computer industry itself: how to quickly find and work with a piece of information, no matter what its format, from any location... [via] a unified data store... The company plans to include the first pieces of the new data store in next release of Windows, code-named Longhorn, which is scheduled to debut in test form next year... Microsoft's first -- and perhaps largest -- challenges will be internal: how to overcome the technical and organizational obstacles it encountered when it set out to solve the very same problem in the early 1990s. At that time, the company launched an ambitious development project to design and build a new technology called the Object File System, or OFS, which was slated to become part of an operating system project code-named Cairo. 'We've been working hard on the next file system for years, and--not that we've made the progress that we've wanted to -- we're at it again,' Ballmer said. While the Cairo project eventually resulted in Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system, the file system work was abandoned because of complexity, market forces and internal bickering. 'It never went away. We just had other things that needed to be done'... Microsoft executives say the company plans to resurrect the OFS idea with the Longhorn release of Windows. 'This will impact Longhorn deeply, and we will create a new API for applications to take advantage of it,' Allchin said. He said bringing the plan back now makes sense because new technologies such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) will make it much easier to put in place. XML is already a standard for exchanging information between programs and a cornerstone of Microsoft's Web services effort, which is still under development..."

[March 14, 2002] "Web Services Architecture Using MVC Style. Access Services Statically and Dynamically At The Same Time." By Naveen Balani (Technical Analyst, Syntel India Ltd.). From IBM developerWorks, Web services. February 2002. ['The Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern is fairly useful in software engineering of object-oriented applications. This article takes a look at how it can be applied to the call static or dynamic Web services.'] "Web services can be invoked statically using a WSDL service interface and service implementation documents, or dynamically by retrieving the service type definitions and the service implementation via UDDI. But until now, you couldn't do both at the same time. You can now do this using the Model View Controller pattern (or MVC); this architecture supports both dynamic and static Web services. This article is primarily a design exercise and assumes that you know about design patterns and the MVC system. The MVC paradigm is a way of breaking an application, or even just a piece of an application's interface, into three parts: the model, the view, and the controller. The model represents enterprise data and the business rules that govern access to and updates of this data. Often the model serves as a software approximation to a real-world process, so simple real-world modeling techniques apply when defining the model. A view renders the contents of a model. It accesses enterprise data through the model and specifies how that data should be presented. It is the view's responsibility to maintain consistency in its presentation when the model changes. This can be achieved by using a push model, where the view registers itself with the model for change notifications, or a pull model, where the view is responsible for calling the model when it needs to retrieve the most current data. A controller translates interactions with the view into actions to be performed by the model. In a stand-alone GUI client, user interactions could be button clicks or menu selections, whereas in a Web application, they appear as GET and POST HTTP requests. The actions performed by the model include activating business processes or changing the state of the model. Based on the user interactions and the outcome of the model actions, the controller responds by selecting an appropriate view... The MVC architecture has the following benefits: (1) Multiple views using the same model. The separation of model and view allows multiple views to use the same enterprise model. Consequently, an enterprise application's model components are easier to implement, test, and maintain, since all access to the model goes through these components. (2) Easier support for new types of clients. To support a new type of client, you simply write a view and controller for it and wire them into the existing enterprise model.." Article also in PDF format.

[March 13, 2002] "XRole: XML Roles for Agent Interaction." By Giacomo Cabri, Letizia Leonardi, and Franco Zambonelli. In Proceedings of the Third International Symposium "From Agent Theory to Agent Implementation", 16th European Meeting on Cybernetics and Systems Research, Vienna, Austria, April 3-5, 2002. "Engineering interactions is a very important issue in the design and development of Internet applications. The wideness, the openness and the uncertainty of the Internet environment call for appropriate methodologies. In this paper we propose XRole, a system that helps in dealing with such a kind of interactions in a modular and effective way. XRole is based on the definition of roles, intended as intermediaries between the application needs and the environment needs. XRole is implemented exploiting the XML language. An application example in the agent-negotiation area shows the effectiveness of the approach." Cited with the MOON Project papers [Mobile Object Oriented Environments]. See similarly "Role-based Infrastructure for Agents", in Proceedings of the 8th IEEE Workshop on Future Trends of Distributed Computing Systems (FTDCS 2001), Bologna, Italy, October 2001. ['...we are exploring the developing of a system for the definition of roles and their concrete exploitation in implemented applications. Such system should address interoperability to suit the openness of the Internet. We are planning to use XML for the definition of roles and XSL for the translation into documentation and real code...' (cache)

[March 13, 2002] "The Semantics of DQL." By Ian Horrocks and Sergio Tessaris. March 4, 2002. ['preliminary proposal for a formalisation of the semantics of DQL'] "... As DAML+OIL's RDF syntax is rather verbose we will use the standard DL abstract syntax..." Note: DQL and Description Logics are relevant to the W3C Ontology Web Language (OWL). See also the accepted papers for the 2002 International Workshop on Description Logics (DL2002), including "Two Proposals for a Semantic Web Ontology Language" (Peter F. Patel-Schneider) and "Combining XML and DL for content-based manipulation of documents" (Rim Alhulou and Amedeo Napoli). See also: (1) "Semantic Web Chalk Talk: Amateur Introduction to Description Logics"; and (2) "Description Logics Markup Language (DLML)."

[March 13, 2002] "WS-I: Trying to Rise Above the Fray." By Michael Vizard and Steve Gillmor. In InfoWorld (March 12, 2002). ['As the standoff between Sun Microsystems and the founders of the WS-I (Web Services Interoperability Organization) looks like it's about to become a prolonged debate, executives from IBM and Microsoft in a rare joint public relations effort are making their case for WS-I. Sun insists that it should be given a position on the organization's board of directors because that is where the organization's agenda will be determined. The founders of the organization don't necessarily agree, given Sun's historic foot-dragging on XML and Web services in general. In an interview with InfoWorld Editor in Chief Michael Vizard and Test Center Director Steve Gillmor, Bob Sutor, IBM director of e-business standards strategy, and Neil Charney, Microsoft director of .Net platform strategy, claim that the organization's primary goal is to promote Web services interoperability rather than industry turmoil.'] [Charney:] "The first thing to note is that WS-I is not a standards body. Think of it as an organization that's really a standards integrator. From the perspective of a developer who's building Web services, as these things start to really move out into production, the specifications are being generated by a variety of standards bodies. So it's important to have a place for developers to go where a circle has been drawn around the various standards that are out there for this thing called Web services. It's really an implementor's forum, if anything. It's really an attempt to respond to customers telling us that they want to have some sense of confidence that the interoperability of Web services can be assured. The thing they've made very clear is that they want to see leadership and they want to see the various industry leaders align around a shared and common definition of Web services. Customers are looking for guidance and clarity, because there are a variety of standards efforts and standards bodies, and there's a tendency in our industry to not even have the conversation." [Sutor:] "We're not going to put 25 standards all in the W3C or in OASIS. There needs to be some sort of central industry community that helps to make sense of all that... Some subset of every community is always concerned with something. We went out with 55 companies supporting WS-I. There were in fact nine founders, including Oracle, who has done a little bit in the Java community, as well as BEA. We really went out of our way to make sure that we could get a lot of companies in there, and we invited a tremendous number of them. Sun will have to make up its mind about this. Sun is more than welcome. We are working our way through this list of 400-plus inquiries..." See: "Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I)."

[March 12, 2002] "Group Looks to Join Life Sciences With Web Services." By Ashlee Vance. In ITworld.com News (March 12, 2002). "A consortium of technology heavyweights and life sciences bodies put the finishing touches Monday on the group's agenda designed to make sending research data between organizations easier After several months of work, representatives from Sun Microsystems Inc., IBM Corp., Millennium Pharmaceuticals, the Whitehead Institute and others have finalized the organizational structure of The Interoperable Informatics Infrastructure Consortium (I3C). With board members, an agenda and a Washington D.C.-based contact in place, the group hopes to accelerate its goal of sending complex scientific data across disparate computing networks. The I3C is looking to mimic some of the work being done by airlines, Web sites and phone companies to link parts of different companies' data infrastructure, said Tim Clark, vice president of informatics at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and lead member of I3C. This concept, known as Web services, has emerged as a hot topic as companies try to make it possible, for example, for a consumer to buy an airline ticket and then have the dates of the flight automatically plugged into the consumer's Web-based calendar. Some of the key parts of this process from a computing standpoint are the Java programming language, XML (extensible markup language), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration), standards for creating a consistent set of technologies for exchanging data between various organizations. Members of I3C will look into the roles that Java, XML, SOAP and UDDI can play in making legacy applications and large sets of data used within one organization more accessible to the life sciences industry as a whole, said Jill Mesirov, chief information officer and director of bioinformatics and computational biology at the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research... Members of I3C were quick to stress that they do not want to be a standards body, creating protocols and regulations for work in this area. Instead, the group hopes to try various methods for opening up data to more people and present models of what works best."

[March 11, 2002] "Using RDF with SOAP. Beyond Remote Procedure Calls." By Uche Ogbuji (Principal Consultant, Fourthought, Inc.). From IBM developerWorks, Web services. February 2002. ['This article examines ways that SOAP can be used to communicate information in RDF models. It discusses ways of translating the fundamental data in RDF models to the SOAP encoding for PC-like exchange, or for directly passing parts of the model in RDF/XML serialized form.'] "SOAP is a transport protocol for carrying XML payloads over lower level Internet protocols. Specifications of the transport prior to 1.2 built in a suggested encoding of XML that is geared towards the serialization of programming language constructs. Such encodings are the staple of what is known as remote procedure call (RPC) systems, which have the common aim of making requests to remote computers look just like local procedure invokations. Other examples of RPC encodings are External Data Representation (XDR), from 'classic' RPC (and defined in RFC 1014), and Common Data Representation (CDR) from CORBA. As a result of bundling an encoding with such relatives, SOAP took on a decidedly application-programming feel, and its usefulness for general data exchange seemed suspect. These early flavors of SOAP generated much controversy. Firstly, mixing transport and data encoding specifications seems to be a very messy approach to communications, and seems to fly in the face of layered protocols that have been the practice in networking for decades. After all, the specification for HTML mark-up is not embedded into the HTTP specification. Secondly, choosing an RPC-like encoding for pre-eminence puts SOAP in an odd spot; it has little more expressive power than pre-XML RPC mechanisms, yet it is practically guaranteed to be less efficient because of XML's verbosity and the more generic architectures of HTTP, SMTP, and the like. It would seem that the only advantage SOAP brought as a next-generation RPC was to unify the Microsoft and CORBA camps; this is important, but certainly not what SOAP appeared to be promising. One important down-side consequence of SOAP-as-RPC is that such a system is completely unsuitable for the next-generation-EDI ambitions of Web services in general. If Web services are to become the new way businesses communicate over networks, they would seem to need a transport mechanism that communicates at the level of business and legal requests, rather than at the level of programming language APIs. And surely enough, the ebXML initiative, whose ambition is to use XML to craft a system for international electronic business communication, originally balked at using SOAP, as did a few other influential organizations... There are other approaches and ideas when it comes to how SOAP and RDF can inter-operate, and indeed it is a topic of constant interest as RDF users discover Web services and vice versa... Certainly more generic systems for serializing XML-based data will only enrich the world Web services." Also in PDF format. See "Resource Description Framework (RDF)."

[March 11, 2002] "Path Predicate Calculus: Towards a Logic Formalism for Multimedia XML Query Languages." By Peiya Liu, Amit Chakraborty, and Liang H. Hsu. In Markup Languages: Theory & Practice 3/1 (Winter 2001), pages 93-106 (with 22 references). "Many document query languages are currently proposed for specifying document retrieval. But the formalisms for document query languages are still underdeveloped. An adequate formalism is critical for query language development and standardization. Classical formalisms, relational algebra and relational calculus, are used to evaluate the expressive power and completeness of relational query languages. Most relational query languages embed within them either one or a combination of these classical formalisms. However, these formalisms cannot be directly used for tree document query languages due to different underlying data models. In this paper, we propose a logic formalism, called path predicate calculus, based on a tree document model and paths for querying XML. In the path predicate calculus, the atomic logic formulas are element predicates rather than relation predicates as in relational calculus. In this path predicate calculus, queries are equivalent to finding all proofs of the existential closure of logical assertions in the form of path predicates that document elements must satisfy." General references: "XML and Query Languages."

[March 11, 2002] "A Simple Property Set for Contract Architectural Forms." By Sam Hunting. In Markup Languages: Theory & Practice 3/1 (Winter 2001), pages 73-92 (with 14 references). "Because the contract is ubiquitous in commercial life (and thus in life), applications for a contract property set are almost too numerous to be worth mentioning. Therefore, I will simply list a few here: (1) On-line, ready-to-use, boilerplate contracts; (2) Specification for conversion operations; (3) Lending equity to XSL transforms; (4) Electronic commerce; (5) Enterprise modeling; and (6) Semantic overlays to legacy procedural code. These applications may well require different architectures conforming to the contract property set... Conclusion: "Contracts, because of their power and ubiquity, seem a natural target for an international standards effort using property sets. Property sets provide a simple and very powerful mechanism for representing such complex, real-world relationships." See: "Architectural Forms and SGML/XML Architectures."

[March 11, 2002] "The Relationship Between General and Specific DTDs: Criticizing TEI Critical Editions." By David J. Birnbaum (Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Pittsburgh. Email: djbpitt+@pitt.edu; WWW). "The present study discusses the advantages and disadvantages of general vs specific DTDs at different stages in the life of an SGML document based on the example of support for textual critical editions in the TEI. These issues are related to the question of when to use elements, attribute, or data content to represent information in SGML and XML documents, and the article identifies several ways in which these decisions control both the degree of structural control and validation during authoring and the generality of the DTDs. It then offers three strategies for reconciling the need for general DTDs for some purposes and specific DTDs for others. All three strategies require no non-SGML structural validation and ultimately produce fully TEI-conformant output. The issues under consideration are relevant not only for the preparation of textual critical editions, but also for other element-vs-attribute decisions and general design issues pertaining to broad and flexible DTDs, such as those employed by the TEI... Conclusion: "Any of the three strategies discussed above (processing a modified TEI DTD with respect to TEIform attribute values, transformation of a custom DTDs to a TEI structure, and architectural forms) provides a solution to the issues posed by a score-like edition. Specifically, these strategies all permit much greater structural control than is available in the standard TEI DTDs, rely entirely on SGML for all validation, and produce a final document that is fully TEI-conformant." See "Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) - XML for TEI Lite."

[March 11, 2002] " Are Politics Eclipsing Sun from the Web Services Scene?" By Eric Knorr and David Berlind. In ZDNet AnchorDesk (March 11, 2002). "A month ago, Microsoft and IBM formed the Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) organization, an industry consortium dedicated to promoting best practices for Web services. It's hard to overstate the WS-I's importance -- mainly because it's the first major industry organization devoted to Web services and boasts dozens of titans as members, including Accenture, BEA Systems, Compaq, Ford, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Qwest, SAP, United Airlines, and VeriSign. More practically, the WS-I is important because ensuring that Web services interoperate and conform to standards is absolutely vital. If they don't -- and Web services enablers or providers factionalize -- the whole proposition falls apart. Too bad the WS-I has already gotten off on the wrong foot. The reason: Sun Microsystems hasn't joined yet -- and the circumstances surrounding its absence smack of hardball politics. Although Bill Gates derided Sun for not signing on during his February 13 introduction of Microsoft's Visual Studio.Net, Sun was invited to join just days before--and then, according to Sun, only as a contributor, not as a board member or founder. In fact, Sun was only informed of the WS-I's existence by IBM on the evening of February 4 (see Web services push attracts a crowd) -- nine days before Gates's comments, and within 48 hours of the WS-I's February 6 launch. That's hardly enough time to do the necessary due diligence when a chief competitor approaches you about joining an industry group, let alone enough time for competitors to credibly rattle their sabers... According to Sun spokesperson Russell Castronovo, Sun sent the WS-I a request to become a board member three weeks ago and still hasn't received a response... The WS-I is reportedly holding its first board meeting this week..." See: "Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I)."

[March 08, 2002] "Future Development of ISO 639." By Håvard Hjulstad (Convener of ISO/TC37/SC2/WG1 'Coding systems'). Document reference: ISO/TC37/SC2/WG1 N89. Date: 2002-03-04. 4 pages. "ISO 639-1 (alpha-2 code)1 and ISO 639-2 (alpha-3 code)2 are designed to meet the needs of terminology and library applications. The two parts of the standard and the coordinated effort to develop these two parts represent a vast step toward a universally acceptable set of identifiers for linguistic units. In particular the library community has a genuine need to keep the set of identifiers stable. There are at least a nine-digit number of records using these identifiers. Although there is broad acceptance that the present parts of ISO 639 will be developed further, this development needs to be conservative. For the ICT industry and for language resource and language technology applications there is also a genuine need to expand the current set of language identifiers and language identification mechanisms greatly. There may be a need for identifiers for 15-20 times as many linguistic units as the current tables provide. ISO/TC37 is ready to initiate projects to meet these needs. The projects will be carried out within the framework of ISO/TC37/SC2/WG1. It is, however, recognized that it may be necessary to utilize working procedures and organizational structures that are different from most projects under ISO/TC37 and other ISO committees. It will not be possible to meet the requirements as to timeliness without substantial external funding..." See also: (1) the news item of 2002-03-08: "ISO Working Group on Coding Systems Outlines New Language Encoding Initiatives"; (2) "Language Identifiers in the Markup Context." [source .DOC, cache]

[March 08, 2002] "Toward a Model for Language Identification. Defining an Ontology Of Language-Related Categories." By Peter G. Constable (SIL Non-Roman Script Initiative, NRSI). Document reference: ISO/TC37/SC2/WG1 N91. February 27, 2002. 34 pages. Draft of paper for the 21st International Unicode Conference, Dublin, Ireland, May 2002. "To deal with the diverse language identification needs, people are looking to the ISO 639 family of standards, which provide over 400 different language identifiers. For those working with hundreds or thousands of less well-known languages, however, this number falls well short of what is needed. Similarly, these standards do not provide mechanisms that accommodate intralanguage distinctions involving parameters such as script. Some protocols have some ability to overcome the limitations in ISO 639 by making reference to the derivative standard provided in RFC 3066, which allows for the creation of tags that add additional qualifiers to the ISO 639 codes, or for the registration of entirely original identifiers. There are potential concerns with introducing a greatly expanded set of tags under the terms of RFC 3066, however, since it could quickly lead to considerable confusion, for reasons I will describe momentarily... This paper is intended to explore what an adequate model of 'language' identification should look like. In particular, it aims to describe the ontology for which 'language' identifiers are needed; that is, the different kinds of language-related entities in the real world that are relevant for IT purposes, and the relationships between them. In view of this ontology, I will also attempt to derive implications for an adequate system of 'language' identifiers to be used in IT applications... in the view presented here, we are dealing with multiple types of categories, all of which are related to language per se but some of which are also somehow different. In other words, not all of the distinctions for which we use 'language' identifiers are between languages. Thus, in making reference to 'language' identification, what is really meant is identification with regard to various types of language-related categories..." See also: (1) the news item of 2002-03-08: "ISO Working Group on Coding Systems Outlines New Language Encoding Initiatives"; (2) "Language Identifiers in the Markup Context." [source]

[March 08, 2002] "Tale of Two Rodneys." By Steve Gillmor. In InfoWorld Volume 24, Issue 10 (March 08, 2002), page 66. "... Ed Julson, Sun director of product management Java and XML technologies, told InfoWorld that WS-I 'is the exact opposite approach to the way standards should be developed.' Rather than submitting ideas or early technologies that may or may not be collectively tuned or even completely transformed into standards from where the technology emerges, Julson suggested Microsoft and IBM are developing the technology themselves then trying to push that through the standards body, more or less intact. Julson says WS-I goes a long way backward to proprietary technologies disguised as standards. Rich Green, Sun vice president and general manager Java software and XML technologies, sees it differently. 'Ed works in this organization and he's certainly entitled to his opinion. I'm in charge of defining Sun's strategy and approach with respect to [WS-I], so I'm giving you the actual Sun answer.' Green is supportive of WS-I, or at least a WS-I that includes Sun. 'If we have any concern at all, it is in fact whether or not the mandate that [WS-I] has defined for itself is broad and stringent enough to ensure interoperability. We do have some questions about the model of self-certification, and we're concerned that this body, if it's going to take out this piece of industry real estate, that it actually has enough teeth to ensure interoperability..." See "Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I)."

[March 08, 2002] "Securing Web Services with Single Sign-On." By Zdenek Svoboda. In TheServerSide.com (March 2002). "In this part of the Web services tutorial we will learn how to secure applications with a single sign-on utlility. We will introduce the simple scenario where the client gets the authentication token from the SSO service and appends it to the outcoming request. The receiving party can validate the incoming token by calling the SSO service. We will also shown how SAML, the standard format for the security information exchange, can enhance the SSO architecture... The basic idea of the single sign-on security architecture is to shift the complexity of the security architecture to the so-called SSO service and thus release other parts of the system from certain security obligations. In the SSO architecture, all security alghorithms are found in the single SSO server which acts as the single and only authentication point for a defined domain. Thus, there is a second benefit to an SSO approach to autnentication/registration: a user has to sign-on only once, even though he may be interacting with many different secure elements within a given domain. The SSO server, which can itself be a Web service, acts as the wrapper around the existing security infrastructure that exports various security features like authentication and authorization... An advanced approach permits the token itself to contain some valuable security information that allows validation without having to call the SSO server each time. The token contains the authentication or authorization information. This information is 'signed' by the SSO server, so provided the token recipient trusts this server, it doesn't have to do any further verification... There is a new standard for exchanging security-related information in XML called Security Assertions Markup Language (SAML). This is currently being completed at OASIS and its first release is expected at the time of this article's publishing. Basically, the security information described by SAML is expressed in the form of assertion statements about security subjects (e.g. users, machines or services). SAML defines the protocol by which the service consumer issues the SAML request and the so-called SAML authority returns the SAML response with assertions. There are three kinds of assertions: The Authentication statement informs about the authentication of a particular subject in a specific time and scope. The Authorization decision allows or denies a subject access to a specific resource. The Attributes further qualify the subject (e.g. credit line info, citizenship etc.). The use of SAML isn't limited to the SSO scenario. It can be used in a much broader sense. If our Web services applications understand SAML it shouldn't be difficult to flexibly reconfigure the security architecture without lenghty re-coding. You can take a look at a the SAML authorization request below. Notice that it contains the user credentials (username and encrypted password in our case) and some descriptions like response requirements, credentials types, etc...." See: "Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML)."

