Note: This document is only nominally maintained as of 2003.
The development of new vocabularies and the design of "namespace" syntaxes have increased public interest in registration authorities and authentication services which could be set up to manage name conflicts. Facilities are needed for support of globally-unique names, persistent links and resources, name (public identifier) resolution, mapping between public and system identifiers, etc. Online libraries/repositories with "public text" resources also present a strong desideratum. Several initiatives for registries and repositories have been announced.
[December 16, 1999] Muse: Bullard and Megginson Musing over Namespaces [and (non-)Centralized Namespace Registration] - "... The standards path is complete once the means to create and identify the namespace is possible. What now needs to happen is for the technologists to create means by which company registries of namesspaces can be accessed and negotiated with such that for any contract, the ROA namespaces can be declared. OASIS and BIZTALK may be good libraries, may provide examples, but trying even at the UN level to standardize everyone's local names or names of exchange is a foolish if goodhearted errand. It is not the way to do it right. It is not the path to success. It is the way that standards wonks think, but I doubt it works as well as registry negotiation. If Microsoft wants to be a good partner, provide technology and some startup templates, then get out of the way. If OASIS wants to thrive, teach the means, do not arbitrate. Powertrips are not attractive. Education is seductive. Influence is more powerful than rules... Common goals achieved by common means, not common control. Put the definitions in place by performance, not uberNamespace. It has to breathe, my friends, like a good well performed piece of music, it has to breathe. The standards wonks really need to study management and contract negotiation. OASIS and BIZTALK are the absolute wrong way to do this. This means a marvelous lucrative opportunity is sitting there being ignored. Someone or some company will get rich off this if they go to these companies and demonstrate the right way to do this..." [lb]
References:
Update to XML.Gov information item below (February 14, 2002). "Business Case for XML Registry/Repository for Standard and Optional Forms." CIO Council EIEIT Committee. The XML Working Group, supported by the General Services Administration (GSA) and the National Institutes of Technology (NIST) is to "develop an on-line information resource (at xml.gov) defining and documenting an evolving strategy and set of tasks for the effective and well-coordinated usage of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to support governmental functions..." See also the XML.Gov list of registry efforts. The XML Working Group agendas include announcements for meetings of the XML Registry Project Team; see (e.g.,) January 15, 2003; December 17, 2002; September 18, 2002. Other references in "Government Seeks Accord on XML and in "US Federal CIO Council XML Working Group."
[February 14, 2002] XML.GOV Registry/Repository Project Team. Posting from Lisa Carnahan 2002-02-14: "Recently Marion Royal sent an email message indicating that the XML WG was forming an XML.GOV registry/repository Project Team. The purpose of this team will be to develop initial policies/procedures/metadata requirements for a registry that will be accessible through XML.gov. Although we appreciate the input from industry participants on the XML WG, the Registry/Repository Project Team will consist of government representatives and/or contractors in direct support of related government initiatives. Any suggestions and/or proposals from other organizations should be directed to the team leader with courtesy copies to the XML WG Chairs. If you are a government representative, and/or a contractor in direct support of related government initiatives and are willing to participate on the XML.gov registry/repository Project Team, please contact me..." [Lisa J. Carnahan, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8970, Gaithersburg, MD, USA 20899; (301) 975-3362; lisa.carnahan@nist.gov]
[January 30, 2002] Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI). The UDDI project is creating "a platform-independent, open framework for describing services, discovering businesses, and integrating business services using the Internet, as well as an operational registry that is available today... Before the UDDI project, there was no industry-wide, accepted approach for businesses to reach their customers and partners with information about their products and Web services. Nor was there a method of how to integrate into each other's systems and processes... Registering enables a company to publicly list basic information about their company and offerings; there is also a catalog of products, services, and guidelines for engagement... UDDI v2 specification expands UDDI functionality to enhance support for deploying public and private Web service registries. In addition to taking advantage of the public UDDI Business Registry sites, enterprises can also deploy private registries to manage internal Web services using the UDDI specification. Access to internal Web service information may also be extended to a private network of business partners..." [from the UDDI.org website] See (1) "UDDI Project Launches Next Version of UDDI Business Registry" and (2) "Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)."
