In my last column (XML-J, Vol. 1, issue 1) I talked about XML's extensibility and how it's the key to building dynamic systems. But that begs the question: Does the freedom to extend a data structure create new opportunities, or is it another example of flexibility run amok? The debate over supporting extended or XML data structures has been taken one step further to include support of different schemas - or vocabularies. The proliferation of XML vocabularies (and sometimes competing ones) has many people worried about fragmentation. But fear not. What to Do About All Those Vocabularies... If XML is supposed to be the universal common language so that all systems can talk to each other, what's the deal with all these vocabularies? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? As I see it, we're at a crossroads. The development community can take the traditional route and conclude... (more)

Get Certified!

A few years have passed since the XML Specification was released in February 1998. Now there are many associated technologies defined in many more specifications. There are countless ways to learn about the technologies - specifications, conferences, classes, books, technical journals, and countless Web resources. Aside from the XML language, there are many related technologies defined by more specifications from which to learn. Nobody knows it all, yet many people are called experts. Are you one of them? Or are you looking to hire an XML developer? How can you reliably identify an expert in the field? Who decides what the qualifications are for an expert in XML? Without certification experts are identified in subjective terms. If you're interviewing for a job as an XML developer, the hiring manager may ask you a series of questions to help the company decide wheth... (more)

SilverStream eXtend Composer 3.5 Now Available for Rapid Business Integration and Process Automation

(March 20, 2002) - SilverStream Software, Inc. has announced the general availability of SilverStream eXtend™ Composer 3.5, the company's award-winning XML integration server that enables organizations to maximize the potential of new and existing business systems by transforming them into powerful Web services. A cornerstone of the SilverStream eXtend product suite, the 3.5 release of SilverStream eXtend Composer includes significant new features including the first commercially available process manager designed to build and orchestrate complex Web services interactions based on IBM's Web Services Flow Language (WSFL) specification. With the growing acceptance of Web services as a key enterprise application architecture, organizations now have an open, standards-based solution for large-scale business integration and process automation. To meet the advanced requir... (more)

Introducing Topic Maps

Topic maps are a standard way of representing the complex relationships that often exist between the pieces of information that we use in day-to-day business processes. This article begins by discussing what topic maps are, what they can do, and what people are currently using them for. However, my main goal is to introduce the basic concepts of topic maps and their representation in XML. The Missing Link in Information Management Almost all XML vocabularies are designed with a single purpose: to describe information in a way that enables automated processing. We use XML to describe document structures so our documents can be rendered as HTML, WML, PDF, or some other presentation format. We also use XML so that business systems can interchange data reliably. Both the ability to render content to different output formats and the reliability of data interchange arise f... (more)

Product Bundling Gives Tamino Customers Free Access to XML Content Editing Software

(February 26, 2003) - Altova's XML content editor, AUTHENTIC 5, will be included as a standard component of all future Tamino Server product offerings at no additional cost to the Tamino Server customer, providing a highly cost- effective means to realize XML content editing applications. "By providing Altova's AUTHENTIC 5 under a free license for Software AG's Tamino Server customers will be able to enable content reusability and greater business efficiencies, even under reduced IT spending budgets," said Alexander Falk, president & CEO of Altova, Inc. ... (more)

Altova's XMLSPY to be Included in Borland Development Tools

(September 4, 2003) - A special edition of Altova XMLSPY 5 will be included within future editions of Borland Delphi Studio, Borland C++ Builder, and Borland C#Builder for the Microsoft .NET Framework IDEs. By combining a special version of the Altova XMLSPY 5 XML development environment with Borland XML enabled software development environments, the Borland developer community can easily model, edit, test, and debug XML-enabled enterprise applications. "XML technologies have become an increasingly important aspect of enterprise software development projects," said Simon Thornhill, vice president and general manager of .NET solutions at Borland. "Our goal is to provide development teams with the tools they need to tackle their most challenging projects. By combining our XML enabled IDEs with Altova XMLSPY 5, we are helping to increase developer productivity, providi... (more)