[March 08, 2002] "Portal Standards." By Thomas Schaeck and Stefan Hepper. In TheServerSide.com (February 2002). "With the emergence of an increasing number of enterprise portals, a variety of different APIs for portal components, so-called portlets, have been created by different vendors. Similarly, different mechanisms for invocation of remote visual components are being introduced by various vendors. The variety of incompatible interfaces creates problems for application providers, portal customers, and portal server vendors. To overcome these problems, the Java Portlet API and Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP) standards will provide interoperability between portlets and portals as well as interoperability between portals and visual, user-facing web services. With these standards in place, application providers or portal customers can write portlets, or visual, user-facing web services independent of a specific enterprise portal product. The Java Portlet API will be compatible with WSRP and therefore allow to publish portlets as web services... Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP) are visual, user-facing web services that plug and play with portals or other applications. They are designed to enable businesses to provide content or applications in a form that does not require any manual content- or application-specific adaptation by consuming portals. As WSRP includes presentation, WSRP service providers determine how their content and applications are visualized for end-users and to which degree adaptation, transcoding, translation, etc. may be allowed. WSRP services can be published into public or corporate service directories (UDDI) where they can easily be found by portals that want to display their content. Web application deployment vendors can wrap and adapt their middleware for use in WSRP-compliant services. Vendors of intermediary applications can enable their products for consuming WSRP services. Using WSRP, portals can easily integrate content and applications from internal and external content providers. The portal administrator simply picks the desired services from a list and integrates them, no programmers are required to tie new content and applications into the portal. To accomplish these goals, the WSRP standard will define a web services interface description using WSDL and all the semantics and behavior that web services and consuming applications must comply with in order to be pluggable; it will also define the meta-information that has to be provided when publishing WSRP services into UDDI directories. The standard allows WSRP services to be implemented in very different ways, be it as a Java/J2EE based web service, a web service implemented on the .NET platform, or a portlet published as a WSRP service by a portal..." See: "Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP)."

[March 08, 2002] "Georgia Portal Driven by Sun." By Dibya Sarkar. In Federal Computer Week (March 07, 2002). "Georgia officials recently signed a $7.3 million contract with Sun Microsystems Inc. to develop an enterprise portal that uses a Web services architecture that will mean greater interoperability among state agencies and integration of current applications. Sun's Web services architecture allows use of XML (Extensible Markup Language) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), enabling the state to integrate and link its legacy systems, rather than replace them. The platform also allows the state to use new standards-based products and emerging technologies from other vendors. As is the trend among portals, Georgia's will be intentions-based for residents and businesses -- meaning it will be organized around services and information that users want -- rather than agency-based. Several Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety applications are being developed in conjunction with the portal. A projected 400,000 residents are expected to use driver's license renewal applications -- online and via interactive voice response channels -- slated for a July launch. Other DMV applications include being able to take a written driver's test, renew tags and check traffic conditions. Sun selected Atlanta-based EzGov Inc., which specializes in technology for governments, to provide the motor vehicle applications... In a second phase, GTA has requested $8.7 million to help caseworkers from state and local governments and nonprofit agencies better deliver children and family services through a seamless system, according to a press release..."

[March 08, 2002] "XML Set to Boost Biometrics." By Margaret Kane. In CNET News.com (March 07, 2002). "A standards group is hoping that a key Web language will provide a standard way for computers and technology to describe human characteristics. The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, or OASIS, said Thursday that it has formed a technical committee to develop an XML standard for biometrics... The proposed XCBF standard will define information such as DNA, fingerprints, iris scans and hand geometry for use in identification and authentication. Its basis in XML will help facilitate the transfer of biometric information across the Internet, the organization said..." See references and description in "XML Common Biometric Format (XCBF)."

[March 08, 2002] Database Vendors Keep the XML Faith." By Tom Sullivan and Paul Krill. In InfoWorld (March 07, 2002). "Database archenemies IBM and Oracle are at it again, and the battle over how to store and manage XML data rages on. Both companies are set to issue new versions of their relational databases in the near future, with Oracle planning a May release and IBM slating the next iteration of DB2 for the middle of the year, and both companies are eyeing up XML as a means to extend their data management strategies. Oracle is planning to boost support of XML come May with Oracle9i Release 2, which will be a 'fully unified XML and relational database,' said Robert Shimp, vice president of database product marketing at Oracle, in Redwood Shores, Calif. 'Not only can you, in an Oracle database, store all the traditional transactional processing data, but you can also store full XML documents.' Although Oracle has had basic support for XML since early 1999, support planned for Release 2 will be much more expansive. "What you can do is with a single SQL query access both the XML and relational data," Shimp said. For example, a technical support person might field a call about a problem with a specific product, Shimp said. The support person might want to access information about the product as well as credit memos and internal product documents. "You can look up that information simultaneously with a single query, whereas in the past you would have had to search different databases to find this information,' Shimp said. Oracle's XML work is based on the W3C XML schema data model, to provide its database customers with a standard way to function with applications, Shimp said. Currently, Oracle's database has full XML parsers, an XML schema processor, and a full SQL XML utility for managing XML data. But unified SQL queries are not possible with current iterations of the database, Shimp said. As a part of its strategy for entering what it calls the next wave of data management, IBM is taking a three-faced approach and working to offer a database system that is capable of managing objects, relational data, and XML documents. Big Blue, based in Armonk, N.Y., plans to extend the core database engine currently in DB2 to include support for XML, with technologies such as new index structures that relate to XML, according to Nelson Mattos, an IBM distinguished engineer and director of IBM's information integration group. Although IBM has supported both objects and relational data in DB2 for some time now, the addition of XML will enhance that support. 'XML gives you a very flexible model to manage all the metadata around objects,' Mattos said... By supporting XML, relational, and object data, IBM's database will be able to interact with XML documents; structured information, such as rows and columns; and data written in object-oriented programming languages, namely Java and C++. To that end, support for the W3C's XML Query standard means that an XML application only needs to know XML Query to get at data residing in DB2..."

[March 08, 2002] "Learning C# XML." By Niel Bornstein. From XML.com. March 06, 2002. ['One in a series of articles examining the XML APIs provided by Microsoft's C# language. Many XML programmers currently use Java as their language of choice. Niel Bornstein approaches the C# XML APIs from a Java programmer's perspective. The first installment uses as an example the porting of a SAX-based Java application to use the C# XmlReader class.'] "In his opening keynote at the IDEAlliance XML 2001 Conference in Orlando, Florida, in December, James Clark said: 'Just because it comes from Microsoft, it's not necessarily bad'. With that in mind, I decided to explore what C# has to offer to the Java-XML community. I've been watching the continuing Microsoft story with a vague combination of intrigue and apprehension. You almost certainly know by now that, due to an awkward combination of hubris and court orders, Microsoft has stopped shipping any Java implementation with Windows, choosing instead to hitch its wagon to a star of its own making, C#. As a consumer, I'm not sure whether I like Microsoft's business practices. As a software developer, however, I'm interested in learning new languages and technologies. I've read enough to see that C# is enough like Java to make an interesting porting project. Even if I never write another line of C# code, there is certainly a lot to be learned from how Microsoft has integrated XML into its .NET platform. In this series I'll be porting a few small XML applications, which I've hypothetically written in Java, to C# in order to see if I can improve my Java programming... The first Java application to port to C#, which I call RSSReader, does something that most XML programmers have done at some point: read in an RSS stream using SAX and convert it to HTML. For our purposes, I'll expect to be reading an RSS 1.0 stream using JAXP and outputing out an HTML stream using java.io classes. We'll see that this example ports nicely to the C# XmlReader class. Future examples will convert JDOM to the C# XmlDocument and XmlNode classes, as well as experimenting with ports from an XML databinding framework to ADO.NET. There's a lot to ADO.NET, and I'll discuss some of that as well... unlike Java's XML libraries, all of System.Xml is provided by Microsoft. This means that, among other things, there is a consistent interface and a consistent set of tools for all your XML needs. No need to shop around for parsers and SAX implementations... If you don't want to write either an event loop or callbacks, the read-only, forward-only, stream-based model might not be for you; you might prefer a whole-document model (like, say, DOM). In that case, XmlReader will not appeal to you any more than SAX does. There is another set of tools in C#, starting with XmlDocument, which we'll discuss in the next article, which gives you all the power of a document stored in memory, plus the added convenience of building on what you've already learned."

[March 08, 2002] "Creating Efficient MSXML Applications." By Ben Berck. From XML.com. March 06, 2002. ['A report outlining real-life experiences with Microsoft's MSXML processor. Ben Berck describes how his development team turned a resource intensive XML processing application into an efficient scalable one.'] "What happens when you need to parse XML files on the order of 122 MB, with each file originating from a different source application? That was the dilemma my team faced when presented with the challenge of developing our company's new server-based XML rendering engine, along with a proof-of-concept Web site that would allow anyone to upload files and convert them to XML, SVG, HTML, etc. In short, we needed to be able to accommodate everything from Microsoft Word documents to Quark files, none of them small... We first encountered the Big O issue when trying to parse a large XML file using a parser that implements the XML DOM. Such an approach loaded the entire XML file into a memory resident tree structure. This used O(n) time to read the file and O(n) space to store it, which -- at first glance -- seemed acceptable. However, there was more involved than just loading the document. We still needed to write code to read the DOM, analyze it, and carry out tasks. We assumed this analysis, such as scanning for a particular element, would take O(n) time. Surprisingly, we found it to be O(n2) in practice, which is not acceptable... we found that once you hook up MXXMLWriter with a proper implementation of IStream, the rest of the program stays the same. Every time MXXMLWriter accumulates 4,096 Unicode characters (which occupy 8 KB of memory), it invokes the Write method of IStream, which converts the buffer to UTF-8 (which takes another 3.3 KB) and writes it to the file. Regardless of the size of the file or the subdocuments, this implementation will consume less than a dozen kilobytes of memory at a time. That's what you call O(1) space, and it means you'll now have to look elsewhere for the bottleneck on your busy server... I have included sample code for the IFileStream class, which implements IStream, as well as the code that converts a buffer of Unicode characters into UTF-8; if you want to see our XML rendering server in action, visit http://www.createxml.com...

[March 08, 2002] "Reading Multiple Input Documents." By Bob DuCharme. From XML.com. March 06, 2002. ['Bob explains how an XSLT script can read multiple input documents with the help of the document() function.'] "When you run an XSLT processor, you tell it where to find the source tree document -- probably in a disk file on a local or remote computer -- and the stylesheet to apply to it. You can't tell the processor to apply the stylesheet to multiple input documents at once. The document() function, however, lets the stylesheet name an additional document to read in. You can insert the whole document into the result tree or insert part of it based on a condition described by an XPath expression. You can even use this function with the xsl:key instruction and key() function to look up a key value in a document outside your source document. To start with a simple example, we'll look at a stylesheet that copies one document and inserts another into the result document..."

[March 08, 2002] "All That is Solid Melts Into Air." By Kendall Grant Clark. From XML.com. March 06, 2002. ['Kendall Clark focuses on the ethereal nature of technology. Just when you thought we'd all agreed that HTTP and XML were good things, people come along and challenge the foundation on which we're all building.'] "... One of the newest, most faddish drugs is 'Web Services', which most of the largest corporations in the industry, including IBM, Microsoft, and Sun, are pushing vigorously. Breathless marketeers are calling 'Web Services' the next 'Web revolution', piling high the myths and overblown expectations. And yet, as is too often the case, it's not entirely clear what Web Services is... or are -- the indecision seems to go all the way down to the grammar: is 'Web Services' one thing, an 'architectural vision', perhaps, or is it a lot of disparate or related things?... Eric van der Vlist questioned the extensibility of XML, calling it a myth. As van der Vlist put it, 'XML is based on trees which are not the most extensible structures (compared to tables or triples). If you extend a tree you are likely to break its structure (and existing applications). I would say that trees grow but are not "extended".'..."

[March 08, 2002] The Ontopia Knowledge Suite: An Introduction." Ontopia white paper for the Ontopia Knowledge Suite version 1.3. March 2002. 19 pages. "This white paper gives a quick introduction to version 1.3 of the Ontopia Knowledge Suite (OKS), describing the architecture, functionality, and composition of the suite. There is also some discussion of the possible usage areas of the suite. A basic understanding of the main concepts of topic maps is assumed; for explanations of these, please see the various topic map introductions available on our web site at http://www.ontopia.net/topicmaps... The Ontopia Topic Map Engine is what topic map applications and products use to work with topic maps. This SDK lets applications load topic maps from XML documents, store topic maps in databases, modify and access topic maps, and generally do all an application may need to do with a topic map. The engine has a core topic map API which all applications use to access topic map data, regardless of where those data are stored. Thus, whether the topic map is in-memory, in a database, or a virtual view is all the same to the application... The Query Engine is an implementation of the tolog query language for topic maps. This language can query topic maps for topics of specific types, which participate in certain combinations of associations, and supports inference rules. You can sort query results, and there is also support for counting query matches, and sorting by counts. Using tolog allows complex retrieval operations to be expressed compactly and easily, making it easier to develop and maintain applications. tolog is not a standardized query language, but is provided while ISO completes its standardized TMQL query language. Once completed, Ontopia will provide full support for TMQL... The Full-Text Integration allows topic maps to be indexed and then searched for topics by their names and the contents of their occurrences. This can be very helpful for users new to topic maps who need to find something quickly in a topic map. The Java-based search engine Lucene comes bundled with the integration. Lucene is open source, powerful, robust, scalable, and lightning fast. the Schema Tools are an implementation of the Ontopia Schema Language (OSL), which is a schema language for topic maps that allows the expression of constraints on a topic map. For example, it can be used to say that composers must have only a single name, they must have a date of death and of birth, and they must have composed at least one opera. Using the Schema Tools applications can easily validate whether or not the topic maps they work with follow the prescribed topic map structure or not. Schemas are also useful as compact and precise documentation of the structure of a topic map..." Paper also available in PDF format. See the news item of 2002-03-08: "Ontopia Knowledge Suite Supports Query and Schema Tools for Topic Maps." [cache]

[March 07, 2002] "The OASIS XML-Based Access-Control Markup Language (XACML)." Committee Draft from the OASIS Extensible Access Control Markup Language Technical Committee ("definng an XML specification for expressing policies for information access over the Internet"). March 08, 2002. 37 pages. Document identifier: 'draft-xacml-v0.10'. Location: http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/xacml/docs. Edited by Tim Moses (Entrust) and Simon Godik (Simon Godik). Contributors: Anne Anderson (Sun Microsystems), Bill Parducci (Bill Parducci), Carlisle Adams (Entrust), Ernesto Damiani (University of Milan), Hal Lockhart (Entegrity), Ken Yagen (Crosslogix), Michiharu Kudo (IBM, Japan), Pierangela Samarati (University of Milan), Polar Humenn (University of Syracuse), Sekhar Vajjhala (Sun Microsystems). Posted by Tim Modes to the XACML mailing list. Send comments to: xacml-comment@lists.oasis-open.org. "This specification defines the syntax and semantics for XML-encoded access control rule statements and policy statements. The XACML schema is an extension schema for SAML... The context and schema of XACML are described in two models that describe different aspects of its operation. These models are: the data-flow model and the policy language model... Some of the data-flows shown [in the diagram] may be facilitated by a repository. For instance, the communications between the PDP and the PIP may be facilitated by a repository, or the communications between the PDP and the PRP may be facilitated by a repository or the communication between the PAP and the PRP may be facilitated by a repository. The XACML specification is not intended to place restrictions on the location of any such repository, or indeed to prescribe a particular communication protocol for any of the data-flows. The model operates by the following steps. (1) PAPs write rules and make them available to the PRP. From the point of view of an individual PAP, its rule statements may represent the complete policy for a particular target. However, the PRP may be aware of other PAPs that it considers authoritative for the same target. In which case, it is the PRP's job to obtain all the rules and (if necessary) use a PMP to remove any conflict amongst those rules and combine the rules in accordance with a meta-policy. The result should be a self-consistent rule statement. (2) The PEP sends an authorization decision request to the PDP, in the form of a SAML request. The decision request contains some or all of the attributes required by the PDP to render a decision, in accordance with policy. (3) The PDP locates and retrieves the policy statement applicable to the decision request from the PRP. (4) The PRP returns the complete policy to the PDP in the form of an XACML rule statement or policy instance. The PDP ensures that the decision request is in the scope of the policy statement or rule statement... [#5 - #9]... Policy Language Model: A rule statement contains: a ruleId; a target; an effect; a metaPolicyRef and a condition. Target defines the set of names for the: resources; subjects and actions -- to which the rule statement applies. If the rule statement applies to all entities of a particular type, then the target definition is the root of the applicable name space. An XACML PDP must verify that the resources, subjects and actions identified in an authorization decision request are each included in the target of the rule statement that it uses to evaluate the request. MetaPolicyRef specifies the meta-policy by which the rule statement may be combined with other rule statements..." See also the XML schema. References: "Extensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML)."

[March 07, 2002] "XML Five Years On: Simplicity Gives Way to Complexity. [Standards. Will Success Spoil XML Or Just Complicate It?]" By Liora Alschuler and Mark Walter. In Seybold Report: Analyzing Publishing Technology [ISSN: 1533-9211] Volume 1, Number 23 (March 11, 2002), pages 1, 3-12. ['Five years after XML debuted as "simplified SGML," some of the complexity is creeping back in. At the center of this year's controversy are a plethora of schema-language proposals and growing doubt over the wisdom of remaining SGML-compatible. Meanwhile, XML is also being adopted for the data-processing industry -- whose interests don't always coincide with publishers' goals. Our story delineates the differences among the schemas and recaps the varied responses of the publishing-technology vendors. Finally, we look at the current crop of XML editing tools.'] "... [XMetaL:] The third major release of XMetaL, previewed at the December show and due to be available this month, features support for XML Schema as well as DTDs. The new version also adds out-of-the-box support for change tracking, a new Java API (and enhancements to other APIs), a forms editor, support for WebDAV and tighter Office integration for import from Word and Excel... [XML Spy:] Shortly before XML '01, Altova, best-known for its schema-design and -editing tools, announced the release of the 'all-new' XML Spy 4.0 Document Editor, 'an enterprise-wide content-management solution for creating and deploying large volumes of XML in real-world production environments.' This sounded to us like a significant new entrant in what has been a dwindling field of viable choices, so we reviewed it in that context. Since the show, Larry Kim, Altova's marketing director, has backed off somewhat from that positioning, stating that the XML Spy Document Editor is not intended as a ready-to-use environment for full-time authors doing editorial-production work. Rather, at this time its focus is on short, data-driven documents that the organization wants to capture and store as XML... [Topologi Markup Editor:] Rick Jelliffe's editor, called Topologi Markup Editor, is aimed at legal publishers, but it could be a tool with an even bigger future. The design criteria are evident in the editor's strengths: fast, keyboard-centric text entry and markup; smooth configuration management; and support for collaboration across the enterprise. It also promises to be the editor that supports the most XML schema languages, including XML and SGML DTDs, XML Schema, RELAX NG and Schematron... XML editors are gaining traction as the editing interfaces to content-management systems, but it's too early to tell if SoftQuad's head start in schema support will have lasting advantage. While we saw no mass movement away from the desire to do everything in Word, neither are the structured-markup tools designed to work with Word finding a general audience... we expect to see widespread adoption of XSD within Web content management. Because so many Web pages at large sites are built as collections of components, the data-set model of XML Schema makes sense as a way to describe and validate material entering the repository. For vendors in this arena, support for XML Schema will be more critical, because they'll be expected to receive and deliver a wide variety of content -- everything from news stories, press releases and proposals to catalogs, sales orders and personalized, multidimensional, compound Web documents. Privately, Web content-management vendors we've spoken with admit that customers are asking about XML Schema support. But most have not made public their timetable for supporting it in their products. We expect to see progress on this front throughout the year... The challenge for XML, as we see it, is to remain responsive to its diverse constituents, a move which could be healthy, in the long run, for the mainstream power brokers as well as those immersed in less popular, more-specialized applications. SoftQuad CTO Peter Sharpe observes that it is ironic that XML has instigated a revolution in database technology while the narrative applications for which it was created have been left relatively unaffected. If the computer industry is to maintain this mainline to innovation and explosive new capability, it would do well to find a way to restore balance in the standard's development process. If not, the publishing community may find that the ripples from the XML data revolution reach farther and with more force than most of us envisioned five years ago..." [excerpts from another very fine article in Seybold Report -rcc]

[March 07, 2002] "Content-Management Systems: Comparing Installation Numbers. [Comparing Installations: Numbers, Implications.]" By Luke Cavanagh. In Seybold Report: Analyzing Publishing Technology [ISSN: 1533-9211] Volume 1, Number 23 (March 11, 2002), pages 13-15. ['Firm facts about the vendors' market presence and positioning can help you plan your next system upgrade. Comparative data on content-management systems is hard to find and hard to interpret. So we've rounded up the key facts on the main vendors and boiled everything down to a simple table. We've also classified the products into five market segments for your shopping convenience. We will update the statistics at regular intervals.'] "When you go looking for a new content-management system, it pays to consider a company's health and the relative maturity of its products before making a multi-year commitment to its technology. Is a vendor a raw start-up or veteran supplier? Is this a brand-new product, one that's well-established, or one that's past its prime? There's no 'right' answer to these questions; the supplier and product that make a good choice depend on your organization and the application at hand. But regardless of what you're looking for, it's helpful to know where the vendors sit relative to their competitors. Similarly, it helps to have a general idea about pricing. If you've got $100,000 to spend, it may not be the best use of your time to open discussions with a company that typically installs quarter-million-dollar solutions." The 'Content-Management Systems Installation Overview' (in chart form) reviews 27 systems. "... we've developed a table outlining the leading content-management vendors on the market today. We've also classified them in five categories. The categories are based on several factors: the geographical reach of the company's sales efforts, the number of systems installed, the average price of an installation and the company's software-to-services revenue ratio. The software-to-services ratio can be a hint of high ongoing service costs, and it also shows how well new sales efforts are currently proceeding. The goal of most companies is to keep the software portion of the pie as large as possible... The three XML-based systems listed here are also large in scale and price, but they have not achieved the same level of penetration as those in the first group. They feature built-in XML functionality that manages content at a very granular level and are typically installed in cross-media publishing applications, such as technical documentation or commercial reference publishing. These products have roots in SGML -- which helps explain their niche penetration rates. Now that XML is on the rise, it remains to be seen if the larger players will leverage or subsume these vendors' expertise..."