[January 04, 2002] "Distributed Interoperable Metadata Registry." By Christophe Blanchi and Jason Petrone (Corporation for National Research Initiatives). In D-Lib Magazine Volume 7 Number 12 (December 2001). ISSN: 1082-9873. "Interoperability between digital libraries depends on effective sharing of metadata. Successful sharing of metadata requires common standards for metadata exchange. Previous efforts have focused on either defining a single metadata standard, such as Dublin Core, or building digital library middleware, such as Z39.50 or Stanford's Digital Library Interoperability Protocol. In this article, we propose a distributed architecture for managing metadata and metadata schema. Instead of normalizing all metadata and schema to a single format, we have focused on building a middleware framework that tolerates heterogeneity. By providing facilities for typing and dynamic conversion of metadata, our system permits continual introduction of new forms of metadata with minimal impact on compatibility... To describe each metadata schema we adopted Part 3 of the ISO11179 standard. Part 3 of the standard organizes metadata elements into five general categories: identifying, definitional, relational, representational, and administrative. The specific set of attributes expressed in each of these categories provides a precise, unambiguous, description of the nature, context, and conditions of use of each metadata element within a metadata schema. The complete set of metadata element descriptions for a given metadata schema represents that schema's definition. This description enables independent parties to acquire the same understanding of the nature, context, and condition of use of each field of the metadata schema. It is important to note at this point that although we use the ISO11179 standard to describe our metadata schemas, the framework's mechanisms are not dependent on the standard to function. Indeed, another method for describing the metadata schemas could be used instead of, or in conjunction with, the standard as long as the resulting descriptions precisely and completely describe each metadata schema. To facilitate generation of metadata schema descriptions, we created a Document Type Definition (DTD) that specifies the various attributes for describing a metadata element and that encapsulates some of the rules described in Part 3 of the ISO11179 standard. Using Extensible Markup Language (XML) simplifies the metadata schema description encoding process and provides an additional level of integrity checking. The use of XML enables the independent generation of accurately encoded metadata schema definitions..."
[August 30, 2001] "Requirements for an XML Registry." By Joseph M. Chiusano, Terence J. Schmitt, and Mark Crawford. Logistics Management Institute (McLean, VA, USA)., Report EP005T4. May 2001. 136 pages. Reference provided by Owen Ambur, (Co-Chair, XML.GOV XML Working Group): "LMI's report for EPA entitled 'Requirements for an XML Registry' has been posted; it contains a helpful summary of the ebXML, OASIS, and ISO 11179 registries, along with recommendations on their use." From the introduction: "The boon of XML is its extensibility. The bane of XML is its extensibility. To use XML for information exchanges, standardization of the numerous components, such as those that determine data exchange formats and provide trading partner information, are required. Recording these components in an XML registry enables XML to be used consistently, both in projects and between organizations. The benefits of an XML registry are numerous: (1) Promotes reuse; (2) Enables efficient version control; (3) Promotes unified understanding of registered objects; (4) Ensures consistency across organizational areas; (5) Promotes selective access to registered objects; (6) Enables collaborative development. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has tasked LMI with determining requirements for an XML registry. As EPA continues with its e-government initiatives, it needs to implement an XML registry to offer a central location for XML and e-business resources. The registry will enable XML components to be standardized and shared among EPA, states, and industry partners, thus making data more coherent throughout the agency. We recommend that (1) EPA implement an XML registry based on the electronic business XML (ebXML) model for storing document type definitions, Schemas, XML documents, and business information content; (2) XML tags used in document type definitions and Schemas be stored in a second registry based on the International Standards Organization and International Electrotechnical Commission 11179 model; (3) EPA use its Environmental Data Registry (EDR) as the 11179 registry because the EDR is an implementation of an 11179 registry; and (4) the XML registry be accessible from the Environmental Information Exchange Network designed by the State/EPA Information Management Work Group... EPA's XML registry must: (1) store XML schemas, XML documents, and business information content; (2) accept submissions from states and industry partners, including modifying existing XML components; be accessible from the