Ipedo Ships New Version of XML Intelligence Platform

The latest version of Ipedo's XML Intelligence Platform now incorporates product enhancements to facilitate delivery of on-demand intelligence. Designed to reduce the cost and complexity of information delivery and analysis, the Ipedo XML Intelligence Platform 3.5 now features graphical query and integration tools, XML content inspection rules and modules that use vertical industry standards to speed development. The Ipedo XML Intelligence Platform provides on-demand insights to help business make better decisions. Traders can use Ipedo to eliminate manual verification on trade contracts; CFOs can use Ipedo to drive daily summary information out to front linemanagers; risk managers can gain comprehensive views of positions for risk reduction and compliance. The Ipedo XML Intelligence Platform 3.5 introduces: Visual XQuery Builder - A graphical, drag-and-drop interface... (more)

Lenovo and IBM Research Research Triangle Park

Lenovo will use portions of a 25,000-square-foot research facility in Research Triangle Park, NC to conduct its own research, augmenting the China-based company's ongoing research throughout China and in Tokyo, Japan. The company said that the North Carolina facility will be an incubator for "multinational companies to (spend short periods of time to) design, build and test new desktop and laptop products to suit their individual needs." "It is not just about the hardware. It is about trying to find differentiators in a specific market," said Andrew Flanagan, program director at Lenovo's Innovation Center. In addition to the incubator for validation and proof of concepts, Lenovo will host a partner center with companies such as Intel, IBM, LANDesk, Microsoft and Symantec. "For example, Intel has customers that they are transitioning from one design to another and we ... (more)

Dave Winer: "It's Time for Web 2.0 to Stop Being Exclusive"

(August 1, 2006) - A war of words has broken out in the world of Web 2.0 - between the software developer Dave Winer (pictured) - who created or was a lead contributor to several of the most popular XML dialects and APIs related to web publishing such as RSS 2.0, XML-RPC, OPML, and the MetaWeblog API - and the founder of O'Reilly Media - the newly self-proclaimed "technology transfer company." Winer's beef? "We need to get all hands involved in what we used to call Web 2.0," he laments. "It's time for it to stop being exclusive, and it's way past time for one company to be controlling who's supposed to participate." Winer's contention is that events such as "FOO Camp" are harming the greater good, which is to make software easier, better, scalable, more reliable, and more secure, and instead turning Internet technology into an elitist world where it becomes a questi... (more)

Who Owns the One True Schema My Aunt Gracie!!! Where's the Wall Plug?

I think Ken's question is related to an older question. I am Reading Café Con Leche and see this quote: "...The Myth of the One True Schema. Assuming a developer creates a working ..proto/.idl/.wsdl definition, and two companies agree on it, what happens when one side wants to evolve or change that definition? Who gets to decide the evolutionary progress of that file? Who "owns" that definition, in effect?" - Ted Neward http://blogs.tedneward.com/2008/07/11/So+You+Say+You+Want+To+Kill+XML.aspx The Customer should. Does the customer know that? The example above talks about two developers at two companies. Should they be determining that? Maybe. Perhaps not. There is a long history of asking where is the one true schema when bidding government projects, and often such things exist, eg, the customer believes that by citing EBXML they are done with the policy job. May... (more)

RE: RE: [Summary #2] Should Subject Matter Experts Determine X

The question mystifies me as posed. The data designer does not answer the question of when a business rule is *legitimate*. It simply is not their shot to call. It is their job to determine how to meet the business requirement as determined by the business owner/manager as long as that requirement is within legal constraints. If the requirement impacts the performance of the system in any way, it is their job to make this impact clear in quantitative terms. Ugly code, unaesthetic code, or code which violates a designer's personal beliefs about the business models are not performance impacts. A designer can vote with their feet, of course. len At 6:59 PM -0400 10/15/08, Costello, Roger L. wrote: >Hi Folks, > >Excellent discussion! > >I revised the example, based on your comments: > > >EXAMPLE OF BUSINESS INTERESTS INFLUENCING A DATA SPECIFICATION AND THE >RESULTANT X... (more)