[March 07, 2002] "Progressive On Target With Vasont Cross-Media Content-Management System. New Name, Better Online Functionality for Target 2000." By Mark Walter. In Seybold Report: Analyzing Publishing Technology [ISSN: 1533-9211] Volume 1, Number 23 (March 11, 2002). ['Vasont is version 7 of the turnkey content-management system formerly called Target 2000 from Progressive Information Technologies. New features include a Web interface and toolkit, a graphical workflow designer and XML integration. It's aimed at reference works, and it tries to be entirely media-agnostic. Though the Web interface is too tightly tied to Microsoft Active Server Pages, it has a lot going for it.'] Heralding the product's move from the '90s into the twenty-first century, Progressive Information Technologies has rechristened its Target 2000 content-management system Vasont, coinciding with release 7 of the product. The new version of the software, which is targeted at cross-media publishing, features a new Web interface and toolkit, a graphical workflow designer and several other changes. Overall, it has evolved into a mature and sophisticated product... Vasont is an XML-aware content-management system designed for cross-media publishing of diverse content, including text-heavy reference works, technical documentation and educational materials. Its first customer was W. B. Saunders, which uses it to manage Dorland's Medical Dictionary, a large, single-volume book that is offered on CD-ROM and online. Shortly afterward, Progressive did a similar project for IEEE and its Standard Dictionary of Electrical and Electronics Terms. Since then, Progressive has installed Vasont at a handful of other publishers, including McGraw-Hill for its Science & Technology Encyclopedia; Merck, for use with the Merck Index; and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists for use with its drug information database, AHFS DI... Progressive has upgraded its ties to third-party editing products in version 7. It has completed integrations with Arbortext's Epic, Corel (formerly SoftQuad) XMetaL and Adobe FrameMaker, and it has built Microsoft Word templates with logic to translate the files to XML. It also has integrated Vasont with Advent's 3B2 composition system... A new Read DTD utility furnishes a front end for setting up a data load based on an XML document type definition (DTD). Progressive has also added subset extraction and loading, so that selected portions of a database can be pulled out and reloaded without affecting the rest of the content... Vasont is the new name for a well-proven system aimed at customers with modest IT resources who want a turnkey system to manage a reference database. For customers with aging systems from Auto-Graphics (another longtime player in reference-database publishing), Vasont's updated Web and third-party authoring integration could be compelling reasons to switch. In the larger market, where Vasont competes against XML-aware content-management systems (Astoria, Documentum, Empolis, XyEnterprise), its 'tag-neutral' approach and strong product-development features dovetail with emerging standards and cross-media publishing needs. Vasont's feature set reflects Progressive's hands-on publishing experience, gained over several decades as a service organization..."

[March 06, 2002] "CapeConnect Three Web Services Platform. Technical Overview." Cape Clear Software white paper. [March] 2002. 18 pages. "Cape Clear Software produces the software platform and tools necessary to build new Web Services and to enable legacy systems as Web Services. CapeConnect is a complete Web Services platform that automatically exposes Java, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), and CORBA components as Web Services based on Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Web Services Description Language (WSDL), and Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI). CapeConnect is ideal for enterprise application integration, especially in heterogeneous environments where multiple types of front-end clients are connected to multiple types of back-end systems. CapeConnect unites COM, Java, J2EE, CORBA, and XML around an open Web Services model. This paper provides a technical overview of the CapeConnect Web Services platform... The CapeConnect architecture contains four core components: (1) The CapeConnect gateway is a servlet that runs in a servlet engine on a Web server. The gateway acts as a communication bridge between remote clients and the CapeConnect XML engine. (2) The CapeConnect XML engine converts SOAP messages from the gateway to Java calls or CORBA calls on back-end components. The XML engine then converts the results of these calls to SOAP messages and returns these messages to the gateway. (3) The CapeConnect J2EE engine is Cape Clear's implementation of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). (4) The CapeConnect UDDI registry is Cape Clear's implementation of the UDDI 1.0 standard... XML Engine: The core of the CapeConnect system, the XML engine converts SOAP requests into invocations against back-end systems. This translation is entirely dynamic and does not involve code generation or the need to re-deploy business logic. The XML engine can invoke Java classes within the same Java virtual machine (JVM) or can make external calls to EJB or CORBA components running in a separate application server process..."

[March 06, 2002] "Cape Clear Targets Integration Market With Web Services." By Richard Karpinski. In InternetWeek (March 06, 2002). "Web-services vendor Cape Clear Software will release a new version of its Web-services development platform next week that will mark its most direct attack yet against traditional enterprise integration rivals. The release of Cape Clear's CapeConnect 3.5 server and CapeStudio 3.5 development platform supports the usual run of Web-services protocols including XML, SOAP, and UDDI. But Cape Clear has added a new integration framework and other capabilities to the latest release in an attempt to offer enterprises a more affordable, standards-based alternative to traditional integration products, said Annrai O'Toole, Cape Clear CEO. Mainstream EAI vendors -- including companies such as Vitria, webMethods, Tibco, SeeBeyond, and others -- re furiously adding Web-services protocols to their integration platforms, which in the past have often been based on proprietary protocols (and more recently, more multi-platform technologies like J2EE)... New CapeConnect features include: XML mapping technology that can link an XML data source with any Web service hosted within the system; an array of built-in legacy connectors; support for both J2EE and .NET; improved database support; upgraded UDDI functionality; and more. CapeConnect 3.5's development pricing starts at $2500 while runtime pricing starts at $10,000..."

[March 06, 2002] "AIIM Show Spotlights Content Management." By Cathleen Moore . In InfoWorld (March 06, 2002). "The latest developments in enterprise content management will soak up the limelight at the AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management) 2002 Conference in San Francisco this week, as vendors such as Documentum, Ipedo, Ektron, and Wright Technologies roll out systems for digital asset management and XML control. Documentum at the show is introducing two new digital asset management products based on technology it acquired from the Bulldog Group in December. The Documentum Media Services product is integrated with the company's 4i Enterprise Content Management platform, letting enterprises manage multimedia, Web content, images, and documents from a single platform. Media Services allows users to edit media assets such as video, audio, and images, and combine those assets with other types of content; other features include automatic extraction of media attributes such as format, compression, or color; advanced search capabilities; format conversion capabilities; and streaming media support. The other product, Documentum Digital Asset Management Edition, is a souped-up media platform designed for entertainment or media organizations that distribute broadcast-quality digital assets. It includes specialized features such as tracking of time-based media and a Tape Library Manager for digitizing videotapes...Meanwhile, XML content management will receive some attention at AIIM, as Ipedo unveils its XML Database 3.0. The Ipedo XML Database is designed to ease the integration and management of dynamic XML content over the Internet. Version 3.0 adds a W3C-compliant XML query implementation, XML document versioning, improved SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) support, and performance enhancements... Ektron plans to roll out an XML editor aimed at empowering business users to apply XML to Web content. The company's eWebEditPro+XML lets users add and manage XML tags in a semi-structured content view across multiple media and device types..."

[March 06, 2002] "Additional XML Security URIs." By Donald E. Eastlake 3rd (Motorola). IETF Internet-Draft. Reference: 'draft-eastlake-xmldsig-uri-02.txt'. January 2002; expires: July 2002. ['Distribution of this draft is unlimited. It is intended to become an Informational RFC and will probably also be published as a W3C Note. Comments should be sent to the author or the XMLDSIG working group'] Abstract: "A number of algorithm and keying information identifying URIs intended for use with XML Digital Signatures and XML Encryption are defined." From the introduction: "XML Digital Signatures have been standardized by the joint IETF/W3C XMLDSIG working group. The Proposed Standard is specified in RFC 3075 and a Draft Standard version is pending before the IESG [XMLDSIG-D]. Canonical XML, which is used by many digital signatures, has been standardized by the W3C and is documented in Informational RFC 3076. In addition, XML Encryption and Exclusive XML Canonicalization are currently being standardized by the W3C. All of these standards and recommendations use URIs to identify algorithms and keying information types. This document is intended to be a convenient reference list of URIs and descriptions for algorithms in which there is substantial interest but which can not or have not been included in the main documents for some reason. Note in particular that raising XML digital signature to Draft Standard in the IETF requires remove of any algorithms for which there is not demonstrated interoperability from the main standards document. This requires removal of the Minimal Canonicalization algorithm, in which there appears to be continued interest, to be dropped from the standards track specification. It is included here..." See references in : (1) See "XML Digital Signature (Signed XML - IETF/W3C)"; (2) "XML and Encryption."

[March 06, 2002] "Internet Registry Information Service." By Andrew L. Newton (VeriSign, Inc.). IETF Network Working Group, Internet-Draft. Reference: 'draft-newton-iris-00'. February 19, 2002; expires: August 20, 2002. 26 pages. Abstract: "This document describes an application layer client-server protocol for a framework of representing the query and result operations of the information services of Internet registries. Specified in XML, the protocol defines generic query and result operations and a mechanism for extending these operations for specific registry service needs." Formal XML Syntax: "IRIS is specified in XML Schema notation. The formal syntax presented is a complete schema representation of IRIS suitable for automated validation of IRIS XML instances." Description: "Each of the three types of registries, address, routing, and domain, are considered to occupy their own namespace. This registry namespace is identified by the URI, more specifically a URN, used within the XML instances to identify the XML schema formally describing the information service. A registry information server may handle queries and serve results for multiple registry namespaces. Each registry namespace for which a particular registry operator serves is a registry information service instance. IRIS, and the XML schema formally describing IRIS, does not specify any registry, registry namespace, or knowledge of a particular service instance or set of instances. IRIS is a specification for a framework with which these registry namespaces can be defined, used, and in some cases interoperate. The framework merely specifies the elements for session management and the elements which must be used to derive query elements and result elements. This framework allows a registry namespace to define its own structure for naming, entities, queries, etc. through the use XML namespaces and XML schemas (hence, a registry namespace is identified by the same URI that identifies its XML namespace). In order to be useful, a registry namespace must extend from this framework. The framework does define certain structures that can be common to all namespaces, such as entity references, search continuations, authentication types, and more. A registry namespace may declare its own definitions for all of these, or it may mix its derived definitions with the base definitions. IRIS defines two types of referrals, an entity reference and a search continuation. An entity reference indicates specific knowledge about an individual entity, and a search continuation allows for distributed searches. Both types may span differing registry namespaces and instances. In addition, IRIS specifies requirements for representing entity references as URIs. No assumptions or specifications are made about roots, bases, or meshes of entities..." [cache]

[March 06, 2002] "Mission Interoperable: Rivals Aim To Link Web Services." By Richard Karpinski. In InternetWeek (March 06, 2002). "An ad hoc group of Web services pioneers - from large vendors like Microsoft and IBM to small upstarts and one-man development shops - held the latest in a series of hands-on meetings recently to test the interoperability of key Web services specifications. After a pair of meetings focused on SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), the group -- dubbed SoapBuilders after the public mailing list that drives the community -- turned its attention to WSDL (Web services Description Language). Participants in the latest round of testing included: BEA, Borland, Cape Clear, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Macromedia, and Oracle, along with a slew of smaller companies and developers... The group's outlook after its most recent meeting: An early focus on interoperability is serving Web services well, though plenty of detail-oriented work remains to ensure key protocols like SOAP and WSDL work consistently across different clients and servers. Results of the SOAP and WSDL interoperability tests are available via several sources... A WSDL specification is currently submitted to the W3C as a note, and a group of companies are implementing that spec in their products and testing interoperability. Eventually, the W3C will come out with a formal recommendation for describing Web services; vendors will adjust if need be to this W3C guidance. As happened with SOAP, vendors are going through a now well-established process to get WSDL deployed and tested. First, individual vendors read and implement the specification. Next -- and this is what began happening last week -- they test interoperability among different clients, servers, and development tools... The companies involved made a lot of progress in working through WSDL interoperability issues in their most recent session; they'll also keep banging away at publicly accessible servers to resolve remaining issues until the group meets again, most likely within three months. After that, look for the Soap Builders group to tackle other crucial Web services areas, most likely security, where emerging XML specs are defining how digital signatures and encryption will work in a Web services environment..."

[March 06, 2002] "IBM Touts XML for DB2 Database." By Tom Sullivan. In InfoWorld (March 05, 2002). "As part of its strategy for entering what it calls the next wave of data management, IBM plans to offer a database capable of managing objects, relational data, and XML documents. In a briefing with InfoWorld this week, the Armonk, N.Y.-based company detailed plans to extend the core database engine currently in DB2 to include support for XML, with technologies such as new index structures that relate to XML, according to Nelson Mattos, an IBM distinguished engineer and director of IBM's information integration group. While IBM has supported both objects and relational data in DB2 for some time, the addition of XML will enhance that support. 'XML gives you a very flexible model to manage all the metadata around objects,' Mattos said. Mattos said that the idea is to make the core DB2 look like a relational database engine with XML capabilities from the perspective of applications looking for relational data, while making it look like an XML database with relational capabilities or an object database with relational capabilities from the perspectives of applications looking for those data types. To that end, support for the XQuery standard means that an XML application only needs to know XQuery to get at data residing in DB2... Furthering its distributed approach to data management, Big Blue is planning to launch a new version of its Content Manager software in the second quarter of this year."

[March 06, 2002] "Vignette Manages Content." By Michael Vizard. In InfoWorld (March 05, 2002). ['In an interview with InfoWorld Editor in Chief Michael Vizard, Vignette CEO Greg Peters and Senior Vice President and General Manager for Strategy and Technology Bill Daniel talk about the strategic role content management plays in unifying data assets across the enterprise.'] "... [Daniel:] We're supporting both the J2EE and the Microsoft .Net technology stacks because we see them as the providers of infrastructure. Web services hold out the promise of standardization of the protocols and the communication and the exchange of information between components of an application inside the firewall and disparate applications or pieces of applications. That is coming, and it's coming fast. It promises to make integration and a kind of aggregation of services quite easy. I think there's also a set of content management-related issues, because what's really flying around in a Web services world is content... immediately you'd better be able to handle XML natively and you'd better have the ability to process and transform XML and understand XML built into your applications. Every day there's a new standard for querying and another standard for interchange of documents between people in a certain industry. It's almost like we've learned how to talk and now we're creating every language known to man. Of course, it has some real advantages over HTML or other ways of storing information because XML has an actual structure to it and it's self-describing. What our customers are telling us [is] that over time they want to use XML as kind of the backbone for content management solutions. They're not necessarily saying that they want to throw everything away and convert it all to XML. They're talking about more future [plans]. We're really working with our infrastructure partners. From a repository point of view, we see the infrastructure providers coming on very strong there. We're focused at the application services level, making sure that we can handle XML and manage XML, but we're not focused on the storage and repositories because we think those issues are being solved very nicely by other vendors..."

[March 05, 2002] "Jabber." By Jeremie Miller, Peter Saint-Andre, and James Barry (Jabber Software Foundation). IETF Network Working Group, Internet-Draft. February 21, 2002; expires: August 22, 2002. Reference: 'draft-miller-jabber-00.' Abstract: "This informational document describes the Jabber protocols, a set of open, XML-based protocols developed over a number of years mainly to provide instant messaging and presence services. In addition, this document describes the known deficiencies of the Jabber protocols." From the introduction: "Jabber is a set of open, XML-based protocols for which there exist multiple implementations. These implementations have been used mainly to provide instant messaging and presence services that are currently deployed on thousands of domains worldwide and are accessed by millions of IM users daily. Because a standard description of the Jabber protocols is needed to describe this new traffic growing over the Internet, the current document defines the Jabber protocols as they exist today. In addition, this document describes the known deficiencies of the Jabber protocols; however, this document does not address those deficiencies, since they are being addressed through a variety of standards efforts... The standard transport mechanisms for XML-RPC, SOAP, and other forms of XML data interchange are HTTP and, to a lesser extent, SMTP; yet neither of these mechanisms provides knowledge about the availability of network endpoints, nor are they particularly optimized for the often asynchronous nature of data interchange, especially when such data comes in the form of relatively small payloads as opposed to the larger documents originally envisioned to be the main beneficiaries of XML. By contrast, the existing instant messaging (IM) services have developed fairly robust methods for routing small information payloads to presence-aware endpoints (having built text messaging systems that scale up to millions of concurrent users), but their data formats are unstructured and they have for the most part shunned the standard addressing schemes afforded by URIs and the DNS infrastructure. Given these considerations, the developers of the Jabber system saw the need for open protocols that would enable the exchange of structured information in an asynchronous, near-real-time manner between any two or more network endpoints, where each endpoint is addressable as a URI and is able to know about the presence and availability of other endpoints on the network. Such protocols, along with associated implementations, would not only provide an alternative (and in many cases more appropriate) transport mechanism for XML data interchange, but also would encourage the development of instant messaging systems that are consistent with Internet standards related to network addressing (URIs, DNS) and structured information (XML). The Jabber protocols provide just such functionality, since they support asynchronous XML-based messaging and the presence or availability of network endpoints..." See: "Jabber XML Protocol." [cache]

[March 05, 2002] "RDF Site Summary 1.0 Modules: Streaming." By Ben Hammersley. Version 1.0. 2002-03-05. Status: Proposed. "This module addresses the additional needs of streaming-media providers. It is seen as an addition to existing standard and proposed modules, especially Dublin Core. The main features involve the associated application for the media stream, the codec the stream is encoded with and additional tags for the segmentation of live/continual broadcasts. It is predominantly technical/practical information: I envisage information such as music style, or video content to be dealt with by Dublin Core, the mod_content etc..." See "RDF Site Summary (RSS)."

[March 05, 2002] "RSS Tools and Stuff." By Mark Gibbs. In Network World Fusion (March 04, 2002). "In last week's Gearhead we discussed a standard for news syndication called Rich Site Summary. To recap, RSS lets Internet sites with something to say make their content findable through an XML-formatted file that summarizes what is available and where it is. These summaries are called RSS feeds. Through the good offices of our esteemed Online Executive Editor Adam Gaffin, an RSS feed for Network World's NWFusion Web site is available... A particularly interesting aspect of this feed is the DIY part: The RSS data is created on-the-fly from the output of the search engine used by the site, and you can embed whatever search terms you want in the RSS URL you request, giving you the ability to get just the news you want. Cool... if you want to use RSS feeds, you're going to need a tool for the heavy lifting. May we suggest Headline Viewer (eight gearteeth out of 10) from Vertex Development? Headline Viewer is reasonably functional in that it crashes only occasionally. On the other hand, as it is currently uncharged for, we can't complain. We write "uncharged for," because the software is not actually freeware nor is it commercial yet - Vertex plans to charge for the program when it reaches Version 1.0, and it is currently stalled out at Version 0.97 (Version 1.0 was scheduled for last year but . . . ). Headline Viewer polls a list of publishers for RSS files at intervals from one and 24 hours. As each RSS file is retrieved the headlines are added to a list that is displayed for the currently selected publisher. Clicking on an item will take you to the URL to which the headline refers. Headline Viewer can load lists of publishers from a selection of built-in aggregators that includes Userland, XMLTree, GrokSoup and NewsIsFree. You can also define your own publishers..." See previously "All the News That's Fit to RSS." References: "RDF Site Summary (RSS)."

[March 05, 2002] "Vignette Melds Web Services, Content Management." By Cathleen Moore. In InfoWorld (March 05, 2002). "Throwing its hat into the Web services ring, Vignette on Tuesday plans to add support for two Web services standards to its flagship Web CM (content management) system, V6. Specifically, Vignette will arm V6 with support for SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and WSDL (Web Services Description Language), which form the current core of emerging standards most often associated with Web services along with XML and UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration). Support for SOAP and WSDL will allow CM processes to be exposed as a Web service, thereby reducing the cost and complexity of content or application sharing, according to the company. V6 features native support for J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) and .Net environments, as well as existing support for XML. The new Web services-based CM process exposes content objects through an XML-based API, wraps the objects in a SOAP envelope, and deploys it to an active directory that is used by other companies to find the Web service they want, according to Santi Pierini, vice president of product strategy at Vignette, in Austin, Texas..." See: (1) "Vignette's New Support for Web Services Reduces Complexity and Cost of Delivering Content to Users and Business Applications. Vignette V6 Now Enables Organizations to Expose Any Content Management Process as a Web Service"; and (2) "The State Of New Mexico Selects Vignette V6. Vignette V6 at Core of Strategy to Bring Web Services to eGovernment."

[March 05, 2002] "IBM Spells Out Web Services Strategy." By Rob Wright. In CMP VARBusiness (March 04, 2002). "Feeling the heat in the Web services market from top competitors such as BEA Systems, Oracle and Sun Microsystems, IBM on Monday highlighted its own Web services strategy, positioning itself firmly in between the competing Java and .Net standards while declaring that it is the true market leader in the emerging market. Officials from IBM Software Group and IBM Global Services, along with IBM software brands Lotus and Tivoli, fleshed out Big Blue's overall approach to Web services, one that focuses on open standards and support of both Java-based Web services and Microsoft's .Net platform. Most of the attention, however, was focused on IBM's middleware brands, specifically the WebSphere platform and application server, as the key to driving growth and adoption of Web services in the enterprise market. IBM officials say the company will invest $700 million in WebSphere this year, which grew rapidly in 2001 and gained significant market share against BEA's WebLogic application server, which was the market leader last year... To offer such a high degree of connectivity through WebSphere, IBM has rolled out support of all major technologies and Internet standards, which has been a key selling point for Big Blue's Web services push. IBM has been a major contributor to Java, J2EE and UDDI and offers strong support for XML, SOAP, WSDL -- even .Net. While IBM and Microsoft have two distinct and separate Web services strategies and product lines, the technology giants teamed up recently to form the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I), a group focused on developing interoperable standards to connect multiple platforms, applications and programming languages. Accenture, Intel, BEA, Hewlett-Packard and Oracle are also members of WS-I. 'The world is heterogeneous,' says Robert Sutor, director of e-business standards strategy at IBM. 'If customers buy our software and they can't communicate with Microsoft, BEA and other competitors, we fail.' IBM, however, will be walking a fine line with Microsoft. While Big Blue has attacked such threats as BEA, Sun and Oracle, the company is restrained with Microsoft because it sees opportunity around .Net, Microsoft's proprietary Web services platform. IBM officials say they're concentrating on getting Microsoft to support open standards, and it has worked to a degree. Along with forming WS-I, the two companies worked together on developing SOAP... IBM also pointed out that Java is the more popular technology for enterprises buying Web services. In addition, the company cited a recent survey from analyst firm Giga Information Group that showed 32 percent of customers say WebSphere is the most important Web services platform, compared with 22 percent for Microsoft .Net. Going forward, IBM says it will concentrate on developing standards with WS-I, which the company says has had membership inquiries from more than 450 companies, and offering solution providers and software developers more resources and support through its partner program and new partner initiative, WebServices on WebSphere..." See: "Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I)."

[March 01, 2002] "CSS3 module: Lists." W3C Working Draft 20-February-2002. Edited by Tantek Çelik (Microsoft Corporation) and Ian Hickson. Latest version URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-lists. This first public working draft for the W3C Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Level 3 'Lists' Module "describes how lists are rendered and offers enhanced list marker styling... The list model in this module differs in some important ways from the list model in CSS2, specifically in its handling of markers. Implementation experience suggested the CSS2 model overloaded the ::before and ::after pseudo-elements with too much behavior, while at the same time introducing new properties when existing properties were sufficient. Most block-level elements in CSS generate one principal block box. In this module, [the authors] discuss two CSS mechanisms that cause an element to have an associated marker: one method associates one principal block box (for the element's content) with a separate marker box (for decoration such as a bullet, image, or number), and the other inserts a marker box into the principal box. Unlike ::before and ::after content, the marker box cannot affect the position of the principal box, whatever the positioning scheme... There are significant changes in this module when compared to CSS2: (1) display:marker has been replaced with ::marker; (2) It is no longer possible to make end markers; (3) The marker-offset property is obsoleted; (4) The marker display type is obsoleted; (5) Markers are now aligned relative to the line box edge, rather than the border edge; (6) Markers now have margins; (7) The introduction of the box list style type as well as a number of alphabetic and numbering types; (8) Error handling rules for unknown list style types were changed to be consistent with the normal parsing error handling rules; (9) The list-item predefined counter identifier has been introduced..." See "W3C Cascading Style Sheets."