Environmental Information Exchange Network; (3) align with commercial efforts as stated in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-119 and the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (NTTA); (4) contain appropriate security features; (5) adhere to widely adopted XML registry standards; (6) have commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software available for implemen-tation; (7) assure consistency of XML tags used in XML documents; (8) enable human and machine discovery of XML registry content; (9) have a centralized architecture, with support for distributed architecture in future; and (10) have one or more repositories... The 11179 standard is the basis for a document, 'Concept of Operations for a Data Registry,' which addresses registration of data elements as they are described in the 11179 standard. This document defines a data registry as 'an information resource kept by a Registration Authority that describes the meaning and representational form of data units including data element identifiers, definitions, units, allowed value domains, etc.' We refer to this as the '11179 registry model.' EPA's EDR is an implementation of an 11179 registry. ISO/IEC 11179-3 is being revised to incorporate the notions of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X3.285 standard, Metamodel for the Manage-ment of Shareable Data. This new version, known as the 'registry metamodel (MDR3),' extends the original version to include registering objects. We refer to this new version as the '11179 registry metamodel.' The X3.285 standard specifies the structure of a data registry as a conceptual data model and provides the attributes for identifying the characteristics of data that are necessary to clearly describe, inventory, analyze, and classify data. All other parts of the ISO/IEC 11179 standard also are being harmonized to use the same terminology as the 11179 registry metamodel..." Note: see also the "Federal Tag Standards for Extensible Markup Language" prepared by the Logistics Management Institute [== LMI Report. By Mark R. Crawford, Donald F. Egan, and Angela Jackson. Report GS018T1. June 2001. 76 pages.]. [cache]
OASIS Registry Technical Specification: "The OASIS Registry and Repository Technical Committee of OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (formerly SGML Open), seeks to specify the interfaces of a registry for some set of or XML-related entities, including but not limited to DTDs and schemas, with appropriate interfaces, that enable searching on the contents of a repository of those entities. The registry and repository shall interoperate and cooperate with other registries and repositories compliant with this specification and respond to requests for entities by their identifiers. This document deals primarily with the registry, although some scenarios and requirements for the repository are included." Contact Lisa Carnahan. From "Candidate Technical Specification, 04-August-2000. [cache]
[June 19, 2001] "Leaders of the DISA Registry Initiative Issue Call for Participation." - "The Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA) released [June 02, 2001] a call for individuals and companies to take part in the DISA Registry Initiative (DRIve). DRIve will seek contributions of software, systems, and technical expertise to create the architecture for and operations of a registry of data objects developed by standards organizations affiliated with DISA. These organizations include: (1) Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12; (2) OpenTravel Alliance (OTA); (3) Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX) Forum; (4) Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO); (5) Open Philanthropy eXchange (OPX) Forum; (6) Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA)... The DRIve registry will meet the requirements of the Electronic Business Extensible Markup Language (ebXML) registry/repository specifications, which include the Registry Services Specification, version 1.0, and the Registry Information Model, version 1.0, approved on May 11. DRIve will also follow other approved ebXML specifications and technical reports affecting the operation of the registry... DRIve will include the basic functions of ebXML registries and its interactions with a DISA repository, as spelled out in the relevant specifications... 'This initiative is very important to the ManTech Enterprise Integration Center (e-IC),' said Robert S. Kidwell, Vice President and Senior Technical Director for ManTech e-IC. 'The e-IC team has embraced XML in all of its leading electronic commerce and electronic data interchange applications such as the U.S. DoD customs clearance project, which involves the shipment of military cargo within eleven foreign countries, and the U.S. DoD Medical E-CAT system, which is a distributed Web application for DoD procurement of key medical supplies. We feel that the DISA initiative will provide the initial foundation for migrating the traditional X12 EDI semantics into a framework that is consistent with that of the ebXML distributed registry and repository vision'." See also "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)." [source]
[August 15, 2001] "OASIS ebXML Registry Proposal: ebXML Registry as a Web Service." Prepared by the OASIS ebXML Registry RAWS Sub-team. Posted 2001-08-15 by Farrukh Najmi to the OASIS Reg-Rep [RAWS] list. An initial RAWS draft proposal for consideration and review by the OASIS ebXML Registry TC. "This document proposes focused enhancements to the ebXML Registry Services specification that will allow the ebXML Registry services to be accessible as a set of abstract web services with concrete normative bindings specified for ebXML Messaging Service and SOAP. Currently the only normative access to the ebXML Registry is over the ebXML Messaging Service. What is lacking is a clean separation between an abstract service interface specification and multiple concrete technology specific bindings (e.g., ebXML Messaging Service). The proposal allows more flexibility and ease of access to clients by defining a second normative interface to the ebXML Registry that is based on the widely adopted SOAP protocol... The primary motivation behind this proposal is to further ebXML Registry adoption. It is our assertion that adoption is furthered by: (1) Building registry clients with limited infrastructure; (2) Enabling additional technology bindings for accessing the registry service; (3) Aligning with emerging and de facto standards. ebXML Registry adoption may be measured in the number of operational public ebXML Registries. Currently this number is one. We would like it to higher... Making ebXML Registry available as an abstract web service with additional technology bindings (e.g., SOAP) gives clients more options to interact with an ebXML Registry. A normative SOAP binding (SOAP 1.1 and SOAP with Attachments with HTTP) is proposed since SOAP has considerable mind share and adoption and has in fact been adopted by the ebXML Messaging Service itself. Numerous tools exist that make it very simple for clients to access any SOAP based web service... The following concrete deliverables are proposed: (1) XML Schema definition for [ebRIM] and [ebRS] with full support for XML namespaces, data types, constraints etc. This schema would replace Registry.dtd; (2) Abstract service definition of Registry Services; (3) WSDL description of the abstract Registry Services and related concrete SOAP binding..." See the associated files in the posting: Registry.xsd: The XML Schema for ebXML registry; Registry.wsdl: Abstract service definition for ebXML Registry service; RegistrySOAPBinding.wsdl: Concrete binding to SOAP/HTTP for the abstract ebXML Registry service. Context: OASIS ebXML Registry Technical Committee. Draft schemas are available in the .ZIP file.
ebXML Registry and Repository Project Team, and mailing list archives. From the web site description (2001): "The goal of the ebXML Registry Project Team is to define an ebXML Registry Services and ebXML Registry Information Model. The ebXML Registry Project Team will use the Unified Modelling Language to model the business use cases, the registry information model and the service interfaces of the ebXML Registry. The ebXML Registry Project Team must ensure that all existing standards are taken into consideration in determine its architecture and interfaces. An ebXML compliant registry will support the follow functionality through associations and classification schemes: (1)Discovery of trading partners and their profiles; (2) Discovery of business process capabilities and communications specifications; (3) Discovery of data interchange specifications used within the context of a business process; (4) Retrieval of software component adapters to integrate information into business applications; (5) Development of business process models; (6) Discovery of core business objects and core components..." RR project team members: Scott Nieman, Project Leader, Norstan Consulting; Yutaka Yoshida, Vice Project Team Leader, Sun Microsystems; Joe Dalman, Editor, TieCommerce USA; Sally Fuger, Co-Editor, Automotive Industry Action Group; Farrukh Najmi, Technical Editor, Sun Microsystems. As of May 2001, the ebXML and OASIS 'Registry and Repository' activities were merged under a single Technical Committee. See the DRAFT Revised Charter for the OASIS ebXML Registry and Repository Technical Committee (Reg/rep TC) 2001-05-25. [cache]
[January 23, 2001] "Java API for XML Registries (JAXR)." Proposed by Sun Microsystems, JAXR "provides an API for a set of distributed Registry Services that enables business-to-business integration between business enterprises, using the protocols being defined by ebXML.org, OASIS, ISO 11179. In addition, the JAXR specification assumes that all communication between registry and registry clients will be based on the Java API for XML Messaging (JAXM) specification. The Java API for XML Messaging 1.0 defines how XML messages are exchanged between a registry client and a registry implementation. This specification is key to ensuring interoperable communication between any ebXML registry client and any ebXML Registry implementation. The goal is to leverage the security services of the Java platform, Standard Edition and Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition where possible..."