[March 01, 2002] "The State of Web Services." Interview with Bob Sutor (IBM). By Ellie MacIsaac (Assistant Managing Editor, WebSphere Advisor). In [XML Strategies] Advisor (February 28, 2002). ['Advisor recently spoke with IBM director of e-business standards strategy Bob Sutor about current trends in Web services adoption, and the standards integration work being done by the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I).'] "The Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) is based on providing guidance and clarity both for the developers and the people making investment decisions. They need to know that the products, such as the tools, the runtime, and the Web services themselves are based on open standards. They also need to know which open standards the developers used, and if they used common industry practices to put them together. We want our customers to have the confidence to say, 'Alright, I can use that Web service. I know that will be compliant with what I already have.' We think that confidence will really speed up the adoption of Web services. We all agree Web services is a good idea -- it's hard to argue against it. Therefore, we want to get this technology into our customers' systems as quickly as possible, but they want the reassurance it'll do the job. They want to know that all these promises of interoperability are more than just marketing hype -- that this notion of interoperability is something they can concretely see and measure... We've started doing some preliminary work over the last year around the basic standards such as SOAP and WSDL, which are the basic ways for describing Web services. This organization's timing is very important. We think we're about to enter a period where there will be many more technologies coming into the standardization process. I mentioned some before -- security, reliability, and transactions -- but there are several more. So, we're at the point where the foundation for Web services, in terms of the basic connectivity, has been laid. We've clearly been talking about Web services a lot, and people at least have a vague idea of what Web services are. We want to make sure now that when we move off the basic platform for all the future standardization efforts that will take place in the different organizations, that interoperability is built in -- that it's a requirement from now on to make sure the standard coming from one place will work with the standard coming from another place. There are just too many different specifications to be handling them all in one place. The W3C will not do them all; OASIS will not do them all; same with the OMG, or any of the other big organizations. So, it's assumed that this standardization work will be done in a distributed way. So, we need a central organization, like WS-I, that's neutral and isn't affiliated with any of these organizations, and therefore isn't involved in any of the existing cross-organization politics. We're also neutral regarding programming languages; we don't say you have to do Web services with Java or C# or .NET. So, WS-I is an appropriately neutral industry body that can drive forward the roadmap for Web services to work in a complementary fashion with the standards organizations and finally make this notion of interoperability real..." See: "Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I)." [fcCG]

[February 28, 2002] "Canonical XML Encoding Rules (CXER) for Secure Messages. An ASN.1 Schema for XML Markup." By Phillip R. Griffin. February 19, 2002. Based upon slides and speaker notes from a presentation given at the RSA Security Conference (McEnery Conference Center, San Jose, California). From a communiqué: "The presentation is entitled, 'Canonical XML Encoding Rules (CXER) for Secure Messages - An ASN.1 Schema for XML Markup'. It describes how to use ASN.1, the Abstract Syntax Notation One standards defined by ISO, IEC and ITU-T, as a schema for XML messages. The presentation will be given by Phillip H. Griffin. By using an ASN.1 schema, XML values can be transferred in a compact, efficient binary format. These same values can then be represented and used locally as verbose markup text. This capability allows XML to be used effectively in environments with constraints imposed by mobility and/or limited bandwidth (e.g., wireless communications with personal digital assistants), high volumes of transactions (e.g., Internet commerce), or limited storage capacity (e.g., smart cards)... ASN.1 is a schema for encoded values: Type definitions are based on the X.680-series notation; Types describe the expected general structure of values; Each builtin type defines a class, a set of distinct values; Constraints restrict a class and the validity of values... Using the Canonical XML Encoding Rules (CXER), the same ASN.1 XML Value Notation example can be encoded one and only one way as a single long string containing no 'white-space' characters outside of data..." A free copy of the presentation, including slides and speaker notes, is available online. See: "ASN.1 Markup Language (AML)" and note the new TC: "OASIS Technical Committee for XML Common Biometric Format (XCBF)" which "...will define an ASN.1/XML CBEFF schema, an introduction and overview of canonical DER, PER, and XER, and the processing and security requirements needed for the creation and verification of all cryptographic types defined in X9.84, in the form of XML encoded objects..." [cache]

[February 28, 2002] [Review of] Digital Rights Management: Business and Technology. Reviewed by John S. Erickson, Ph.D. (Hewlett-Packard Laboratories). The book is authored by William Rosenblatt, William Trippe and Stephen Mooney (Hungry Minds, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, November 2001; ISBN: 0-7645-4889-1.) "This book was [...] the best, most comprehensive treatment of digital rights management that I have seen to date. The book excels primarily because the authors continually emphasize the overarching business imperatives while considering the applicable technologies, at times in depth. The book does an important service to the industry by combining useful abstract models with considered discussions of real technologies and solutions... Part II, 'The Technology of DRM' methodically introduces the reader to the world of DRM technology, beginning with the conceptual basis for 'rights models' and how these may be crafted to embody a variety of business models (Chapter 4). Chapter 5 presents the authors' 'DRM Reference Architecture,' an extremely useful tool for understanding the system components required in any practical DRM system and their various relationships. Chapter 6 provides a timely and thoughtful treatment of DRM standards activity, be they formal or de facto. The terms 'standard' and 'digital rights management' have traditionally seemed oxymoronic, but the authors demonstrate that progress is being made and DRM standards already have business relevance. For example, readers will find the sections on ICE, a standard protocol for content syndication, and the XrML rights specification language from ContentGuard to be useful and enlightening. Chapters 4-6, in this reviewer's mind, were the 'gems' of the book, providing the most important take-home messages. The final chapter in Part II focuses on significant technologies and major technology players in the industry, including the likes of Digimarc, Adobe, Intertrust, Microsoft and RealNetworks. The authors' thorough treatment of Microsoft's 'Unified DRM'/BlackBox digital rights management technology was especially timely and useful, given the awarding of US Patent 6,330,670 'A Digital Rights Management Operating System' on December 12, 2001... Finally, this reviewer's criticisms: I felt that there could have been a bit more discussion of the impact that various XML-based security initiatives might make on emerging DRM standards or solutions in general. I felt that the digital library community might like to see more consideration of the problems that conventional DRM technologies face when trying to deliver cross-organizational authentication and authorization in manageable ways..." See the online chapter from the book: "[DRM] Technology Standards: Leveling the Playing Field." For references, see "XML and Digital Rights Management (DRM)."

[February 28, 2002] "Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Progress Report and Workplan for 2002." By Makx Dekkers (Managing Director, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative) and Stuart L. Weibel (Executive Director, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative). "The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) progressed on many fronts in 2001, including launching important organizational changes, achievement of major objectives identified in the previous year, completion of ANSI standardization, and increased community participation and uptake of the standard. The annual workshop, held in Asia for the first time this past October, was broadened in scope to include a tutorial track and conference. This report summarizes the accomplishments and changes that have taken place in the Initiative during the past year and outlines the workplan for the coming year... DCMI remains committed to its mission to serve the user community, to further develop its role in the wider context of the semantic Web, and to create a stable platform for future developments and outreach to the commercial sector (especially product development and knowledge technologies). DC and OAI: The initial version of the OAI protocol calls for the use of unqualified Dublin Core as the required default metadata set. However, implementation of this recommendation is not without difficulty, and may result in awkward representation of some types of resources. In addition, the current protocol associates an OAI-specific XML schema with the DC namespace rather than pointing to the DCMI-maintained site. Recent concerns about these issues in both communities have resulted in closer liaison between their technical groups, and this is expected to result in collaborative efforts to resolve these issues in the coming year... Expression of simple and qualified Dublin Core in RDF/XML: Two documents were finalized in 2001 and are expected to become DCMI Recommendations in early 2002. The first of these documents explains how to express unqualified Dublin Core metadata in RDF with XML syntax, and contains many encoding examples. The second document addresses the more complex case of encoding qualified Dublin Core in RDF... Development of Library and Government Application Profiles: Two communities have been active in defining how to use Dublin Core metadata in their domain: the library community and the government community. These groups are in the process of defining Application Profiles and identifying additional implementation rules and controlled vocabularies (thesauri, ontologies) that will allow implementations in these domains to achieve a high level of interoperability... Expression of Dublin Core metadata in XML: Following the recommendations on how to express Dublin Core metadata in RDF/XML, a need has been identified for a similar recommendation how to express DC metadata in XML without the use of RDF. A draft of such a recommendation has been prepared in 2001 and is expected to go through finalization and review in 2002 as one of the activities in the Architecture working group... In 2001, we have seen important achievements, both in the technical area as well as in the organizational restructuring of the Initiative. The 2002 workplan is well underway and moving towards DC-2002, to be held in Florence, Italy in October of this year. The commitment of the many people who invest their time, energy and intellectual resources to develop the Dublin Core gives ample reason for optimism that DCMI will continue to lead the development of cross disciplinary resource discovery standards for the Web..." See: "Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)."

[February 28, 2002] "E-Government Strategy. Implementing the President's Management Agenda for E-Government." Simplified Delivery of Services to Citizens. February 27, 2002. From: [US] Executive Office Of The President, Office Of Management And Budget (OMB). 37 pages. "... The E-Government Task Force found that the federal government could significantly improve customer service over the next 18 to 24 months by focusing on 23 high-payoff, government- wide initiatives that integrate agency operations and IT investments (subsequently, payroll processing was added as the 24th E-Government initiative). These initiatives could generate several billion dollars in savings by reducing operating inefficiencies, redundant spending and excessive paperwork The initiatives will provide service to citizens in minutes or hours, compared to today's standard of days or weeks Moreover, by leveraging IT spending across federal agencies, the initiatives will make available over $1 billion in savings from aligning redundant investments..." The 24 initiatives chosen represent a balance of initiatives and resources across the four key citizen groups (individuals, businesses, intergovernmental and internal) The initiatives will integrate dozens of overlapping agency E-Government projects that would have made worse the confusing array of federal Web sites Additionally, the 24 initiatives represent the priorities of the members of the President's Management Council, who can provide the key leadership support needed to overcome resistance to change. The Government to Business (G2B)initiatives will reduce burden on businesses by adopting processes that dramatically reduce redundant data collection, provide one-stop streamlined support for businesses, and enable digital communication with businesses using the language of E-business (XML)... Plans call for: (1) Integrated Human Resources HR Logical Data Model including metadata, extended markup language ( XML) tags, including proposal for standard Federal HR data [by 9/30/02]; (2) Complete XML or non EDI formats (schemas) for electronic filing of 94x tax products (businesses) [by 8/31/02]; (3) Complete Records Management and archival XML schema [by 2/28/03]. See also the press release. Reference from Walter R. Houser. [cache]

[February 28, 2002] "Lord of the Schemas, Part 1: Fellowship of the Schema." By Sean McGrath. In XML In Practice (February 21, 2002). "In the Land of Markup where the Schema languages lie One DTD to rule them all, One DTD to find them, One DTD to reify them all and to the objects bind them, In the Land of Markup where the Schema languages lie... This part of our tale chronicles some of the events in MiddleMark that occurred during the Great Years following the Third Age. Our focus is on the emergence of XML during the Great Profiling and, in particular, the growth in power and danger of One Schema Language (known in the Common Tongue as "DTD"). The First Age ended with the Great Battle when the Office Document Architecture (ODA ISO 8613:1988) was smitten by SGML (ISO 8879:1986). SGML was crafted by an ISO committee of high Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits who worked with runes in the ancient Elven tongues. Their utterances were written in pure Mithril from the Caves of Moria. The lore therein was only viewable when moonlight shone on the parchment of the sacred ISO-bound volumes. These mighty tomes were stored, high upon the sturdy shelves of specialist bookstores from whence only deep dollars could retrieve them. Even the great Gandalf, wielding the sword of HTTP, could not dislodge SGML from behind the ancient gates of www.iso.ch. SGML's promise was plain to see but its magic was buried deep, and only available to the sages of Eldar. These sages made good money as consultants, especially working for the deep-pocketed great armies of the protectors of the Western Way. The history of the Second Age concerns the birth of XML..."

[February 28, 2002] "Registration of xmlns Media Feature Tag." By Simon St.Laurent and Ian Graham (Emfisys, Bank of Montreal). February 22, 2002; expires: August 23, 2002. Reference: 'draft-stlaurent-feature-xmlns-02.txt.' Posting from Simon St.Laurent: "A new Internet-Draft of '"Registration of xmlns Media Feature Tag' is available... This draft includes clarifications in its introduction, more explicit notice that the order in which features are listed is unimportant, and a new author (Ian Graham). Please direct comments to ietf-xml-mime@imc.org. Abstract: "This document specifies an xmlns Media Feature per RFC 2506 for identifying some or all of the URIs defining XML namespaces in a given XML resource, and the relative importance of these namespaces. This feature is designed primarily for use with the XML Media Types defined in RFC 3023, to provide additional hints as to the processing requirements of a given XML resource." From the Introduction: "MIME Content-Type identifiers have proven very useful as tools for describing homogeneous information. They do not fare as well at describing content which is unpredictably heterogeneous. XML documents may be homogeneous, but are also frequently heterogeneous. It is not difficult to create, for instance, an XHTML document which also contains RDF metadata, MathML equations, hypertext using XLink, XForms,and SVG graphics. XSLT stylesheets routinely include information in both the XSLT namespace and in the namespaces of the literal result elements. RFC 3023 defines a set of XML media types capable of indicating, among other things, a 'most important' type for an XML resource. For example, the content-type header: Content-Type: application/xslt+xml indicates that the data is XML and that it should be processed by an XSLT processor. In XML terminology, this is more or less the same as saying that the XSLT 'namespace' is the 'most important' namespace relevant to the processing of the data... XML data can contain many different 'types' of data, each identified by a namespace URI, and successful processing of a resource may depend on knowledge of some or all of these. For example, using XSLT to produce XHTML output is likely useful only if the recipient is also capable of processing XHTML. Similarly, a program may be better able to choose among a set of XSLT stylesheets if it knows the namespaces of the results they generate, or a renderer may take advantage of foreknowledge to begin setting up components before content actually arrives. Alternatively, processors working with SOAP envelopes may find it useful to know what they will be facing inside the envelope. The Media feature described in this document can provide additional information about some or all of the namespaces relevant to a given XML resource beyond that indicated by the basic content-type. Such a list can provide guidance to a recipient application as to how best to process the XML data it receives..." See also XML Media/MIME Types."

[February 28, 2002] "VRML Successor Aims For 3D Web." By Richard Karpinski. In Internet Week (February 27, 2002). "The Web3D Consortium this week debuted a new specification it hopes will succeed where past efforts have failed and make 3D graphics a mainstream part of the Web. A draft version of the new X3D -- or Extensible 3D -- standard was unveiled this week. It will be submitted to the International Standards Organization (ISO) later this year. Backers hope X3D will have more success than VRML (virtual reality modeling language), which garnered plenty of attention but never took off. Developers envisioned using VRML to build 3D shopping malls, branded online characters, and interactive product models, among other applications. Whether such uses ever catch the imagination of the everyday Web user remains the big question. Clearly, game boxes like PlayStation 2 and Xbox have made 3D graphics a mainstream phenomenon... In a boost to the fledgling standard, the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) has chosen X3D as the basis for lightweight 3D graphics in the MPEG-4 standard. X3D is built using a Java-based toolkit and XML schemas for lightweight delivery and fast performance. Source code is available under the GNU Lesser General Public License, which could also help the standard take hold..." References: "Web3D Consortium Publishes Draft for Royalty-Free Extensible 3D Standard."

[February 28, 2002] "Standards Group Unveils Web3D Specification." By Clint Boulton. In Internet.com Developer News (February 27, 2002). "A kind of 3D version of Extensible Marking Language (XML) has come to the fore this week. The Web3D Consortium said Tuesday that it has dusted up a draft version of the X3D (Extensible 3D) standard to weave 3D graphics into applications for wireless devices, set-top boxes and gaming consoles -- pretty much any computing product. Ultimately, Web3D hopes the spec will serve as the basis for commercial use of a 'open, royalty-free standard' in preparation for submission to the International Standards Organization (ISO) in August. The organization's promise (and mantra) is to deliver '3D Anywhere' over the Web and on broadcast applications. The idea of 3D graphics for the Web is hardly new -- it just hasn't moved much since its seminal days years ago as Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), when greater computing power and more bandwidth were more of an exception than the norm. To date, graphics on small client devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) have been nothing to rave about, but X3D, when it's ready to be implemented, could change minds of the wireless persuasion. Orinda, Calif.'s Web3D hopes to rectify lackadaisical graphics with 3D. The spec poses profiles to meet the demands of sophisticated applications, including: an Interchange Profile for exchanging X3D content among authoring and publishing systems; an Interactive Profile to support delivery of lightweight interactive animations; an Extensibility Profile to enable the development of add-on components and robust applications; and a VRML97 Profile to ensure interoperability between X3D and VRML97 legacy content. One aspect of the draft spec, which came to light this past Sunday at the Web3D Symposium in Tempe, Ariz., received approval from the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG): MPEG has accepted the X3D Interactive profile as the basis for interactive 3D graphics in the still-being-tinkered-with MPEG-4 multimedia standard. Specifically, the Interactive Profile will allow interoperability between X3D and MPEG-4 content, which would ideally provide a consistent platform for 3D graphics and application development across Web and broadcast environments..." See the news item of 2002-02-28: "Web3D Consortium Publishes Draft for Royalty-Free Extensible 3D Standard."

[February 28, 2002] "Apache Xindice XML database 1.0rc2 Released." Announcement posted by Kimbro Staken. "The Apache Xindice team is pleased to announce the release of Apache Xindice 1.0 release candidate 2. Full source code is available under the terms of the Apache Software License and downloads are available from http://xml.apache.org/xindice. Apache Xindice is a native XML database. As such it has basically one purpose, easy management of large quantities of XML data. It is not intended as a competitor for relational databases and is primarily targeted at new application development where XML plays a significant role. The server is currently suitable for medium volume XML storage applications. It supports XPath for queries and XML:DB XUpdate for XML updates. An implementation of the XML:DB XML database API is provided for Java developers and access from other languages is enabled through the download of an XML-RPC plugin. Apache Xindice was formally known as dbXML. The dbXML source code was donated to the Apache Software Foundation in December 2001. The 1.0 release of Xindice represents the conclusion of the work undertaken by the dbXML project and the official commencement of new development on the Xindice code base. The development team has added two new members and it is expected we'll add several more in the coming weeks. Future development will focus on improved performance, ACID properties, better standards support and better integration with other Apache projects..." See the FAQ document. Related references: see (1) XML Database Products (Ronald Bourret) and (2) "XML and Databases."

[February 28, 2002] "The Visual Display of Quantitative XML." By Fabio Arciniegas A. From XML.com. February 27, 2002. "The need to display quantitative data stored in XML files is quite common, even when transforming the most basic documents. For example, consider the following cases: (1) Number and type of hits registered in a server log; (2) Percentage of sales by an individual on an annual sales report; (3) Number of technical books vs. the total book count in a book list (almost every XML book in the world has that example); (4) Proportion of annotations per paragraph in a DocBook article. While quantitative XML data is everywhere, a less common thing to find is examples of effective ways to display such information. Most resources will merely show you how to use XSLT to convert XML data to HTML, which is often not nearly enough when you need to explain complex or large sets of data. This article discusses the creation of useful graphical presentations of quantitative XML data using XSLT and SVG... The use of XSLT and SVG opens up exciting new ground for the presentation of XML data on the Web. The correct use of these tools may improve vastly the quality and quantity of information your users can consume, as well as your process to present and create it. The creation of good visual representations of XML data using XSLT is governed by principles and best practices both on the programming and technical graphic design sides. In this article we have examined a few of them while providing an illustration of their implementation. The principles studied can be summarized in the following list. Naturally, this article is not exhaustive, but I hope it whets your appetite for the creation of useful graphic data using XML technologies..." See "W3C Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)."

[February 28, 2002] "Server Side SVG." By J. David Eisenberg. From XML.com. February 27, 2002. "If you've been using SVG or reading XML.com, you probably know about the Adobe SVG Viewer, and you may have heard of the Apache Batik project. Although Batik is most widely known for its SVG viewer component, it's more than that. Batik, according to its web site, is a 'Java technology-based toolkit for applications that want to use images in the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format for various purposes, such as viewing, generation or manipulation.' The Batik viewer application uses the JSVGCanvas component, which is a Java class that accepts SVG as input and displays it on screen. In this article, we'll use two of the other Batik components, SVGGraphics2D, and the Batik transcoders. The SVGGraphics2D class is the inverse of JSVGCanvas; you draw into an SVGGraphics2D environment using the standard Java two-dimensional graphics methods, and the result is an SVG document. The transcoders take an SVG document as input and produce either JPG or PNG as output. The context in which we'll use these tools is a servlet that generates geometric art in the style of Piet Mondrian. If the client supports SVG, the servlet will return an SVG document. Otherwise, it will return a JPEG or PNG image, depending upon client support for those image formats..." See "W3C Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)."

[February 28, 2002] "Doing That Drag Thang." By Antoine Quint. From XML.com. February 27, 2002. "In last month's article, we took a wee trip in the exciting lands of SMIL-powered SVG animation. In that article, we used XML elements to achieve our goals. Today I will show you around a place that might sound a little scary, but that's just as much fun when you take the time to imagine how many possibilities it offers: it is time to take a look at scripting SVG, for all the nifty interactions that declarative SVG Animation could not handle. As an XML application, SVG benefits from the Document Object Model. The DOM is an object-oriented API for reading from and writing to an XML document. Even if you've never heard of the DOM, you might have had some unfortunate experience with its wayward sibling, DHTML. DHTML really was the combination of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and a DOM. What made DHTML such a headache is that the two main browser vendors had different DOMs, neither being compliant with the DOM as specified by the W3C. Recent versions of major browsers now support the W3C DOM Level 2, just like the Adobe SVG Viewer, which also offers support for the SVG DOM... Scripting SVG opens up many new possibilities. While client-side scripting is a well-established practice in different environments (especially DHTML and Flash ActionScript), I believe the SVG scripting environment offers a more comprehensive and standards-based approach. Adobe's SVG Viewer version 3.0 offers stable and powerful tools for us to work with in a way that has never been possible before..."