[May 25, 1999] "OASIS Launches XML.ORG Industry Registry/Repository to Enable XML for E-Business." - "Today OASIS announced the creation of XML.ORG, the first global XML industry portal to be operated by a non-profit corporation devoted to open information exchange. Over 23 industry-leading corporations, organizations and individual experts have rallied to voice their support for the formation of XML.ORG. Central to XML.ORG will be an open industry XML registry and repository offering automated public access to XML schemas. The registry/repository will play a critical enabling role in the use of industry-defined XML applications for electronic commerce, business-to-business transactions, and tools and application interoperability. The debut of XML.ORG signifies a major step in OASIS' ongoing registry and repository efforts, work that has been in progress for the last the 12 months. In keeping with its consensus-focused mission, OASIS will strive to ensure interoperability with existing and emerging XML initiatives, and will continue to actively solicit participation by any similar efforts." For other references, see the main database entry. See also the XML.ORG FAQ document and the "Invitation to Participate."
[June 20, 2000] The first phase of an 'Open Registry & Repository for XML Specifications' was recently announced by XML.ORG: "OASIS, the non-profit XML interoperability consortium, today announced public access to the first phase of the XML.ORG Registry (http://www.xml.org/registry), an open registry and repository for XML specifications and vocabularies. Designed to foster collaboration and enhance communication within industries, the XML.ORG Registry provides the community with a resource for accessing the fast-growing body of XML specifications being developed for vertical industries and horizontal applications. Committed to open industry standards, the XML.ORG Registry offers a vendor-neutral forum for developers and standards bodies to publicly submit, publish and exchange XML specifications and vocabularies. Operated as a non-commercial venture, the XML.ORG Registry is a self-supporting resource created by and for the community. 'The XML.ORG Registry is something that has never existed before. It is the only independent clearinghouse for XML resources,' explained Laura Walker, executive director of OASIS. 'The XML.ORG Registry is not intended to be the one and only resource for XML schemas. Rather, it is designed to serve as a model for an extensible network of XML registries and repositories distributed across the Internet.' 'The XML.ORG Registry belongs to the XML community at large,' said Jon Bosak (Sun Microsystems), organizer of the working group that created XML. 'This first phase is a call for participation, an opportunity to experience the potential of an open XML registry and an invitation to the community to help shape its evolving functionality.' Industry groups and other organizations that have developed XML specifications can freely register their work at the XML.ORG Registry. The OASIS 'no strings attached' submission policy ensures that developers receive the benefits and recognition they deserve while retaining all the rights to their work and control over its use. . . Today, the XML.ORG Registry is in its first phase of development. It is offered as a call for participation, an opportunity to experience the potential of an open XML registry and an invitation to the community to help shape its evolving functionality. The XML.ORG Registry is designed to serve as a model for an extensible network of XML registries and repositories distributed across the Internet. Developers of the XML.ORG Registry continue to work with the OASIS Registry & Repository Technical Committee to define a specification for a global network of repositories. This specification is intended to allow interoperable registries to be created for use within industry organizations, communities and corporations. Ultimately, the XML.ORG Registry will link to standards- compliant repositories as they become available, as well as provide resources on its own site." See the full text of the XML.org announcement and the web site description, "About the XML.ORG Registry."
[January 15, 2000] Obsolete [?] "ebXML Registry and Repository Temporary Web Site." "This repository work effort is a joint work effort between UN/CEFACT and OASIS. UN/CEFACT has been focusing its repository work efforts to support the software development life cycle, specifically to support Unified Modeling Language and the Unified Process. OASIS work effort is focused on a DTD and XML Schema repository supporting industry specific vocabularies and data element reuse. It is very feasible that both goals can be achieved using the same specifications. In November [1999], the project team was formed at the first ebXML meeting. This site serves as the informational site for the project team as well as other interested in the work effort." See also "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)."
[December 15, 1999] OASIS Publishes Draft Specification for XML.org Registry and Repository. Through the authorship and editorial supervision of Terry Allen (Commerce One, Chair of the OASIS Registry & Repository Technical Committee), a draft specification for the XML.org Registry and Repository has been prepared for publication. The document OASIS Registry Technical Specification [17-November-1999] is referenced from the public information page of the OASIS Registry and Repository Technical Committee. The new OASIS Specification will be used in building the XML.org Registry & Repository and will contribute to the infrastructure needed for deploying interoperable XML repositories across the Web. The document abstract: "The OASIS Registry and Repository Technical Committee of OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (formerly SGML Open), seeks to specify operation of a registry for some set of or XML-related entities, including but not limited to DTDs and schemas, with appropriate interfaces, that enable searching on the contents of a repository of those entities. The registry and repository shall interoperate and cooperate with other registries and repositories compliant with this specification and respond to requests for entities by their identifiers. This document deals primarily with the registry; while scenarios and requirements for the repository are included, the repository design is detailed in a separate document." In a recent announcement, Allen clarifies that the goal of this endeavor "is not only to specify an open format for our own vendor-neutral clearinghouse for XML and SGML DTDs and schemas. We want to establish the groundwork for a distributed, global web of XML repositories... OASIS [has to date] put a great deal of time and energy into developing this Specification."
[July 30, 1999] "OASIS Registry and Repository Technical Specification." By [Terry Allen, Commerce One]. From the OASIS Registry and Repository Committee. 5-July-1999. Abstract: "The OASIS Registry and Repository Technical Committee of OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (formerly SGML Open), seeks to specify operation of a registry for some set of or XML-related entities, including but not limited to DTDs and schemas, with appropriate interfaces, that enable searching on the contents of a repository of those entities. The registry and repository shall interoperate and cooperate with other registries and repositories compliant with this specification and respond to requests for entities by their identifiers. The specification, which is the primary deliverable, is to be implemented in a prototype registry and repository." [local archive copy]
[July 30, 1999] BizTalk Framework. "The Microsoft BizTalk Framework is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) framework for application integration and electronic commerce. It includes a design framework for implementing an XML schema and a set of XML tags used in messages sent between applications. Microsoft Corp., other software companies and industry standards bodies will use the BizTalk Framework to produce XML schemas in a consistent manner. The BizTalk Framework itself is not a standard. XML is the standard. The goal of the BizTalk Framework is to accelerate the rapid adoption of XML. BizTalk Framework schemas -- business documents and messages expressed in XML -- will be registered and stored on the BizTalk.Org Web site. Any individual or organization can download the framework and use it to implement and submit XML schemas to the Web site. As long as the schemas pass a verification test, they are valid BizTalk Framework schemas. The BizTalk.Org Web site will provide an automated submission and validation process. Individuals or organizations can freely use XML schemas from the BizTalk.Org Web site within their applications, as long as the schema is published for public use. Businesses will also have the option of publishing their schemas on the BizTalk.Org Web site in a secure area for private use between trading partners. A steering committee composed of software companies, end users and industry standards bodies will provide guidance on how the BizTalk.Org Web site is organized and managed. The BizTalk Framework schema design will be based on World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards for XML schemas as these standards are adopted." See extensive references also in "BizTalk Framework."
[November 22, 1999] "Lumeria Announces DTD.com, a Powerful New Site and Web Application for XML Developers. DTD.com Web Site Includes DTDfactory -- a DTD Editor and Validator -- and DTDwarehouse -- the World's Largest Repository of XML DTDs." - "Lumeria, the world's first infomediary incubator, today announced the launch of DTD.com, a ground-breaking site for web software developers that combines a web repository for XML DTDs (document type definitions) with a web-based tool for editing and creating DTDs..."