[February 28, 2002] "Handling Attachments in SOAP. Transferring Foreign Objects With Apache SOAP 2.2." By Joshy Joseph (Software Engineer, IBM Software Group). From IBM developerWorks, XML Zone. February 2002. ['Web services will require the ability to send more than just text messages between services in a process. Often it will involve complex data types such as language structures, multimedia files, and even other embedded messages. This article takes a look at how the SOAP with Attachments specification can be used to send such information. It provides a programming example of how to handle custom data type mapping and attachments in your SOAP services.'] "Web services has been well received by the industry to solve the complex problems and distributed processes across multiple platforms and systems. Web services achieves this through the use of standard-based protocols like SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI, and through the developments in standards groups. These standards are still evolving and have yet to solidify solutions for all the areas needed. Within these grey areas, you still need to figure out how to transfer custom data types, such as arrays of data structures, between services, as well as how to handle attachments to transfer binary and other complex data files. In this article, I will explain the current protocol and tools support for handling the custom data encoding and attachments in Web services. I will also present a simple case study that illustrates how you can use the existing tools and standards to create a file upload and download Web services. Before I move on to those topics, let's review how SOAP and WSDL handles data encoding while they work... The XML Protocol committee initiated work to define a set of new software practices or usage scenarios. This includes multiple asynchronous messaging, caching, routing, and the streaming of huge data. It may take some time for the standardization but you can expect SOAP processors coming to the market with these new features including data streaming capabilities, rather than just block transfers using direct attachments. The BEEP (Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol) is a new protocol that supports multi channels over a single TCP connection, which can be used for such asynchronous and streaming types of data communication. Direct Internet Message Encapsulation (DIME) is another lightweight, binary message format that can be used to encapsulate one or more application-defined payloads of arbitrary type and size into a single message construct. DIME has strengths in two areas. The sender should do either pre-computation of the size of the payload or "chunks" the payload into records of fixed size. This helps server applications to compute the memory requirements in advance and hence increased performance. The ability to specify new media types using URI mechanism may allow receiving applications to load handlers for new media types. However, this still primarily a Microsoft-defined specification..." Also in PDF.

[February 28, 2002] "Extending XML Tools with Jacl Scripts. How to extend open-source XML tools with a Java implementation of the Tcl scripting language." By Phil Whiles (Freelance Java Developer, Skyline Computing Ltd.). From IBM developerWorks, XML Zone. February 2002. ['This article shows how to extend open-source Apache XML tools using Jacl, a Java implementation of the popular Tcl scripting language. With Jacl, you can embed scripted functionality within XML or XSL. In addition, due to its Java extensions, you can use Jacl to interact with Java objects within the Java-based Apache tools. While this article shows how to use Jacl with the Ant build tool, the approach is equally valid for extending other Apache XML tools such as Xalan and Cocoon. More than a dozen reusable code samples demonstrate the techniques.'] "Jacl gives Java developers yet another way to manipulate XML. With Jacl, a Java implementation of the popular scripting language Tcl, you can get under the hood and add functionality to your XML build made with Ant or to XSL transformations done with Xalan or Cocoon. For XML and XSL developers, Jacl could open up a whole new world... In addition to implementing most of the Tcl command set, Jacl provides some of its own Tcl commands that allow the programmer to interact with the Java VM. These additional commands allow Jacl code to create Java objects, invoke methods in them, invoke static methods, introspect Java objects, and even bind Jacl listeners to Java events. This ability to use both Tcl and Java code in the same script opens up a world of possibilities. Imagine writing a suite of Java services, components, or building blocks for a system. By using Jacl in the same VM as these components, you can allow for scripted execution and control of your Java components... Jacl will open up all sorts of possibilities for the Ant build process developer. You can also use Jacl to extend Xalan and Cocoon in a similar fashion, and IBM WebSphere now uses Jacl as the scripting language for its command-line interface, WSCP, so you can put your newfound knowledge to use there as well. Maybe this article will even persuade you to use Jacl as a standalone scripting language for your Java projects..."

[February 27, 2002] "Standards-Based Methodology for U.S. E-Government Initiatives." By Alan Kotok. DISA (Data Interchange Standards Association). February, 2002. 33 pages. "E-government efforts now underway can benefit immediately and directly from open standards, which provide consistency and stability, while encouraging interoperability among agencies and applications, as well as fostering innovative solutions. The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) circular A-119 spell out the value of open IT standards, from which agencies and the private sector have derived benefit over the years. In the past year, the Electronic Business XML or ebXML specifications, a joint undertaking of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (that uses the acronym UN/CEFACT) and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), have begun taking root in the business world. Those specifications, which take advantage of existing Internet standards and encourage migration from existing interchange formats, can provide a framework for the administration's egovernment initiatives. This paper outlines a methodology based on open standards for the planning and development of the egovernment initiatives. The approach is based on the Open-edi Reference Model, an international standard for the development of e-business specifications, published in 1997, and which plays an important role in the ebXML specifications. The Open-edi Reference Model specifies two complementary views of e-business: a business-operational view that defines the interactions between the parties, and a functional-services view that outlines the technical aspects of the interactions, such as required protocols and interfaces. This approach to e-business planning puts an emphasis on the identification or definition of business processes separate from the technology, which helps create specifications independent of technical implementation. This approach helps ensure vendor-neutral business requirements and encourages interoperability among applications... With their business processes defined, organizations (agencies, companies, or entire industries) can then identify the parties in the transactions, the messages exchanged between the parties, and the data included in those messages. At that point, organizations can identify standards and specifications that apply to those processes, especially where messages or data elements can be reused. This reusability encourages common implementations and thus interoperability, which can reduce costs and open new interactions among the parties. To illustrate the approach, this paper takes three of the 23 Federal e-government initiatives, and for each project recommends a set of business processes identified by ebXML, as well as corresponding electronic data interchange (EDI) transactions and XML schemas defined by the Open Applications Group. Also for each initiative, the paper identifies potential industry vocabularies using XML. Just these few examples suggest areas for interoperability that come from identification of business processes and current open standards..." See the DISA reference page.

[February 27, 2002] "Codes for the representation of names of languages -- Part 1: Alpha-2 code. [Codes pour la représentation des noms de langue -- Partie 1:Code alpha-2.]." From ISO/TC 37/SC 2 (Secretariat: SCC). International Standard ISO/FDIS 639-1. Reference: ISO/FDIS 639-1:2002(E/F). Final Draft. 48 pages. Voting begins on 2002-02-28. Voting terminates on 2002-04-28. "ISO 639 provides two language codes, one as a two-letter code (ISO 639-1) and another as a three-letter code (ISO 639-2) for the representation of names of languages. ISO 639-1 was devised primarily for use in terminology, lexicography and linguistics. ISO 639-2 represents all languages contained in ISO 639-1 and in addition any other language, as well as language groups, as they may be coded for special purposes when more specificity in coding is needed. The languages listed in ISO 639-1 are a subset of the languages listed in ISO 639-2; every language code element in the two-letter code has a corresponding language code element in the three-letter code, but not necessarily vice versa. Both language codes are to be considered as open lists. The codes were devised for use in terminology, lexicography, information and documentation (i.e., for libraries, information services, and publishers) and linguistics. ISO 639-1 also includes guidelines for the creation of language code elements and their use in some applications... The alpha-2 code was devised for practical use for most of the major languages of the world that are not only most frequently represented in the total body of the world's literature, but which also comprise a considerable volume of specialized languages and terminologies. Additional language identifiers are created when it becomes apparent that a significant body of documentation written in specialized languages and terminologies exists. Languages designed exclusively for machine use, such as computer-programming languages, are not included in this code..." Background may be found at an ISO 639 web site maintained by Håvard Hjulstad. See: "Language Identifiers in the Markup Context."

[February 27, 2002] "IDF: Experts Wrangle With Web Services Barriers." By Dan Neel. In InfoWorld (February 27, 2002). "Although the adoption of Web services is still in its infancy, representatives from leading IT vendors today at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) discussed the technical challenges that increased distributed computing will pose. Problems like a lack of existing best practices for deploying Web services, how to distribute and balance compute cycles across a complex Web service network, and changing company business models to better accommodate a Web service infrastructure were all mentioned as challenges facing the evolution of Web services. Panel member Eric Schmidt, the technical evangelist for Microsoft, in Redmond, Wash., said the exploding amount of Web-based messaging expected by the growth of Web services means figuring out how to build hardware networks equipped to handle the increased traffic. 'When you think about the CPU cycle time that will be required for Web services, what's the best [hardware] architecture to go after? What should we be asking vendors to build to deliver this degree of messaging?' asked Schmidt. Keith Yedlin, a senior architect for Intel's computer modeling division in Santa Clara, Calif., agreed that Web services will put a strain on hardware as they continue to grow. 'The XML routing and parsing alone will add a huge additional requirement for MIPS [million instructions per second] -- an old measure of a computer's speed and power -- and this could be a potential barrier to the adoption of Web services if you have to add all this new hardware,' he said. Recognizing that there will be an increased amount of data traffic resulting from multiple messaging systems running Web services, Ben Renard, a principal technologist for BEA, in San Jose, Calif., recommended that companies implement Web services first in-house, where testing can be done more easily and more securely...."

[February 26, 2002] "RosettaNet Updates Supply Chain Results." By Tom Smith. In InternetWeek (February 26, 2002). "RosettaNet, a consortium focused on developing standards for automated supply chain interactions, on Tuesday delivered a status update on its activities through the end of 2001 in several critical areas. The organization -- backed by technology giants including Intel, Cisco, and others -- said it had been able to effect 450 'partner connections' worldwide from May 2001 to the end of 2001, a result that was made more difficult due to economic conditions and companies' reluctance to pour resources into IT projects, said RosettaNet CEO Jennifer Hamilton. 'The industry has been extremely challenged, and had to struggle through smaller staffs and smaller budgets,' Hamilton said. Financial and market conditions made RosettaNet board members question whether they had too many or too aggressive 'milestones,' she said. Despite that, the organization achieved its participation milestones, as well as goals related to specific processes. In one of those critical areas-- order management -- RosettaNet electronics industry members in Japan implemented multiple Partner Interface Processes (PIPs) that are referred to as business scenarios. These companies deployed RosettaNet order management standards that address regional requirements. In another area -- product discovery/distribution -- RosettaNet DesignWin standards were used to create greater channel efficiency, automated data collection and sharing between partners, and better, faster data reporting..." See "RosettaNet."

[February 26, 2002] "W3C Won't Let Patent Fees Enter Standards Process." By Richard Karpinski. In InternetWeek (February 26, 2002). "Responding to howls of protest, the World Wide Web Consortium Tuesday forwarded a revised proposal that backs away from allowing companies to extract royalties for technologies they own and are used as part of W3C standards. The W3C opened debate on the topic last fall. At issue: whether or not to allow vendors to enforce so-called RAND, or reasonable, non-discriminatory, patent claims. If such claims were allowed, vendors would have been able to collect license fees from companies making use of W3C standards that included their patented technologies. Not surprisingly, the proposal drew heated feedback -- including from InternetWeek readers. Critics charged that the proposal undercut the values of the W3C and threatened the openness of the Web. Tuesday, the W3C published a new patent policy draft that removed RAND licensing from the mix, instead focusing on developing new policies for ensuring that technologies contributed to W3C standards be, by policy, 'royalty-free'... While the RAND proposal was removed from this draft, apparently the issue is not completely dead..."

[February 26, 2002] "W3C Retreats From Royalty Policy." By Margaret Kane. In CNET News.com (February 26, 2002). "An Internet standards body has retreated from a proposal that would have allowed companies to claim patent rights and demand royalties for technologies used in its standards. The World Wide Web Consortium works with developers, software makers and others to come up with standards for the Web. Generally those standards either use publicly available technology or get the agreement of patent holders not to enforce their patents... In a reference draft being published Tuesday, the W3C has moved back to the 'royalty free' standard... 'The current practice is we set the goal of producing royalty free standards but it doesn't really have a mechanism for enforcing that,' said Daniel J. Weitzner, chair of the patent policy working group at the W3C. 'What we're proposing in this draft is to add a legally binding commitment on the part of anyone who participates in a standard that any patents they have will be available royalty free.'..." See the news item: "W3C Publishes Royalty-Free Patent Policy Working Draft."

[February 26, 2002] "W3C Flips, Endorses Royalty-Free Standards." By Scarlet Pruitt. In InfoWorld (February 26, 2002). "Responding to thousands of e-mail messages lobbying against the attachment of royalty fees to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards, the group released a new draft patent policy Tuesday endorsing free specifications. The W3C, whose goal is to develop common protocols to ensure interoperability on the Web, said that the new draft places a 'strong and explicit commitment' to royalty-free standards. The group was met with a flurry of criticism last August when it released its first patent policy working draft, which opened the door for companies to claim patent rights and collect royalties for standards endorsed by the W3C. The group said that it revised its patent policy draft after receiving thousands of e-mail messages from both W3C members and the public expressing concern about the royalty fees. Advocates of open-source software, which is often cooperatively developed and freely available over the Web, were particularly unsettled by the possibility of royalty rates being attached to international Web standards. Although the group has changed its stance on the matter, it said that it still has to figure out how to deal with technology that is only available for a fee..." See the news item: "W3C Publishes Royalty-Free Patent Policy Working Draft."

[February 26, 2002] "Government To Give Web Services the Go-Ahead." By [Bellman]. In IT-Director.com (February 26, 2002). "Next month, Andrew Pinder, [UK Office of the e-Envoy], is due to set out a consultation paper for the further development of the UK's eGovernment Interoperability Framework (eGIF). It is expected that this paper will recommend the use of SOAP and UDDI standards for the provision of web service and, in so doing, will provide a massive boost to the web services market. eGIF is a collection of rules, policies and technical specifications designed to create an infrastructure through which central and local government units can share and present information efficiently and with some consistency. The reason that this recommendation will be such a boost is that, if adopted, the choice of standard becomes mandatory for all UK government departments that deliver their public services online. Of course, under the eGovernment initiatives, the aim is to get all of the possible public services into the online domain by 2005. There will be significant demand within the UK for any technology that is incorporated into the eGIF specifications... Given the nature of the solutions that the eEnvoy is seeking for 'joined-up government', the use of SOAP and UDDI as standards for integrating and executing application components is not going to be a great surprise. These are the key features that will ensure that the actual choice of technology vendor will have the smallest possible effect on government's ability to work in a consistent environment..." See: "e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF)."

[February 25, 2002] "Using XBRL For Data Reporting." Submitted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In UN/ECE Statistical Division (February 15, 2002). Statistical Commission and Working Paper No. 20. Conference Of European Statisticians Joint UNECE/EUROSTAT Work Session on Electronic Data Reporting (Geneva, Switzerland, 13-15 February 2002). Topic (iii): Metadata, conceptual models and standards. "Over the years, a number of different mechanisms for exchanging data have been developed. Until the Internet and Extensible Markup Language (XML) these mechanisms tended to be proprietary or unique to the application or purpose for which each was created. eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) is one of the many industry specific 'languages' of XML. XBRL hailed as 'the digital language of business' facilitates the reuse of information contained in business reports, providing structure and context for that information... The Australian Bureau of Statistics sees XBRL as the 'language' likely to succeed as the industry accepted 'business reporting language'. Leaders in the accounting profession such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) have researched the impact of the Internet on the distribution of financial information and have reached the conclusion that XBRL, or something similar is needed. XBRL is strongly supported in the Australian accounting and consulting sector. The Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) is also strongly supporting XBRL and is already accepting and disseminating information in XBRL... An XBRL taxonomy is not a standard chart of accounts to use, rather, it is a way to map an internally used chart of accounts to common terms used externally. XBRL does not change the underlying accounting and classification differences that exist today in financial reporting." See: "Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)."

[February 25, 2002] University of Bologna Test Implementation of XPointer. 2002-02 work in progress. One of "two different implementations of XPointer at the University of Bologna (each one part of a larger project)... The XSLT++ engine is an extended XSLT processor for the generation of meta-information out of a large base of homogeneous XML documents. In our intention, it should match not only nodes of the XML tree, but also arbitrary strings and patterns within the source document. We foresee several extensions, especially for XPointer-based expressions..." See the "very simple interface for an early implementation of XPointer. This work is part of the XSLT++ project, which is being done by Claudio Tasso for his master thesis in Computer Science at the University of Bologna, under the supervision of Fabio Vitali. This program is released as free software under the terms of the GNU General Public License; see source code. The current implementation extends the XPath libraries available with Xalan. The current implementation is not complete yet; for instance, character escaping is not supported at the moment... Try it: Enter a well-formed XML document in the first textarea, and an XPointer query in the text box..." See W3C XML Pointer, XML Base and XML Linking.

[February 25, 2002] "Diameter XML Dictionary." By David Frascone, Mark Jones, and Erik Guttman. AAA Working Group Internet-Draft. Reference: 'draft-frascone-aaa-xml-dictionary-00.txt'. "This document describes a coding of Diameter dictionaries in XML. This coding is intended for use by Diameter implementations to represent Applications, Commands, Vendors, and AVPs... Diameter is an extensible protocol used to provide AAA services to different access technologies. To maintain extensibility, Diame- ter uses a dictionary to provide it with the format of commands and AVPs. This document describes the representation of the Diameter dictionary using XML..." With XML DTD. On Diameter, see Diameter Base Protocol, draft-ietf-aaa-diameter-08.txt (AAA Working Group, November 2001). "The Diameter base protocol is intended to provide a AAA framework for Mobile-IP, NASREQ and ROAMOPS. This draft specifies the message format, transport, error reporting and security services to be used by all Diameter applications and must be supported by all Diameter implementations. The basic concept behind Diameter is to provide a base protocol that can be extended in order to provide AAA services to new access technologies. Currently, the protocol only concerns itself with Internet access, both in the traditional PPP sense as well as taking into account the ROAMOPS model, and Mobile-IP. Although Diameter could be used to solve a wider set of AAA problems, we are currently limiting the scope of the protocol in order to ensure that the effort remains focused on satisfying the requirements of network access. Note that a truly generic AAA protocol used by many applications might provide functionality not provided by Diameter. Therefore, it is imperative that the designers of new applications understand their requirements before using Diameter..." The AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) working group "focuses on the development of requirements for Authentication, Authorization and Accounting as applied to network access." [cache]

[February 25, 2002] "XML Grove." By Jeff Southard. ['XML Grove' is a working title.] Updated 2001-12-12 or later. "This is a work in progress designed to introduce designers and developers to XML tree concepts and SVG. The XML Grove is a demonstration of XML, XLST and SVG. The grove is a collection of XML trees. An XSL Transform generates a SVG-based visualization of each XML document tree as...a tree: (1) Element nodes are branches. (2) Attribute nodes are leaves. (3) Text nodes are fruit. Visitors tour the grove and inspect the trees. Each part of the tree is 'hot.' On rollover, it shows its corresponding node value... Requires SVG Viewer 2.0 or higher. If you know XSLT and the basics of SVG, you may find the source files illustrative..." Compare "SVG tree" from Wendell Piez ("draws an SVG 'tree structure' representing the XSLT/XPath infoset of an arbitrary input document...").

[February 25, 2002] "All the News That's Fit to RSS." By Mark Gibbs. In Network World (February 15, 2002). "Getting our news fix is tough. We have ongoing quest for new sources of news and better methods of mining those sources. Others obviously must feel the same, as there is now a standard for news syndication called Rich Site Summary (RSS) that has achieved remarkable acceptance (as determined by the number of organizations using it). RSS, also called RDF Site Summary, is an XML-based format that lets Web sites describe and syndicate site content. Actually, according to one of the main culprits in the development of RSS, the infamous Dave Winer of UserLand, 'There is no consensus on what RSS stands for, so it's not an acronym, it's a name.'... RDF stands for Resource Description Framework, a framework for the description and interchange of metadata concerning just about anything that has a uniform resource identifier, or URI... Anyway, in 1999, Netscape released a format for adding news channels to its portal My.Netscape.Com - this was RSS 0.9, which was based on RDF. There followed a reasonably complex history... The complex history has resulted in multiple versions of the standard being deployed. You will find RSS 0.9, 0.91, 0.92, 0.93 and 1.0 in the field (apparently RSS 0.9 and 0.91 are the most popular). Today, the W3C standard is RSS 1.0. So, what does RSS do for news? Well, according to the O'Reilly Network, it is a 'specification used for distributing news, product announcements, discussion threads, and other assorted content as channels.'... you must be wondering how RSS is actually deployed. First, a Web site that wants to distribute its content (that is, be a publisher) creates an RSS specification of what it has to offer. That file is usually located in the root of your Web site but you can put it anywhere you please. Indeed, a single site could have multiple RSS specification scattered throughout its structure. The next step is to register with an RSS directory -- see ASPRSS Directories, UserLand, XMLTree, NewsIsFree and GrokSoup. Note that anyone can publish anything, so you'll find many fabulously self-indulgent Web logs among the more useful news sources. Then again, everyone has to start somewhere with banging the rocks together . . . . Next week, a cool utility for accessing news sources via RSS..." See references in "RDF Site Summary (RSS)."

[February 22, 2002] "REST and the Real World." By Paul Prescod. From XML.com. February 20, 2002. ['A follow-up by Paul Prescod to his "Second Generation Web Services" article published at the beginning of this month. In his first article, Paul proposed a model called REST as the successor to current web services technology. In "REST and the Real World", he goes on to explain how REST meets real-world requirements such as security and auditing. The REST model has certainly been the center of much debate on the mailing lists recently, proposing as it does a different view from that taken by SOAP advocates.'] "In the last article I described a new model for web services construction. It is called Representational State Transfer (REST), and it applies the principles of the Web to transaction-oriented services, rather than publishing-oriented sites. When we apply the strategy in the real world, we do so using web technologies such as URIs, HTTP, and XML. Unlike the current generation of web services technologies, however, we make those three technologies central rather than peripheral -- we rethink our web service interface in terms of URIs, HTTP, and XML. It is this rethinking that takes our web services beyond the capabilities of the first generation technologies based on Remote Procedure Call APIs like SOAP-RPC. In this article I discuss the applicability to REST of several industry buzzwords such as reliability, orchestration, security, asynchrony, and auditing. Intuitively, it seems that the Web technologies are not sophisticated enough to handle the requirements for large-scale inter-business commerce. Those who think of HTTP as a simple, unidirectional GET and POST protocol will be especially surprised to learn how sophisticated it can be... REST is a model for distributed computing. It is the one used by the world's biggest distributed computing application, the Web. When applied to web services technologies, it usually depends on a trio of technologies designed to be extremely extensible: XML, URIs, and HTTP. XML's extensibility should be obvious to most, but the other two may not be. URIs are also extensible: there are an infinite number of possible URIs. More importantly, they can apply to an infinite number of logical entities called "resources." URIs are just the names and addresses of resources. Some REST advocates call the process of bringing your applications into this model "resource modeling." This process is not yet as formal as object oriented modeling or entity-relation modeling, but it is related. The strength and flexibility of REST comes from the pervasive use of URIs... The best part about REST is that it frees you from waiting for standards like SOAP and WSDL to mature. You do not need them. You can do REST today, using W3C and IETF standards that range in age from 10 years (URIs) to 3 years (HTTP 1.1). Whether you start working on partner-facing web services now or in two years, the difficult part will be aligning your business documents and business processes with your partners'. The technology you use to move bits from place to place is not important. The business-specific document and process modeling is."

[February 22, 2002] "SOAP Encodings, WSDL, and XML Schema Types." By Martin Gudgin and Timothy Ewald. From XML.com. February 20, 2002. ['This month's installment of XML Endpoints, our web services column, focuses on the relationship between WSDL, SOAP encoding and W3C XML Schema types. In particular, it looks at how the encoding of a SOAP message is generated when a WSDL decription and corresponding schema are not the starting point for using the web service.'] "Using a web service involves a sender and a receiver exchanging at least one XML message. The format of that message must be defined so that the sender can construct it and the receiver can process it. The format of a message includes the overall structure of the tree, the local name and namespace name of the elements and attributes used in the tree, and the types of those elements and attributes. The name and types of the element and attributes contained in the message can be defined in a schema. The Web Services Description Language (WSDL) can use a schema in this way. And if a WSDL description of the web service is the start point, then the message format is known before a line of code is written. However, in many cases, the code that is to be exposed as a web service already exists. In other cases, developers are reluctant to start with WSDL, preferring to start with some programmatic data structure. Even in these cases, some description of the web service is needed in order for clients to correctly construct request messages and destructure responses. Ideally that description would still be WSDL, otherwise clients will have to learn to read and understand multiple description languages. So in cases where a schema and associated WSDL are not the starting point, how is the WSDL to be generated and what format do the XML messages have? Many of the SOAP implementations that exist today will happily take a programmatic data type, typically a class definition of some sort, and serialize that type into XML. But in the absence of a schema, how do these implementations decide whether to use elements or attributes? How do they decide what names to give to those constructs and what the overall structure of the tree should be? The answer can be found in the SOAP Encoding section of Part 2 of the SOAP 1.2 specification..." See "Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)."

[February 22, 2002] "XML 2.0 -- Can We Get There From Here?" By Kendall Grant Clark. From XML.com. February 20, 2002. ['Will there ever be an XML 2.0? Yes, says Kendall Clark in this week's XML-Deviant. The current smorgasbord of XML specifications, which currently jostle against each other for primacy, need tidying up. Kendall looks at Tim Bray's 'skunkworks' draft of an XML 2.0 specification, and the community's reaction.'] "It seems inevitable that the W3C will eventually offer a standards document which it calls XML 2.0. The post-XML 1.0 period has seen the development of too many attendant technologies, has too often heard pleas for refactoring from the development community, and too many XML-standards family warts are now widely conceded for XML 1.0 to last indefinitely. The only interesting questions which remain unanswered are what XML 2.0 will look like and how politically nasty the process that creates it will be... Tim Bray, who was so instrumental in XML 1.0, [offers] a draft for what XML 2.0 might eventually become: Extensible Markup Language - SW (for Skunkworks). Though, it should be said at the outset, Bray offers XML-SW as a highly provisional proposal; or, as he put it, 'nobody so far - not even me - has taken the stand that this is a good idea'. But it is a start. XML-SW is a conglomeration of XML 1.0 2nd edition minus the DTD machinery, including entities, with the addition of namespaces, XML Base and XML infoset. The result, in Bray's view, as well as that of some other notable XML developers, is a net gain of simplicity and elegance. Bray described some of the changes in detail..."

[February 22, 2002] "A Generic Fragment Identifier Syntax for URI References." By Jonathan Borden (The Open Healthcare Group) and Simon St.Laurent. IETF Network Working Group, Internet-Draft. February 19, 2002; expires: August 20, 2002. Reference: 'draft-borden-frag-00.txt'. "URI references with fragment identifiers uniquely identify parts of a document. Such identifiers have been specified as SGML/XML IDs e.g., in HTML. The XPointer specification is intended to serve as a fragment identifier syntax for XML documents. IDs conform to the XPointer 'raw name' form. Specifications constraining the behavior of user agents such as SMIL, XHTML, and SVG have all supported this simple fragment naming convention though some extend it. Specifications such as XML Namespaces and RDF use URI references as opaque names. Such usage does not depend on resolution of the URI. In such usages, no media type is specified and the proper fragment identifier syntax is undefined. As it has become common practice to use URI references as opaque identifiers, this proposal seeks to provide a minimal definition of what might be identified by a URI reference... Fragment identifier syntax, in practice, is often constant from media type to media type. In order to enable robust use of fragment identifiers, particularly outside a particular HTTP transaction, we propose a generic, media type independent, fragment identifier syntax. This fragment identifier syntax is compatible with current usage of fragment identifiers, and is generally compatible with future proposed syntaxes such as XPointer. This specification does not itself specify how user agents are to process or interpret fragment identifiers, such as may be specified with individual MIME media type registrations, rather provides a consistent syntax for fragment identifiers and a registration mechanism for schemes associated with fragment identifier syntaxes..." See the posting.

[February 21, 2002] "XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.0." W3C Candidate Recommendation 21-February-2002. Edited by Jonathan Marsh (Microsoft) and David Orchard (BEA Systems). Version URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/CR-xinclude-20020221. Latest version URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/xinclude/. Previous version URL: http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-xinclude-20010516/. ['The Working Group invites implementation feedback on this specification. We expect that sufficient feedback to determine its future will have been received by 30-April-2002.'] "This document specifies a processing model and syntax for general purpose inclusion. Inclusion is accomplished by merging a number of XML information sets into a single composite Infoset. Specification of the XML documents (infosets) to be merged and control over the merging process is expressed in XML-friendly syntax (elements, attributes, URI references)... Many programming languages provide an inclusion mechanism to facilitate modularity. Markup languages also often have need of such a mechanism. This specification introduces a generic mechanism for merging XML documents (as represented by their information sets) for use by applications that need such a facility. The syntax leverages existing XML constructs - elements, attributes, and URI references... XInclude has a dependency on XPointer. This adds significantly to the complexity of XInclude implementations. The XML Core Working Group specifically requests feedback on the use of XPointer in XInclude, including the following: (1) Would a subset of XPointer simplfy XInclude implementation? Which features should be available in this subset? (2) Would a subset of XPointer assist in building streaming XInclude processors? Which features should be available in this subset? In addition to the specific points above, any feedback on patterns of implementation and use of this specification would be very welcome. Comments on XPointer can also be reported against the XPointer specification. See (1) the mailing list archives and (2) "XML Inclusion Proposal (XInclude)."

[February 21, 2002] "Speech Technology For Applications Inches Forward." By Matt Berger. In InfoWorld (February 21, 2002). "An early version of an emerging technology that will allow users to control software applications using the human voice was released to developers Wednesday. A group led in part by Microsoft and Speechworks International, known as the SALT Forum, short for Speech Application Language Tags, released the first public specification of its technology. When completed, the technology would allow developers to add speech 'tags' to Web applications written in XML (Extensible Markup Language) and HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), allowing those applications to be controlled through voice commands rather than a mouse or a keyboard. Other founding members of the SALT Forum include Cisco Systems, Comverse, Intel and Philips Electronics. Nearly 20 other companies have announced support for the effort, according to information at the group's Web site. Version 0.9 of the SALT Forum specification, which is available for download, includes early design details for how a developer would go about adding a speech interface to an application. It also offers suggestions about how developers might consider using the technology to voice-enable Web applications, creating what are known as 'multimodal' programs that can be controlled by both voice and traditional input methods. The SALT specification is also designed for applications that don't have a visual user interface, such as those accessed by telephone. Microsoft said it plans to make use of SALT in three major product areas. It will release in May the beta version of an add-on tool for Visual Studio .Net that will allow developers to voice-enable applications. Those developers will also be provided with the test release of a voice-enabled version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser... After collecting comments from developers who review the specification, the SALT Forum said it plans to submit the technology to a standards body for review. Microsoft, which hosted the launch of the SALT Forum in October at an event at its Mountain View, Calif. campus, has said it expects the specification to become an open standard that will be available on a royalty-free basis. A rival effort is under way to develop a standard for speech interfaces based on a technology called VoiceXML. That effort is led by a group of companies including IBM, Motorola, AT&T and Lucent Technologies. First announced in early 1999, VoiceXML originally was designed to allow applications to be accessed by telephone. Efforts are under way to add the capability to voice-enable applications that are accessed using the Web..." See: (1) the news item "SALT Forum Publishes Draft Specification for Speech Application Language Tags"; (2) references in "Speech Application Language Tags (SALT)."

[February 21, 2002] "XMLHTTP Control Can Allow Access to Local Files." Microsoft Security Bulletin MS02-008. Date: 21-February-2002. Software: Microsoft XML Core Services. Impact: Information disclosure. "Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML) includes the XMLHTTP ActiveX control, which allows web pages rendering in the browser to send or receive XML data via HTTP operations such as POST, GET, and PUT. The control provides security measures designed to restrict web pages so they can only use the control to request data from remote data sources. A flaw exists in how the XMLHTTP control applies IE security zone settings to a redirected data stream returned in response to a request for data from a web site. A vulnerability results because an attacker could seek to exploit this flaw and specify a data source that is on the user's local system. The attacker could then use this to return information from the local system to the attacker's web site. An attacker would have to entice the user to a site under his control to exploit this vulnerability. It cannot be exploited by HTML email. In addition, the attacker would have to know the full path and file name of any file he would attempt to read. Finally, this vulnerability does not give an attacker any ability to add, change or delete data. Mitigating Factors: (1) The vulnerability can only be exploited via a web site. It would not be possible to exploit this vulnerability via HTML mail. (2) The attacker would need to know the full path and file name of a file in order to read it. (3)The vulnerability does not provide any ability to add, change, or delete files..."

[February 21, 2002] "Microsoft Fortifies Web Services Security." By Brian Fonseca. In Network World (February 21, 2002). "Highlighting efforts to comply with its pledge to improve security, Microsoft at the RSA Conference 2002 this week unveiled sample code for an XML filter to fortify Web services environments. Designed as a plug-in for Microsoft's enterprise firewall, Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2000, the software is designed to protect Web services transactions from potential XML-based outside attacks and drop inadequate or suspicious message requests, said Zachary Gutt, technical product manager of ISA Server for Microsoft... Built through Visual Studio.Net and extending the application-layer filtering capability of ISA Server, Gutt said the XML filter will help customers establish a trusted framework to authenticate users, route and authorize Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messages, and verify the integrity of XML data transmissions. Security analyst Chris Christiansen, program director of Internet security at IDC, suggests that escalating levels of XML traffic will open the door for hybrid attacks that could disrupt or overpower Web services, by methods such as buffer overflow or denial-of-service bombardments... Microsoft has said it will add support for Kerberos in its Passport .Net authentication mechanism to extend application interoperability. Kerberos, a network-authentication protocol using strong secret-key cryptography, is already embedded in a variety of Microsoft products and operating systems... The sample XML filter employs a simple algorithm to decide whether an XML request is valid, if the user is allowed to access the Web service behind the firewall, and if the structure and content of the XML document are valid. The free filter is available for download at Microsoft's ISA Server Web site..."

[February 21, 2002] "Securing Web Services with ISA Server." By Scott Seely. Microsoft Developer Network. February 2002. 26 pages. ['Create a Web Service whose security is handled by Microsoft ISA Server: look at the Web Service and what it allows callers to do, create a client application that will call Web Methods, and create an ISA Server extension to secure the Web Service... we took a look at how to add security to a Web Service at the method level by creating an ISA Extension. This extension also allowed us to block invalid incoming requests before they even access the Web Service. By using ISA, we were able to reduce the likelihood that a denial of service attack would be successful against the Web Service.'] "Routers and other network hardware can provide protection for the boxes hosting the Web Service. These can filter IP addresses, perform load balancing, and a whole host of other items. Still, a hardware router is not a good place to store custom code for inspecting SOAP messages to authenticate at the Web Method level. In SOAP v1.1, an HTTP header named SOAPAction was created to declare the intent of a SOAP request. Such a mechanism would work great in a hardware router if not for the fact that this header and the SOAP request must agree. If the caller tries to break in by claiming to execute one thing while actually executing something completely different, the hardware solution fails you. So, what do you do? Looking at the title of this article, you have probably guessed that Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server can help out. ISA filters are ISAPI filters that are registered with ISA. If you have written ISAPI filters in the past, you already know how to extend ISA Server. The only real difference is in how they are registered (we'll get to how later). In this article, we are going to create a Web Service whose security is handled by ISA Server. We will first look at the Web Service and what it allows callers to do. We will then create a client application that will call the Web Methods. This client will be able to break the Web Service due to some fabricated bugs. Finally, an ISA Server extension will be created to secure the Web Service. The extension will allow us to authenticate users at the Web Method level as well as inspect the XML to assure that the requests themselves are valid..."

[February 21, 2002] "CPL: A Language for User Control of Internet Telephony Services." Internet Engineering Task Force, Internet Draft. IPTEL WG. Reference: 'draft-ietf-iptel-cpl-06.txt'. January 15, 2002; expires: July, 2002. By Jonathan Lennox and Henning Schulzrinne (Department of Computer Science Columbia University). "The Call Processing Language (CPL) is a language that can be used to describe and control Internet telephony services. It is not tied to any particular signalling architecture or protocol; it is anticipated that it will be used with both SIP and H.323. The CPL is powerful enough to describe a large number of services and features, but it is limited in power so that it can run safely in Internet telephony servers. The intention is to make it impossible for users to do anything more complex (and dangerous) than describing Internet telephony services. The language is not Turing-complete, and provides no way to write loops or recursion. The CPL is also designed to be easily created and edited by graphical tools. It is based on XML, so parsing it is easy and many parsers for it are publicly available. The structure of the language maps closely to its behavior, so an editor can understand any valid script, even ones written by hand. The language is also designed so that a server can easily confirm scripts' validity at the time they are delivered to it, rather that discovering them while a call is being processed. Implementations of the CPL are expected to take place both in Internet telephony servers and in advanced clients; both can usefully process and direct users' calls. This document primarily addresses the usage in servers. A mechanism will be needed to transport scripts between clients and servers; this document does not describe such a mechanism, but related documents will." See the XML DTD. Document also in Postscript. See "Call Processing Language (CPL)." Compare "Voice Browser Call Control (CCXML)." [cache]

[February 21, 2002] "Sybase Buys a Seat On Web Services Train." By Wylie Wong. In ZDNet News (February 20, 2002). "Sybase has joined its competitors in planting a stake in the Web services market. The database software maker said Wednesday that it has overhauled its entire line of e-business software and tools to support Web services, a method for building software that lets companies with different computing systems interact and conduct transactions. Sybase is the latest software maker to push Web services, joining Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, IBM, Oracle and others in the emerging market...Sybase has introduced a Web services toolkit that will allow software programmers to build, test and run Web services. The toolkit will also make available services on online directories that support a Web services specification called UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration). The toolkit works in conjunction with Sybase's PowerDesigner 9.0 software development tool, which supports all the Web services specifications. The company has also added support for Web services in a number of its software products, including its Java application server software that runs e-business and other Web site transactions; its integration server software that allows different business software to communicate; its database software that manages vast amounts of data; and portal server software that allows companies to build portal sites for employees and customers. Sybase's strategy includes Web services support in its iAnywhere Solutions wireless software products, which allow Internet-ready devices such as cell phones to access Web services; and technology called BizTracker for monitoring and managing Web services to ensure they're working properly..."

[February 20, 2002] "XPipe - An XML Processing Methodology." By Sean McGrath (CTO, Propylon). February 12, 2002. 80 slides. ['I recently gave a talk about the XPipe appoach to XML processing at the XML SIG of New York; the slides from the talk are available...'] "XPipe is an architecture / methodology /framework for developing robust, scaleable, manageable XML processing systems. based on proven mechanical manufacturing techniques. Specifically: The Assembly Line Principle; Component assembly and component re-use... The XPipe philosophy hinges on the fact that every complex XML transformation can be broken down into a series of smaller ones than can be chained together... It is a way of thinking about systems that focuses on structured dataflows rather than Object APIs... The idea is that XPipe become the reference implementation of the architecture and also serve as a focal point for XPipe experimentation and discussion. The XPipe project was instigated by (and is sponsored by) Propylon to promote the assembly line approach to XML processing in the industry..." See the SourceForge project.

[February 20, 2002] "Why Microsoft Will Lead Web Services -- For Now." By Eric Knorr. In ZDNet Tech Update (February 20, 2002). "... The latest (and seemingly innocuous) move, which earned a PowerPoint slide in Bill Gates' presentation, was the launch of the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I.org), a group dedicated to 'promote Web services interoperability across platforms, operating systems, and programming languages.' That sounds like a standards organization, right? Nope. In fact, its main function is to promote best practices for Web services. The WS-I will offer 'sample implementations' -- which remind me of Sun's BluePrints, except that the prime objective will be to ensure Web services interoperability (which is fundamental to this whole machine-to-machine thing reaching critical mass). In addition, the WS-I will offer 'profiles' that suggest how groups of Web services protocols might work together. Which protocols are those? Here's where the plot thickens. No agreement has been reached on Web services protocols beyond the gang of four (XML, SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI), which together really provide a modicum of interoperability. Seems like the WS-I will run out of profiles pretty quickly. What other protocols might it be talking about? Bear with me as we rewind to last October, when Microsoft announced several 'WS' standards -- WS-Security, WS-Routing, and so on -- as part of a Global XML Web Services Architecture (GXA). From the beginning, Sun (which was dragged kicking and screaming into Web services) had been hammering Microsoft for supposedly ignoring Web services' security and authentication vulnerabilities. I had assumed at the time that when Microsoft introduced GXA, it was responding to Sun's criticism simply by saying 'we control the .Net universe and these are the protocols we're going to use for Web services security, routing,' and so on. But Microsoft was actually hunting bigger game. See, GXA is a modular framework for additional security and business process protocols, so that Web services developers can simply pick and choose the protocols they need for specific Web services implementations. GXA is intended to be used by the entire industry and to capitalize upon the millions of hours that organizations such as OASIS, the W3C, OMG, and RosettaNet have put into developing everything from ebXML business-to-business schemas to XrML for digital rights management. You see the genius here: We're at a level above all this protocol stuff, says Microsoft, but here's how you should plug it all together. The WS-I may not be a standards organization, but when it starts putting together those protocol profiles, whose modular framework will they reflect? [...]" See: "Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I)."

[February 20, 2002] "SALT Forum Publishes Specs." By Dennis Callaghan. In eWEEK (February 20, 2002). "The Speech Application Language Tags (SALT) Forum released a working draft of its 0.9 specification for adding speech tags to other Web application development languages on Wednesday. Applications created by that combination would combine speech recognition with text and graphics. The draft, published by the founding members of the SALT Forum -- Cisco Systems Inc., Comverse Inc., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., Philips Electronics N.V. and Speechworks International -- lays out the XML elements that make up SALT, the typical application scenarios in which it will be used, the principles which underline its design and resources related to the specification. Elements the draft focuses on include speech input, speech output, Dual Tone Multi-Frequency (DMTF -- generic form of Touch-Tone) input, platform messaging (using Simple Messaging Extension -- SMEX), telephony call control and logging. The SALT Forum is an alternative to a plan pushed by IBM, Motorola Inc. and Opera Software ASA to combine VoiceXML with XHTML to integrate speech and Web application development, and form so-called multi-modal applications. That group has already submitted specifications to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The SALT Forum has indicated that it too will submit to an international standards body but hasn't said which one yet..." See: (1) the news item "SALT Forum Publishes Draft Specification for Speech Application Language Tags"; (2) references in "Speech Application Language Tags (SALT)."

[February 20, 2002] "Corel Jumps On XML, .Net for Enterprise Push." By Matt Berger. In InfoWorld (February 20, 2002). "The web services bandwagon Wednesday made a stop at software maker Corel, as the company announced plans to offer a line of enterprise software tools and services for creating "smart" content that can be tied to back-end servers and modified over the Internet. The company unveiled a new initiative called Deepwhite, an umbrella name for a line of content creation software products, as well as enterprise services, that the company plans to begin rolling out later this year. Based on industry-standard technologies such as XML (Extensible Markup Language) and Web services technology developed by Corel investor Microsoft, the company said it would allow customers to design graphics and text documents that can be published for a variety of media and viewed on a variety of computing devices. 'Our intention is to take XML technologies and give customers the ability to create content and not worry about how to format it for different devices,' Derek Burney, Corel's chief executive officer, said in a phone interview. Burney announced Deepwhite during a keynote presentation at the Seybold Seminar being held this week in New York... The company will release a set of XML-based content creation tools that enable software vendors and corporate IT departments to build custom enterprise applications with graphics and other design elements that access data on the fly..."

[February 20, 2002] "Corel Launches New Strategy: Deepwhite." By [Seybold Staff]. In The Bulletin: Seybold News and Views On Electronic Publishing Volume 7, Number 19 (February 21, 2002). "Unifying its recent acquisitions under a single brand, Corel today launched Deepwhite, a new moniker for Corel products aimed at corporate software buyers. The longtime vendor of desktop graphic arts applications will look to join the growing ranks of vendors offering server-based products to the enterprise publishing market. Though the announcement was heavy on vision and light on specifics, we do know the new business unit will focus on developing and selling XML-based products that focus on enabling the enterprise to leverage XML for publishing and graphic arts without installing an entirely new foundation of processes and systems. 'It's premature to expect everyone to switch to XML-based content management from the ground up,' Corel CEO Derek Burney told The Bulletin this week. 'But by bolting our technology on to what they already have, it allows people that are not creating XML to still take advantage of XML.' Burney indicated that the technology and sales channels acquired through the company's mergers with Micrografx and SoftQuad in the past year would fuel the Deepwhite initiative. Typically known for selling shrink-wrapped software, Corel will rely on the more system-savvy customer bases and sales staffs of Micrografx and SoftQuad to try and gain momentum as a server vendor. This is not terribly unlike what's happening at Adobe, Corel's chief rival, which is looking to make a similar move into server-based enterprise products, albeit with a focus on XML. Burney also indicated that the company is 'betting heavily' on the W3C's Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an XML-based format for generating vector graphics... Burney is correct to say that it's too early yet for widespread adoption of XML-based content management, and also correct in his assessment that XML is best when it remains invisible to the user. But until we've seen any products and had a chance to gauge market reaction, that's about all we can say..."

[February 20, 2002] "The Smart Content Revolution." Corel Corporation White paper. 2002-02. "DEEPWHITE is the realization of Corel's plan to deliver enterprise-class solutions to large organizations. Supported by a series of strategic acquisitions and innovative software developments, the company is leveraging the strengths of XML and other open standards to introduce a new platform for enterprise computing. This document explores the DEEPWHITE vision for enterprise content solutions by examining how smart content can reduce content creation costs, maximize content reuse, accelerate productivity, and generate new revenue opportunities. This vision promises to dramatically change the way large organizations create, exchange, and interact with content... XML is the core of smart content as it enables content that is structured, manageable, and based on open standards. XML allows content to be stored in its purest form - data. XML separates content from the presentation layer, which allows content to be output to any presentation format. XML can describe many types of content, including text, numbers, vector graphics, layout, 3D graphics, audio, and animation. In addition, any technology, process, or person can interact with this data..." Also in PDF format.