"NIST Establishes Collaboration XML Registry." 5/1/98. The NIST Identifier Collaboration Service (NICS) project, funded through the Advanced Technology Program, has established an experimental collaborative registry for XML (Extensible Markup Language). XML is designed to enable the use of SGML on the World Wide Web. An XML DTD is the formal definition of a particular type of XML document. The DTD sets out what names can be used for elements, where they may occur, and how they all fit together. Before now, researchers and vendors have faced conflicts from similarly named XMLs and element names. Vendors can now publicly register their names and their download locations, thus avoiding future conflicts while publicizing existence and availability. This project is conducted in the Manufacturing Collaboration Technologies Group of the Manufacturing Systems Integration Division of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory. For further information, contact Don Libes, (301) 975-3535 [local archive copy]
World Wide WEAVE.com - "Weave allows people to publicize new XML-based web sites and documents. Weave contains only sites that provide content in XML- based markup." Taxonomy [1999-03-01]: Business & Commerce, Computing & Technology, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Health, Hobbies, Fine Arts & Literature, News & Media, People, Real Estate, Reference, Regional, Sports & Leisure, Travel, XML Development.
XML Exchange originally created by XMLSolutions, LLC. It was acquired by CommerceNet XML Exchange was announced as "the forum for creating and sharing document type definitions."
[August 03, 1998] "Business to Get XML Repository." By Jeff Walsh and Matthew Nelson. In InfoWorld Volume 20, Issue 31 (August 3, 1998). Summary: "The XML/EDI Group has announced it is developing a repository for business transactions based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML). . ." [local archive copy]
SCHEMA.NET - "The premier site for XML DTDs and other schemata will be coming here by the end of July. If you'd like a central repository to store and make available your XML DTDs and other schemata, I am willing to host or mirror your material here on schema.net. If you are interested, email jtauber@jtauber.com. Last updated 1998-07-22."
"CommerceNet Acquires XML Exchange From XMLSolutions. Foundation for Global eRegistry Service Vital to XML-based Electronic Commerce." - "Only ten weeks after its initial launch, the XML Exchange (http://www.xmlx.com) has been acquired [by CommerceNet]." CommerceNet's XML Exchange will be 'a component of its eRegistry Service'. [local archive copy]
"CommerceNet to Use XML Web Site for Registry." By Nancy Weil. In InfoWorld Electric (July 16, 1998), Posted at 9:30 AM PT. "A Web site dedicated to Extensible Markup Language (XML) has been acquired by a global Internet-commerce consortium that intends to use the site as the core of a registry service to ensure interoperability and information exchange among developers. XML Exchange (http://www.xmlx.com), which was launched 10 weeks ago, will now be run by CommerceNet, a non-profit I-commerce industry group with more than 500 worldwide members, CommerceNet announced. The Web site was acquired for an undisclosed sum from XMLSolutions, a Washington consulting company."
[May 26, 1998] "CommerceNet To Offer an eCommerce Registry Service. Service Will Advance the Future Development and Growth of XML-based Electronic Commerce." Based in part upon funding from NIST. [local archive copy]
O'Reilly and XML.com were reported to be designing an XML DTD registry.
EEMA EDI/EC Work Group Proposal - "The EEMA EDI Work Group would like to propose to CEFACT the establishment of a Global Repository for the translation of XML tags in UN/EDIFACT and human language on the Internet. The EEMA EDI Working Group is prepared to assist in the set up and operation of such a repository, which could be crucial in the advancement of the use of EDI over the Internet."
Syntax Repository from Content-X.com. "XML allows the creation of domain-specific markup languages. Markup languages will be created for different segments of the content syndication business, making the automated exchange of content even more efficient. Content-X will be creating a repository for these DTDs, schemas, and logic elements. All DTDs will be located at: http://www.content-x.com/repository/dtdname.dtd. Applications will be able to pull DTDs from this URL as needed."