[February 20, 2002] "Resource Directory Description Language (RDDL)." Published by Jonathan Borden. Edited by Jonathan Borden (The Open Healthcare Group) and Tim Bray (Antarcti.ca Systems). Current version: February 18, 2002. Previous Version: March 5, 2001. "This document describes the Resource Directory Description Language (RDDL). A RDDL document, called a Resource Directory, provides a package of information about some target, including: Human-readable descriptive material about the target. A directory of individual resources related to the target, each directory entry containing descriptive material and linked to the resource in question. The targets which RDDL was designed to describe are XML Namespaces. Examples of 'individual related resources' include schemas, stylesheets, and executable code designed to process markup from some namespace. A Resource Directory is designed to be suitable for service as the body of an entity returned by dereferencing a URI serving as an XML Namespace name. The Resource Directory Description Language is an extension of XHTML Basic 1.0 with an added element named resource. This element serves as an XLink to the referenced resource, and contains a human-readable description of the resource and machine readable links which describe the purpose of the link and the nature of the resource being linked to. The nature of the resource being linked to is indicated by the xlink:role attribute and the purpose of the link is indicated by the xlink:arcrole attribute. A DTD for RDDL has been defined using Modularization for XHTML..." Jonathan said [XML-DEV]: I've placed a minor and interim update to the RDDL spec at http://www.rddl.org/ -- it contains fixes to some errata, some rewording, and inclusion of a RELAXNG 1.0 schema for RDDL... No substantial changes... More work to follow -- let me know if your favorite erratum hasn't yet made the fix list." Added note from Tim Bray: "[I] Should add a word of explanation: the rewording is basically a rewrite of the first two paragraphs of the document, which asserted that a namespace was a 'class of resources' (?) and implied that the RDDL directory was of links from the namespace to the related resources. Michael Sperberg-McQueen pointed out that the links were actually from the descriptions of the related resources to the resources... claiming you're linking to a namespace is a highly philosophically risky proposition... Oh, and fixed a few inconsistencies in the use of terms and got the resource/entity/URI nomenclature right per the RFCs..."

[February 19, 2002] "The Universal Business Language." By Jon Bosak (Sun Microsystems; Chair, OASIS UBL TC). Presentation given to the U. S. Government XML Working Group, Washington, D.C., 20-February-2002. 17 pages (34 slides). "UBL: (1) Synthesis of existing XML B2B languages [xCBL, cXML, RosettaNet, OAG, etc.]; (2) Primary inputs: xCBL, ebXML core components, ebXML context methodology; (3) Applicable across any sector or domain of electronic trade, transport, and administration [purchasing, payments, logistics, transportation, statistical reporting, social administration, healthcare, etc.]; (4) Interoperable with existing EDI systems; (5) Based on a core library plus a context-sensitive extension mechanism; (6) Unencumbered by intellectual property claims; (7) Intended to become a legal standard for international trade. The big problem: Context. 'Standard' business document components are different when used in different business contexts. Example #1: shipping addresses: Addresses in Japan are different from addresses in the United States; Addresses in the auto industry are different from addresses in other industries. Example #2: invoice items: An invoice for shoes needs item fields for color; an invoice for gourmet coffee needs item fields for grind; Invoices for microprocessor boards have to contain serial numbers for the processor chips to detect substitution in shipment..." Also in HTML format. See: "Universal Business Language (UBL)."

[February 19, 2002] "Web Services Quandary. Tomorrow's Business-to-Business E-Comm Requires Navigating the Maze of Conflicting Web Services Standards." By Stephen Lawton. In Network World (February 18, 2002). "Despite the blitzkrieg of standards work, Web services languages today are in roughly the same position as word processors were 15 years ago -- lots of incompatible choices. The standards battle is being waged on two fronts: Consortia are creating competing specifications, as are XML tool developers. Network executives who ignore the war will be letting these groups decide which will become the specifications of choice. A worst-case scenario could find a company building its internal Web services in one language but its competition - and its suppliers - building in a different language. Sorting out XML standards is 'a bit of a rat's nest,' says Nathaniel Palmer, chief analyst and director of the Business of Technology practice at The Delphi Group. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is working on high-level infrastructure issues, he notes, while the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) is defining practical processes users need... XML tool vendors and consortia developing XML schemas often compete. It's not unusual to have several schemas defining the same process. Yet, an application designed to use one schema cannot access a service built to use a different schema. This crowd has created four major competing business-process schemas: IBM has its Web Services Flow Language; Microsoft has XLANG, which is part of BizTalk, a .Net component; OASIS offers its Business Process Service, a component of ebXML; and the Business Process Management Institute (BPMI) has BPML. [Paul] Harmon expects only two of these business-process XML schemas to survive, but can't predict which two. IBM will be seen as the traditional safe bet, but Microsoft is likely to be the least expensive, he says. OASIS has the draw of being developed by a standards group but BPMI's is the most vendor-agnostic. ... In addition to creating business-process schemas, companies such as IBM and Microsoft, and groups such as OASIS, are rapidly building vertical schema. By some accounts, nearly 100 separate XML-related standards are in various stages of development. many find consortia to be a good solution. Physicians Insurance Corp. (PIC) Wisconsin is looking to ACORD to specify Web services standards for its members, much like it did for electronic data interchange. Jay Chenoweth, IS manager at the Madison, Wisc., malpractice insurer, says ACORD has its own EDI system. Now it has its own XML approach. ACORD did a lot of work to define XML for insurance providers, by creating the XML vocabulary for the industry..."

[February 19, 2002] "Introducing Cocoon 2.0." By Stefano Mazzocchi. From XML.com. February 13, 2002. ['Cocoon project founder Stefano Mazzochi describes the Apache XML Project's XML/XSLT server application framework. Stefano also gives a history of Cocoon, from its humble origins as 100-line Java servlet to the sophisticated development platform recently released as Cocoon 2.0.'] "It took two years and three different project leaders to finish Cocoon 2.0 but we made it. It's an XML framework that raises the usage of XML and XSLT technologies for server applications to a new level. Designed for performance and scalability around pipelined SAX processing, Cocoon offers a flexible environment based on the separation of concerns between content, logic and style. A centralized configuration system and sophisticated caching enable you to create, deploy, and maintain rock-solid XML server applications. Cocoon was designed as an abstract engine that could be connected to almost anything, but it ships with servlet and command line connectors. The servlet connector allows you to call Cocoon from your favorite servlet engine or application server. You can install it beside your existing servlets or JSPs. The command line interface allows you to generate static content as a batch process. It can be useful to pre-generate those parts of your site that are static, some of which may be easier to create by using Cocoon functionalities than directly (say, SVG rasterization or applying stylesheets). For example, the Cocoon documentation and web site are all generated by Cocoon from the command line. Cocoon is now based on the concept of component pipelines. Like a UNIX pipe, but instead of passing bytes between STDIN and STDOUT, Cocoon passes SAX events. The three types of pipeline components are generators, which take a request and produce SAX events; transformers, which consume SAX events and produce SAX events; and serializers, which consume SAX events and produce a response. A Cocoon pipeline is composed of one generator, zero or more transformers, and one serializer. As with UNIX pipes, a small number of components give you an incredible number of possible combinations. Think of active Lego bricks for XML manipulation... Cocoon is currently based on many other Apache projects -- Ant, Avalon, Xerces, Xalan, FOP, Batik, Velocity, Regexp -- but due to its high modularity, it has ful support for alternative implementations of underlying W3C technologies. The Cocoon development community is one of the more active under the Apache Software Foundation: boasting more than 15 active developers, around 500 subscribers of the development mail list, and around 1100 on the user list. We consider Cocoon 2.0 stable in both implementation and API: this means that we consider it safe to be used for production environments. And it's already being used on many such projects."

[February 19, 2002] "Web Services Pitfalls." By David Orchard. From XML.com. February 06, 2002. ['David Orchard puts the web services model into the context of business requirements, covering such issues as security, billing and provisioning. Orchard concludes that while web services will be an important technology, for the foreseeable future human intervention and contract negotiation will have a large part to play.'] "The latest hot ticket for vendors to sell and journalists to write about is web services. The appeal is natural: web services promise users and developers greater choice of components and services. This article examines perhaps the most futuristic of web services, those offered by a standalone service provider. In particular, it focuses on the infancy of the standards and technology in standalone web services... Web services is an umbrella term used to describe components and services that are addressable and available using web technology. The kinds of web services are typically user-oriented and browser-based, API-accessible, or system services functionality. A web service could be a browser-based e-mail program, an XML-based interface to an HR system, a SOAP service offered by a machine, a SOAP monitoring service, XML-based integration with an EAI or legacy system, and so on. The standards for the way components in a web service exchange data is crucial. Some of the infrastructure standards that are being created include SOAP, WSDL, UDDI, SAML, ebXML, as well as many vertical standards being created as well... The real summary is that web services will be used as an enabling technology to integrate applications together more quickly and easily. There are real-world integration problems that are being solved by web services standards compliant products and deployments. It will be quite some time, if ever, before there is widespread adoption of standalone web services that are usable without significant human intervention and contract negotiation."

[February 19, 2002] "Introducing XML::SAX::Machines, Part One." By Kip Hampton. From XML.com. February 13, 2002. ['Kip Hampton's Perl column this month introduces the new Perl module XML::SAX::Machines. This module provides a high-level wrapper that allows chaining of SAX processors, demonstrated in the article by showing how custom tags can be implemented in an Apache mod_perl application.'] With sample code. "In recent columns we have seen that SAX provides a modular way to generate and filter XML content. For those just learning how SAX works, though, the task of hooking up to the correct parser-generator-driver and building chains of filters can be tricky. More experienced SAX users may have a clearer picture of how to proceed, but they often find that initializing complex filter chains is tedious and lends itself to lots of duplicated code... Barrie Slaymaker's outstanding new XML::SAX::Machines addresses both the complexity and the tedium of creating SAX systems. [...] We've only touched the surface of what XML::SAX::Machines can do. Tune in next month when we will delve deeper into the API and show off some of its advanced features."

[February 19, 2002] "Message Patterns and Interoperability." By Leigh Dodds. From XML.com. February 13, 2002. ['Leigh Dodds summarizes the conversations in his XML-Deviant column, focusing on types of message patterns and the reaction to the recently announced industry web services consortium, the Web Standards Interoperability Organization.'] "Web services have been the major topic of conversation on XML-DEV this week following a discussion on types of messaging patterns and some wary initial reactions to WS-I, the 'standards integrator' organization."

[February 19, 2002] "Web Resource Description Language." By Paul Prescod. Draft only. 2002-02-19 or later. [Replaces Web Service Operations Language and Simple Web Service Behaviour Language. See following bibliographic entry.] "The basic model of a REST Web Service is that services are described as webs of resources. Typically the resources will be represented by dynamically generated XML documents but that is not necessarily the case. Just as with services based on COM, CORBA or SOAP, it would be nice to have a declaration of a resource's operation in advance so that reliable software can be constructed with less testing. Insofar as a service consists of XML documents, XML schemas provide a partial description of the service. What they do not describe is the transitions from one document to another: the service's runtime behaviour. That's what WSOL does. It is intended to be the IDL/WSDL for HTTP web services. Just as with IDL it may one day make sense to 'bind' WSOL into a statically typed programming language to make the construction of type-incorrect client software impossible..." [Post to XML-DEV: "I had a much better idea of how to do static service declarations (as per IDL or WSDL) for REST web services...It reflects the underlying Web Architecture much more clearly than my old proposal did. It is consequently simpler. It has first-class concepts of 'resource', 'representation', 'method', 'input' and 'output'. Methods are HTTP methods like PUT, GET, DELETE, YOURMETHOD. Inputs are like HTTP method inputs: headers, query params and body (the URI is implied by the resource!). Outputs are like HTTP outputs: status code, headers and body. Resources know what representations they support and you can navigate from resource to resource through hyperlinks without worrying about the XML or HTML syntax of the representation (unless you want to). Following a hyperlink is a type-safe operation. That's about all the concepts in it. A rough proposal for an API (Java-ish syntax to prove it isn't biased towards dynamic languages) is provided. Everything is statically type checked just as with IDL or WSDL. Of course in Python everything would be done at runtime and thus save a build step. When I implement it I think it will be a really cool tool. Until then, I think it is a useful pedagogic tool for those working on REST Zen. If you want to implement it before I get around to it, in whatever language, please do..."]

[February 19, 2002] "Web Service Operations Language." By Paul Prescod. Partial draft only. 2002-02-19 or later. "The basic model of a REST Web Service is that services are described as webs of documents. Typically the documents will be dynamically generated but that is not necessarily the case. Just as with services based on COM, CORBA or SOAP, it would be nice to have a declaration of a service's operation in advance so that reliable software can be constructed with less testing. Insofar as a service consists of documents, especially XML documents, XML schemas provide a partial description of the service. What they do not describe is the transitions from one document to another. That's what WSOL does. It is intended to be the IDL/WSDL for HTTP web services. Just as with IDL it may one day make sense to "bind" WSOL into a statically typed programming language to make the construction of type-incorrect client software more difficult... Think of a web service as a web of document types. The "find airline seat" document points to the "reserve seat" document through a URI. That document points to the "purchase seat" document through a URI and so forth. Each document has associated with it an XML Schema but also a operation description (or perhaps just a fragment of a operation description ). The "root" operation description for a service asserts that a particular URI references a service that conforms to a particular operation description. As you move from document to document following links, each link is strongly and statically typed by the operation Description. A failure to conform is a runtime error, just as with non-validation against an XML Schema or WSDL service desctiption..." ['...(maybe this) will give us a concrete language for modelling REST applications... much simpler and easier to read than WSDL and yet more powerful and complete...'] See the YahooGroups "REST Discussion Mailing List" [Discussion about REpresentational State Transfer, the name given to the architecture of the World Wide Web by Roy Fielding] and the 'REST' thread in the XML-DEV list archives.

[February 19, 2002] "Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP)." Note 21-January-2002. Version URL: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/ws-wsrp. Edited by Thomas Schaeck (IBM). Authors: Angel Luis Diaz, Peter Fischer, Carsten Leue, and Thomas Schaeck. "Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP) are visual, user-facing web services centric components that plug-n-play with portals or other intermediary web applications that aggregate content or applications from different sources. They are designed to enable businesses to provide content or applications in a form that does not require any manual content- or application-specific adaptation by consuming intermediary applications. As Web Services for Remote Portals include presentation, service providers determine how their content and applications are visualized for end-users and to which degree adaptation, transcoding, translation etc may be allowed. WSRP services can be published into public or corporate service directories (UDDI) where they can easily be found by intermediary applications that want to display their content. Web application deployment vendors can wrap and adapt their middleware for use in WSRP-compliant services. Vendors of intermediary applicatios can enable their products for consuming Web Services for Remote Portals. Using WSRP, portals can easily integrate content and applications from many internal and external content providers. The portal administrator simply picks the desired services from a list and integrates them, no programmers are required to tie new content and applications into the portal. To accomplish these goals, the WSRP standard defines a web services interface description using WSDL and all the semantics and behavior that web services and consuming applications must comply with in order to be pluggable as well as the meta-information that has to be provided when publishing WSRP services into UDDI directories. The standard allows WSRP services to be implemented in very different ways, be it as a Java/J2EE based web service, a web service implemented on Microsoft's .NET platform or a portlet published as a WSRP Service by a portal. The standard enables use of generic adapter code to plug in any WSRP service into intermediary applications rather than requiring specific proxy code. WSRP services are WSIA component services built on standard technologies including SOAP, UDDI, and WSDL. WSRP adds several context elements including user profile, information about the client device, locale and desired markup language passed to them in SOAP requests. A set of operations and contracts are defined that enable WSRP plug-n-play..." See: (1) the news item of January 21, 2002: "Proposal for an OASIS Web Services Remote Portal (WSRP) Technical Committee"; (2) the topic page "Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP)."

[February 19, 2002] "Web Services, Part VIII: Reading DTDs with JavaScript." By Yehuda Shiran and Tomer Shiran. From WebReference.com (February 11, 2002). "In this column we continue our series on Web services. In Part I, we introduced you to this hot topic. In Part II, we showed you how to call Web services. In Part III, we presented the WebService behavior and its four supported methods. In Part IV, we continued our coverage of the WebService behavior by describing its objects and properties. In Part V, we dove into XML and XSLT. In Part VI, we started a miniseries on how to load and manipulate XML files from JavaScript. We continued this miniseries in Part VII, and focused on the DOMDocument's nodes and node types. In this column, we dive into the world of document type definitions (DTDs). The XML format supports entity references. These are parameters you can substitute with real values upon loading. These real values are defined in the DTD file. In this column we'll show you how to interact with DTDs. We'll teach you how to assemble a DTD for both document structure validation, as well as entity substitution. We'll show you what the DOMDocument object looks like in case of entity referencing, and how to insert new entity references into a DOMDocument. In this column you will learn: (1) How to assemble and call DTDs; (2) How to define an XML file structure; (3) How to reference and specify entities; (4) How to load DTDs with a browser; (5) How to load DTDs with JavaScript; (6) How to add entity references on the fly..."

[February 19, 2002] "What Web Services Are NOT." By Sriram Rajaraman and Michael Classen. From WebReference.com (February 16, 2002). ['Web Services are the latest, and perhaps hottest buzz-word in the Web development world. And, as is typically the case with all emerging buzz-words, their exact purpose and definition seem to vary from site to site, and vendor to vendor. To help us unravel the hype, we welcome guest author Sriram Rajaraman, the VP of Engineering at Instantis, who will help us understand what Web services are by explaining what he believes they are not.'] "Although there is certainly some new technology here ( mainly directed towards standardization - you may have heard about Simple Object Access Protocol or SOAP, Web Services Definition Language or WSDL, and Universal Description, Discovery and Integration or UDDI) Web services are largely a convenience wrapper around existing technologies like HTTP, SMTP, and XML. A Web service is a way to expose some business functionality over the Internet using the SOAP protocol... It is portable, interoperable and not tied to any one vendor and this is precisely why it is useful. Technically speaking, here's how a Web service works. A client wanting to call a function formats a request with SOAP XML encoding, and sends it to the server over any mutually agreeable communication protocol (typically HTTP, but SMTP is possible). The server runs some sort of a listener that accepts the incoming SOAP calls, reads the information from the XML SOAP packets, and maps them to business logic processing "application" software on the server. This application layer on the server processes the request and returns output to the listener, which formats the output into a response packet in the SOAP XML encoding and returns it to the client. A separate XML file contains a description of the services provided by the server in an encoding format called SDL (Service Descriptor Language), analogous to a type library in COM or an IDL file in CORBA. While most people are in alignment regarding the technology, there continues to be confusion in the description of what Web services are really capable of, and what their attributes are. Rather than describe each element exhaustively, let me take a cut at examining what Web services are NOT..."

[February 19, 2002] "XML Schema and RELAX NG Element Comparison." By Michael Fitzgerald. Reference posted to the RELAX NG TC list. "This document briefly compares XML Schema's 42 elements with RELAX NG's 28 elements. In the table that follows, the first column lists all the XML Schema elements while the second column lists any RELAX NG elements that have a one-to-one relationship, a comparable purpose, or only a roughly similar purpose to XML Schema elements. Elements unique to each language are also listed in separate tables below..." ['I have made an attempt to briefly compare the purpose of XML Schema's elements with RELAX NG's elements. The comparison appears in three tables totaling about 2 and 1/2 pages printed. I would appreciate any comments you have about this document...'] Note also the relax ng links on the Wy'east Communications web site. See "RELAX NG" and "XML Schemas."

[February 19, 2002] "XML at the Heart of Texas A&M Student Services." By Karen D. Schwartz. In ZDNet Tech Update (February 12, 2002). [Problem: Develop a set of scalable and reliable applications that can communicate with each other despite disparate programming languages, operating systems, and servers. Solution: Write a series of Web-accessible applications in XML.'] "If Texas A&M University is any indication, it takes a village of sophisticated, connected systems to run an institution of higher education. The College Station, Texas-based university, with about 45,000 students and hundreds of faculty and administrators, had existed for years with a cornucopia of diverse systems written for a variety of operating systems in many different programming languages. The applications run the gamut, facilitating everything from student registration and admissions to bill disbursement, housing, and scholarship-tracking... A drastic change of technological direction would have to take place to enable the university not only to run more efficiently, but also to allow it to begin developing much-needed Web services... To find the right technology to solve the problem, Chester and his staff spent nearly three years studying the methods other large universities had employed, and evaluating their own technology options. In the end, it became clear that eXtensible Markup Language (XML) was the best choice, because it would allow them to develop and integrate disparate systems regardless of the platform, language, or application server used. To facilitate the use of XML, the university deployed EntireX Broker, middleware from Software AG that acts as a gateway, allowing developers to work with code from a variety of sources. EntireX accepts XML and translates it for the legacy systems, and vice versa. The middleware also lets Texas A&M programmers reuse existing code to speed development time and reduce errors -- all in a Web-based framework... To prove that XML and EntireX Broker provided the right combination of technology, Chester's team developed several pilot projects combining the two. The first pilot involved erecting a simple Web page where students could check the status of their admission applications--a significant time-saver for a university dealing with about 25,000 applicants per year. A second pilot involved the development of a gateway through which the university's 30,000 to 50,000 yearly prospective applicants could access information. The pilot tests proved successful, so the team moved on to a true test of its ability to provide far-reaching Web services -- the development of a Web-based class registration system that would allow students to check class availability and enroll for classes. To create the system, the team built many business objects for functions such as adding a class to a student's schedule, selecting the entire student's schedule to display on the screen, and more. Other Web-based applications include a system that allows students to enroll and eventually pay for new student conferences, and an application that allows people to request catalogs, campus maps, and applications..."

[February 19, 2002] "Streaming Transformations for XML (STX)." February 18, 2002. Revision 0.01. See the XML-DEV posting of 2002-02-19 from Petr Cimprich, "Streaming Transformations for XML." [The only purpose of this document is to be a subject to discussion.] "STX is an XML-based template language for transforming XML documents into other XML documents in a streaming way. It can also be seen as a language to define rules for generic SAX2 filters. This language doesn't depend on neither XPath nor DOM. STX claims to be platform and implementation independent language... The idea of a simple XML transformation language isn't new nor surprising and STX admits inspiration from many sources. Its syntax is very similar to the syntax of XSLT by intention; this feature hopefully allows to learn the most of STX easily to the wide community of XSLT users. Other sources of inspiration include SAX2 [SAX2] filters such as [NsF], [RgF] or [XFD], all of them exploring possibilities of streaming transformations... STX rules are written in stylesheets in the XML format. The stylesheets should more exactly be called transformation rule files, as they have nothing to do with styles, but the word 'stylesheet' is shorter and thanks to XSLT is widely understood as a transformation rule file..." See also the web entry point.

[February 18, 2002] "Inland Revenue CT E-Filing. The Business Case for XBRL." By PricewaterhouseCoopers and Walter Hamscher (Standard Advantage). 12 pages. Revision 1, 20-December-2001. "The UK government has made a broad and deep commitment to establishing a sound technical foundation for e-Government. Within this framework, there is a requirement for standardising data tags and vocabularies across government departments. CT e-Filing is an Inland Revenue initiative that will allow corporate entities to file form CT600 electronically using Extensible Markup Language (XML), along with XML Schema, which defines the arrangement of XM L data in a file. This builds on similar XML implementations for SA and PAYE forms. To that end, the Inland Revenue development team has created a standardised set of data tags and structures for representing the CT600 in XML. This was released for consultation to tax and accounting software vendors on 22-November-2001. In the commercial world, over 120 software vendors, accounting firms, and users of financial data have formed an independent consortium in order to standardise the data tags and vocabularies for business reporting, using XML and XML Schema for the same reasons that the Inland Revenue chose to do so. The resulting specification is the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) and the community is XBRL.org. What XBRL adds to XML Schema is a framework for defining financial and business performance terms to be used consistently within and across many different software applications. The terms have a fixed meaning, defined and endorsed by professional associations and independent of any particular software application. The framework then allows those terms to be organized in any given business form or report along dimensions that are common in reporting: business entities, the period of reporting, and classification with respect to the type of each data item. Furthermore, XBRL is accompanied by a growing number of vocabularies covering large areas of accounting and financial data -- a core set of UK accounting concepts being among those vocabularies..." [from the author] See "XML Markup Languages for Tax Information."

[February 18, 2002] "Unicode in XML and other Markup Languages." Unicode Technical Report #20. Revised version [#6]. W3C Note 18-February-2002. Authored by Martin Dürst and Asmus Freytag. Version URLs: [Unicode] http://www.unicode.org/unicode/reports/tr20/tr20-6.html; [W3C] http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/NOTE-unicode-xml-20020218. Latest version URLs: http://www.unicode.org/unicode/reports/tr20/, http://www.w3.org/TR/unicode-xml/. "This document contains guidelines on the use of the Unicode Standard in conjunction with markup languages such as XML. The Technical Report is published jointly by the Unicode Technical Committee and by the W3C Internationalization Working Group/Interest Group in the context of the W3C Internationalization Activity. The base version of the Unicode Standard for this document is Version 3.2 [see following bibliographic entry]... Both the Unicode Standard and markup technologies are evolving; when appropriate, a new version of this document may be published... The Unicode Standard defines the universal character set. Its primary goal is to provide an unambiguous encoding of the content of plain text, ultimately covering all languages in the world... For document and data interchange, the Internet and the World Wide Web are more and more making use of marked-up text such as HTML and XML. In many instances, markup provides the same, or essentially similar features to those provided by format characters in the Unicode Standard for use in plain text. Another special character category provided by Unicode are compatibility characters. While there may be valid reasons to support these characters and their specifications in plain text, their use in marked-up text can conflict with the rules of the markup language. Formatting characters are discussed in chapters 2 and 3, compatibility characters in chapter 4. Issues resulting from canonical equivalences and Normalization as well as the interaction of character encoding and methods of escaping characters in markup are discussed in the Character Model for the World Wide Web. The issues of using Unicode characters with marked-up text depend to some degree on the rules of the markup language in question and the set of elements it contains. In a narrow sense, this document concerns itself only with XML, and to some extent HTML. However, much of the general information presented here should be useful in a broader context, including some page layout languages... Many of the recommendations of this report depend on the availability of particular markup. Where possible, appropriate DTDs or Schemas should be used or designed to make such markup available, or the DTDs or Schemas used should be appropriately extended. The current version of this document makes no specific recommendations for the design of DTDs or schemas, or for the use of particular DTDs or Schemas, but the information presented here may be useful to designers of DTDs and Schemas, and to people selecting DTDs or Schemas for their applications. The recommendations of this report do not apply in the case of XML used for blind data transport and similar cases..." See "XML and Unicode."

[February 18, 2002] Proposed Draft Unicode Technical Report #28. Unicode 3.2. Unicode version 3.2.0. By Members of the Editorial Committee. Date 2002-1-21. Version URL: http://www.unicode.org/unicode/reports/tr28/tr28-2. ['This document defines Version 3.2 of the Unicode Standard. This draft is for review with the intention of it becoming a Unicode Standard Annex. The document has been made available for public review as a Proposed Draft Unicode Technical Report. Publication does not imply endorsement by the Unicode Consortium. This is a draft document which may be updated, replaced, or superseded by other documents at any time. This is not a stable document; it is inappropriate to cite this document as other than a work in progress.'] "Unicode 3.2 is a minor version of the Unicode Standard. It overrides certain features of Unicode 3.1, and adds a significant number of coded characters... The primary feature of Unicode 3.2 is the addition of 1016 new encoded characters. These additions consist of several Philippine scripts, a large collection of mathematical symbols, and small sets of other letters and symbols. All of the newly encoded characters in Unicode 3.2 are additions to the Basic Multilingual Plane (BMP). Complete introductions to the newly encoded scripts and symbols can be found in Article IV, Block Descriptions... Additional Features of Unicode 3.2: Unicode 3.2 also features amended contributory data files, to bring the data files up to date against the expanded repertoire of characters. A summary of the revisions to the data files can be found in Article VII, Unicode Character Database Changes. All outstanding errata and corrigenda to the Unicode Standard are included in this specification. Major corrigenda having a bearing on conformance to the standard are listed in Article II, Conformance. Other minor errata are listed in Article VI, Errata. Most notable among the corrigenda to the standard is a further tightening of the definition of UTF-8, to eliminate irregular UTF-8 and to bring the Unicode specification of UTF-8 more completely into line with other specifications of UTF-8. The former UTR #21, Case Mappings has been upgraded in status to a Unicode Standard Annex in Unicode 3.2. This means that UAX #21, Case Mappings is now formally a part of the Unicode Standard..." See "XML and Unicode."

[February 18, 2002] "Internationalization Features in XML and XLIFF. Extensible Markup Language and XML Localization Interchange File Format are Powerful Tools for Multilingual Applications." By Ultan Ó Broin (Oracle Corporation). In MultiLingual Computing and Technology Volume 13 Issue 2 [#46] (March 2002), pages 53-55. ISSN: 1523-0309. "In this article I will first look at the internationalization features of XML in terms of what content development teams must do to provide for character set encodings, character representation, language identification, and the presentation and rendering of global content in different languages. Then I will look at what development teams must do to facilitate the localization of XML content and how XML features enhance the localization process... The best way to provide for localization of XML is to use the XML Localisation Interchange File Format (or XLIFF). XLIFF is an XML-based file format for the exchange of localization data, based on OpenTag 1.2 and including features of TMX. It was developed by a group of localization partners including Oracle, Novell, IBM/Lotus, Sun Microsystems, Alchemy, Berlitz, LionBridge, Moravia-IT, and the RWS Group. XLIFF is now maintained under the aegis of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). XLIFF defines a specification for an extensible format that caters specifically for localization requirements. It allows any software publisher to produce a single interchange format understandable by any localization service provider. It requires that the format should be tool independent, standardized, and support the whole localization process. The XLIFF data format successfully meets the goal of the separation of localization data and process, providing a focus on automation, stopping the proliferation of internal XML formats, and turning localization into a commodity for all players. Software publishers are freed to focus on producing international products and vendors are freed to focus on translating without managing multiple translation tools or file formats." [excerpt provided by the author] See: (1) "XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF)"; (2) "Language Identifiers in the Markup Context."

[February 18, 2002] "Architectural Theses on Namespaces and Namespace Documents." By Tim Bray. ['This document represents only the opinion of its author and has not been reviewed or approved by any other person or organization.'] "A namespace name is defined to be a URI reference. Some URI references may be dereferenced; when this is done, the result is referred to as the namespace document. In December 2000, I co-edited a proposal for Resource Directory Definition Language, an extension of XHTML with a <rddl:resource> element, designed for use in namespace documents. This document is as an outline of the architectural principles which led to the design of RDDL, although they were not thought through in this level of detail at that time. [...] (1) It is not strictly necessary for namespace documents to exist. (2) Namespaces vary widely in semantic effect. (3) Namespaces have definitive material... [theses #4-14 follow]" Referenced in XML-DEV 2002-02-18: "I have just posted some arguments about namespaces and namespace documents as a contribution to TAG debate - I suspect many here will be interested; see [the posting]..." See other references in "Namespaces in XML."

[February 15, 2002] "The e-Service Development Framework (eSDF)." Edited by Tim Benson. Published by the UK Cabinet Office, Office of the e-Envoy. Version 1.0b. 88 pages. February 06, 2002. Released for trial use and evaluation over the next six months. Comments to Adrian Kent (Interoperability Policy Adviser, Technology Strategy, Office of the e-Envoy). "The e-Service Development Framework (eSDF) provides a methodology for developing interoperability specifications for use in the public sector. The focus is on preserving the information content so that the information receiver can use it without loss or change of meaning. This document is an introduction to the Office of the e-Envoy's (OeE) e-Service Development Framework (eSDF) and e-Service Development Process Guidelines, which provide a road map for the development of electronic service delivery throughout the public sector. Overview: (1) Part 1 Section A: The e-Service Development Framework (eSDF) provides a high level map of all of the constituents of the process. (2) Section B: The specification of functional Requirements is the first, vital stage of any design process. The Requirements specification uses the Government Common Information Model (GCIM) and use case analysis as a framework for specifying each service interaction in a way that is appropriate to the domain. (3) Section C: Message Design Specification continues the example into the more technical aspects of message design. The service interactions specified in the Requirements specification are converted into detailed Message Specifications, based on the generic structure of the Government Message Reference Model (GMRM). Separate Message Types are defined for each type of message. These are technology-neutral. The conversion into specific technologies, such as XML schema is covered in a separate document. (4) Section D: Implementation using XML Schema... The Message Design Specification (MDS) is technology-neutral, but the e-GIF mandates the use of XML schema. Once the MDS has been prepared, the next step is the preparation of one or more XML Schemas describing the actual XML messages to be used. In principle, an XML Schema could be generated automatically from the MDS, provided that all relevant value sets are available in schema form. However, it is more likely that the best that can be generated automatically from the MDS is a useful first draft, or, as described below, tool-based support for a human schema designer. [We here present] a use case for XML schema development using the MDS; a domain model showing the relationships between XML message components and the Message Design Domain Model; and a short discussion of the XML infrastructure required to make the scenario described in the use case a reality. " See also the metadata description. Related references in "e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF)."

[February 15, 2002] E-Government Metadata Standard (e-GMS). January 09, 2002 ['09/01/02']. Version 0.2. 36 pages. The e-GMS lists the elements and refinements that will be used by the public sector to create metadata for information resources. Draft for consultation. Comments due by 22-February-2002. Please send comments to: Maewyn Cumming, Metadata Policy Adviser, Office of the e-Envoy, Stockley House, 130 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1LQ. XML schema [to be completed]. "The first version of this Standard, as described in the e-GMF, consisted of simple Dublin Core. In this version, additional elements have been added to facilitate information and records management... A mapping description lists the elements in other metadata schemes that each element maps to. The other schemes compared are (1) Dublin Core: the set of metadata elements and refinements developed by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, which makes up the core of the e-GMS; (2) AGLS: Australian Government Locator Service; (3) NGDF: The National Geospatial Data Framework; (4) GILS: Government Locator Service, used in the USA; (5) PRO: Metadata elements recommended by the UK Public Record Office. Rationale: "The reasons and policies for developing this standard are outlined in the e-Government Metadata Framework: (1) Modernising Government calls for better use of official information, joined-up systems and policies, and services designed around the needs of citizens. (2) Considerable work has already been done to standardise government information systems so they can be accessed easily from central portals. (3) New systems for the handling of electronic records are being devised. Official records will not always be stored in paper format. (4) Metadata makes it easier to manage or find information, be it in the form of web pages, electronic documents, paper files, databases, anything. (5) For metadata to be effective it needs to be structured and consistent across organisations. (6) The e-GMF is therefore mandated across all government information systems. By association, so is the e-GMS.." Also in Word/RTF format; see the metadata description . See: "e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF)." [cache]

[February 14, 2002] "Securing Signatures for Web Services." By Paul Festa. In CNET News.com (February 14, 2002). "The premier Web standards body on Thursday recommended a way of signing documents using XML, calling its new digital signature guidelines a key tool for Web services infrastructure. The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) XML Signature recommendation, developed in conjunction with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), provides a standard way of signing XML documents so that recipients can verify the identity of the sender and the integrity of the data. Those guarantees are crucial to Web services, an area the W3C has been criticized for neglecting. 'XML Signature is a critical foundation on top of which we will be able to build more secure Web services,'" W3C founder and director Tim Berners-Lee said in a statement. 'By offering basic data integrity and authentication tools, XML Signature provides new power for applications that enable trusted transactions of all sorts.' The digital signature is just one tool in a group under construction at the W3C required for secure transactions. While the signature verifies a sender's identity and the data's integrity, an encryption method is required to scramble the message and prevent its being read en route to the recipient. The W3C is at work on XML Encryption..." See the news item "XML-Signature Published as a W3C Recommendation."

[February 14, 2002] "Exclusive XML Canonicalization Version 1.0." W3C Candidate Recommendation 12-February-2002. Authors/Editors: John Boyer (PureEdge Solutions Inc.), Donald E. Eastlake 3rd, Motorola), and Joseph Reagle (W3C). "Canonical XML specifies a standard serialization of XML that, when applied to a subdocument, includes the subdocument's ancestor context including all of the namespace declarations and attributes in the xml: namespace. However, some applications require a method which, to the extent practical, excludes unused ancestor context from a canonicalized subdocument. For example, one might require a digital signature over an XML payload (subdocument) in an XML message that will not break when that subdocument is removed from its original message and/or inserted into a different context. This requirement is satisfied by Exclusive XML Canonicalization... This specification from the IETF/W3C XML Signature Working Group is a Candidate Recommendation of the W3C. The Working Group believes this specification incorporates the resolution of all last call issues; furthermore it considers the specification to be very stable and invites implementation feedback during this period. The exit criteria for this phase is atleast two interoperable implementations over every feature, one implementation of all features, and one report of satisfaction in an application context (e.g., SOAP, SAML, etc.) Note, this specification already has significant implementation experience as demonstrated by its Interoperability Report. We expect to meet all requirements of that report within the two month Candidate Recommendation period (closing April 16, 2002)..."

[February 14, 2002] "Accenture, BEA, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, and SAP Form Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) to Speed Development and Deployment of Web Services; Provide Support and Roadmap for Developers and Customers." By [WSJ Staff]. In Web Services Journal (February 12, 2002). "A broad group of technology leaders have formed the Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) Organization... Exclusive to WSJ, we interviewed Bob Sutor, director of e-business standards strategy, IBM, for deeper background on the new group. He commented, 'This came about from work IBM and Microsoft had done together with our industry partners on standards efforts. Most important, however, the need for interoperability is something that our customers made very clear to us. We have to ensure that 'interoperability' is not just a marketing term to associate with Web services, we need to make it real and we need to make it measurable.' When asked if it posed any special challenge to bring together this assortment of industry rivals into one organization, Sutor noted, 'No more than usual. After a lot of careful planning you have a limited time to engage with the partners and educate them on the goals of the organization and sign them up for the launch. Overall, it was an exciting experience.' WSJ asked if the group would physically meet as a committee, or will the sharing of ideas and standards occur via Internet cooperation? 'Probably a combination of both,' said Sutor. 'There will be a community meeting at the end of February where we will bring everyone together and form some workgroups. After that the workgroups will use e-mail, have teleconferences and have their own face-to-face meeting schedules. We will later decide the schedule for future full community meetings.'... Related article from WSJ: "W3C Sets Record Straight On New Web Services Alliance: 'WS-I Is Not a Competitor to W3C...They're Choosing Specs, Not Building Them'." See "Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I)."

[February 14, 2002] "Updating Your System. Is VoiceXML Right for Your Customer Service Strategy?" [Critical Decisions]. By Jonathan Eisenzopf. In New Architect: Internet Strategies for Technology Leaders Volume 7, Issue 3 (March 2002), pages 20-21. ISSN: 1537-9000. "VoiceXML is based on technology that has been used in IVR systems for years and deployed in many Fortune 500 companies. VoiceXML is simply a thin veneer that abstracts the low-level APIs used to develop IVR applications. Voice dialogs are specified by static (or dynamic) XML documents that contain sets of recorded or synthesized prompts and speech recognition grammars. These XML documents are converted by a VoiceXML gateway into low-level commands that interact with the digital signal processors (DSP) and telephony boards in a VoiceXML gateway. It's unlikely that VoiceXML will bring the Web to the phone, however. Despite the hype, VoiceXML isn't well suited as a general-purpose interface for providing telephone access to the Web. Instead, the two areas where it can provide immediate and compelling benefits are customer service and order entry... The airline industry has used IVR systems to provide flight arrival and departure information for some time. This has dramatically reduced costs by eliminating the need for live operators and shortening the average length of each call. However, customers can be frustrated by touch tone IVR systems, and will often press zero in an attempt to reach a live representative. VoiceXML-based IVRs are a better alternative to such systems because they offer speech recognition and text-to-speech capabilities. For example, Amtrak's IVR application lets callers speak to the system, rather than navigating through multiple menus. Before updating its IVR system to use speech recognition, roughly 70 percent of customers using the system would exit to speak with an operator. After the speech recognition technology was added, Amtrak reports that the exit rate was reduced to 30 percent... Although VoiceXML hasn't been widely adopted yet, the fact that technology vendors are taking an interest in the standard is reassuring. With companies like Oracle, HP, Motorola, and IBM jumping on the VoiceXML bandwagon, it's likely that you'll have access to VoiceXML-capable tools the next time you upgrade your application servers and Web development software... Several companies are already working to improve VoiceXML systems to address these issues. As with most technologies, once VoiceXML's appeal broadens and the benefits of deploying IVR solutions as a compliment to online e-business applications become more evident, the rate of adoption will increase. If you currently handle order entry and customer support with a combination of online and telephone support, now may be the time to consider VoiceXML as a way to reduce costs and realize greater return on your existing software investments..." Note: New Architect was formerly WebTechniques. See "VoiceXML Forum."

[February 13, 2002] "A Method for the Unification of XML Data." By Ronaldo dos Santos Mello. Paper presented at the OOPSLA 2001 "Workshop on Objects, XML and Databases." 15 pages (with 19 references). "XML is a common standard for data representation and exchange over the Web. Considering the increasing need for managing data on the Web, integration mechanisms are now required in order to access heterogeneous XML sources. We describe in this paper an unification method for XML schemata. The input to the unification method are object-oriented canonical schemata that conceptually abstract local DTDs. The unification process applies specific algorithms and rules to the concepts of the canonical schemata to generate an ontology. The ontology is the result of the semantic integration of the canonical schemata, acting as a front-end for user queries..." See also the slides, and related paper "A Mediation Layer for Integration of XML Data Sources with Ontology Support.". For summaries of other presentations at the OOPSLA 2001 workshop, see the "Workshop Report on Objects, XML and Databases."

[February 13, 2002] "Embed Binary Data in XML Documents Three Ways. Using XML for Data Transfer Between B2B Applications." By Gowri Shankar (Software engineer, AQUILA Technologies Pvt. Ltd). From IBM developerWorks, XML Zone. February 2002. ['The major advantages of XML for interoperability of data are its extensibility and its ability to represent all forms of data in text format. XML proves its worth even when dealing with binary data. This article focuses on three ways to represent binary data in XML. The first method uses XML and DTD to represent a binary file or data source in the most appropriate way. The second way uses a simple format where everyone can define their own format to represent the binary data. With the third method, all of the binary data is contained within the XML file.'] "XML has transformed the way data is exchanged, shared, and transferred between disparate applications -- applications with varying technologies, operating platforms, and locations. With all this data movement, the only thing that you have to remember for scalability's sake is to wrap the data through HTTP-enabled markup. The best way to send your data through HTTP is with XML, which is better than HTML for many reasons. Originally, HTML was supposed to handle only text, but today it is commonly used to refer and mark up non-text data as well. So it is quite natural that XML followed suit. Because XML does not follow a specified syntax (as HTML does) and is more extensible than HTML, people use it in any way they wish to mark up all types of data. Still, HTTP is commonly used as the transporting layer; thus XML has to work around many constraints while dealing with binary data. XML is only needed to mark up binary data when it is a part of the total information requested by a user or a client application. Furthermore, the advantage of encompassing binary data in XML is the ease with which it is transported through HTTP... Let's take a look at the three ways to represent or embed binary data in an XML file, listed briefly here and in more detail below: Type 1: Represent the binary data by means of external entity and notation; Type 2: Represent the binary data using MIME data types; Type 3: Embed the binary data in CDATA section..."

[February 13, 2002] "XML Documents On The Run: Part 1. SAX Speeds Through XML Documents With Parse-Event Streams." By Dennis M. Sosnoski. In JavaWorld (February 13, 2002). ['Event-driven XML document processing with SAX (Simple API for XML) and SAX2 can greatly improve performance and can avoid document size limits associated with in-memory representations such as DOM (Document Object Model) or JDOM. On the other hand, trying to wrap your brain around event-driven programming can drive you to a career in sales. In this article, Dennis Sosnoski aims to keep your career on track by introducing event-handler basics in Java.'] "One of the oldest approaches to processing XML documents in Java also proves one of the fastest: parse-event streams. That approach became standardized in Java with the SAX (Simple API for XML) interface specification, later revised as SAX2 to include support for XML Namespaces. Event-stream processing offers other advantages beyond just speed. Because the parser processes the document on the fly, you can handle it as soon as you read its first part. Other approaches generally require you to parse the complete document before you start working with it -- fine if the document comes off a local disk drive, but if the document is sent from another system, parsing the complete document can cause significant delays. Event-stream processing also eliminates any document size limits. In contrast, approaches that store the document's representation in memory can run out of space with very large documents. Setting a hard limit on a real-world document's size is often difficult, and potentially a major problem in many applications... In the next article in this series, I'll take the event-based programming approach further with an enhanced handler design that adds more flexibility to your programs. I'll also cover the pull-parser approach. Pull parsing resembles SAX/SAX2 event-stream parsing, but it gives your program control over the stream, which gives you all the advantages of event-stream parsing without the complexities of event-driven programming. Be sure to check back then for the rest of the story on parse-event stream processing of XML in Java." With source code.

[February 13, 2002] "Gates Casts Visual Studio .Net." By Matt Berger. In InfoWorld (February 13, 2002). "Microsoft's Bill Gates cast his company's .Net initiative wide Wednesday, releasing the final version of the long-anticipated developer toolkit, Visual Studio .Net, as well as the underpinnings of its emerging Web-based development platform, called the .Net Framework. Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect introduced the new application development tools with few bells and whistles, letting market momentum speak for itself. More than 3 million developers are testing and deploying applications with early release versions of Visual Studio .Net and the .Net Framework, the largest testing group in the company's history, according to Microsoft... more important than Microsoft's tools for building new .Net applications, is the final release of the .Net Framework, the technology that will allow these new applications to run on computers, servers and various computing devices such as handhelds... Microsoft h