Name resolution work is under design within the context of the XSchema and XCatalog work; see the XML-DEV list.
The OASIS Technical Committee is considering development of an SGML/XML registry and repository. This effort is being led by Terry Allen, of Veo Systems, Inc. [Commerce One].
[March 16, 1999] "OASIS Forms Registry & Repository Committee for XML. Non-Profit Consortium Plans to Develop a Specification for Storage and Distribution of XML Entities." - "OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, has formed an XML Registry and Repository Technical Committee for XML-related entities such as schemas relevant to the growing field of e-commerce, business-to-business transactions and tools and application interoperability. The new committee will actively investigate technology for registering XML Document Type Definitions (DTDs) and related materials and make them available for search by developers and users. It will also research technology for serving DTDs on-demand. OASIS intends to develop specifications to support these functions and to implement a trial service, with a target date of Fall 1999."
In July 1998, John Cowan posted a proposal to the XML-DEV mailing list for XCatalogs - "a system based on SGML/Open catalogs (Socats) for translating public identifiers to system identifiers in XML." According to the proposal, XCatalogs are meant to be "Web resources (anything from local files on up) which contain mappings from public identifiers to system identifiers, plus references to other XCatalogs. They [would] come in two syntaxes: one which is a subset of Socat syntax, and one which is an XML document instance." The proposed XCatalog spec was revised by John Cowan to draft version 0.2 on about August 3, 1998; "the next version will hopefully be an Internet-Draft with full references." See http://www.ccil.org/~cowan/XML/XCatalog.html, and local archive copy, 980803
See information on the SGML Open (OASIS) 'CATALOG' and identifiers in the dedicated database entry: Catalogs, Formal Public Identifiers, Formal System Identifiers, or in the Entity Management Resolution.
XMLrepository.com was announced as "the staging/collection area for all XML related technology. Tag sets, document type definitions (DTDs), and Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) templates, and other schema needed for effective communication will be collected here and eventually moved to their own sites, i.e., XSL stylesheets to XSLstylesheets.com, DTDs to DTDstylesheets.com, etc. A special site, DTDML.com, will be the official site for storing mathML, chemical (CML), musicML, electronicML, RealEstateML, scienceML, and others as they become available." XML Related Domain Names Are For Sale.
SAX EntityResolver (basic interface for resolving entities). - See the documentation, and the note by David Megginson.
"Resolving Formal Public Identifiers." - A pilot service to resolve a Formal Public Identifier (FPI). From Peter Flynn, University College Cork. [local archive copy, display form only]
GCA registry of owner identifiers - "We have established this page in order to provide a central repository of owner identifiers for use in formal public identifiers and links to SGML public text. Our hope is to facilitate the exchange of information, provide better support for the industry and further promote the use of the International Standard ISO 8879: Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) by encouraging the re-use of already created public text."
[December 08, 1998] "Managing Names and Ontologies: An XML Registry and Repository." By Robin Cover. From Sun Microsystems, Technology & Research. November, 1998. "Early adoption of XML by a host of industry partners is thus creating a wealth of opportunity for information reuse and collaborative distributed network computing over the Web. At the same time, the rapid emergence of XML DTDs and vocabularies from industry and government sectors has focused public attention upon issues of resource identification, classification, cataloging, and delivery that hinder reuse and interoperability. The results of new collaborative endeavors are not necessarily easy to identify and access on the Internet. Simply put: XML resources are not nearly as discoverable and reusable as they deserve to be." [local archive copy]
UNSPSC Codes, XML document format. Posted 2001-07-11 by John Evdemon to the OASIS ebXML list 'regrep@lists.oasis-open.org' (John Evdemon, CTO and Director of Engineering, Vitria Technology).
Registries and Repositories - XML/SGML Name Registration - Unedited collection of references, posted unofficially for use by the OASIS Registry and Repository Technical Committee.
