|
XML and Web Services In The News - 29 August 2006
Provided by OASIS |
Edited by Robin Cover
This issue of XML Daily Newslink is sponsored by Sun Microsystems
HEADLINES:
Registering UMM Business Collaboration Models in an ebXML Registry
Birgit Hofreiter, Christian Huemer, Marco Zapletal, CEC/EEE 2006 Paper
This paper was presented in June 2006 at the Eighth IEEE International
Conference on E-Commerce Technology and The 3rd IEEE International
Conference on Enterprise Computing, E-Commerce, and E-Services (CEC/EEE
2006). UN/CEFACT's modeling methodology (UMM) is used to develop global
choreographies of inter-organizational business processes. UMM models
should be publically available in order to foster re-use and to reference
them in trading partner agreements. In this paper we present an
approach to register UMM business collaboration models or parts thereof
in an ebXML registry. Registration requires a machine-readable format.
Since UMM is based on UML, we have to map the UML graphical notation
into a commonly accepted machine-readable format. Consequently, we
define an XMI representation for UMM models. We demonstrate the XMI
approach for both the meta-model (M2) and the model (M1) layer of MOF:
The meta-model layer defines all stereotypes and associated tagged values
of UMM's UML profile. The business collaboration models on the M1 layer
reference the corresponding stereotypes. In a further step we demonstrate
the registration of the business collaboration models. These models are
managed as extrinsic objects in the ebXML registry. We explaine how to
classify a model according to its business context. Since a model may
be valid in multiple business environments, we develop an approach using
the registry metadata for assigning multiple business environments to
the same model. Since the ebXML registry does not natively include any
classification groups we present an approach that is compliant to
ebXML RIM (ebXML registry information model)...
See also: the OASIS ebXML Registry TC
AJAX Growing in Emerging Markets
Darryl K. Taft, eWEEK
The use of the AJAX style of development is increasing and is growing
even faster in emerging markets than in North America, according to a
recent survey. Evans Data, of Santa Cruz, Calif., found Asynchronous
JavaScript and XML adoption to be generally higher in the emerging
markets than in North America, particularly in Brazil, where 25 percent
of developers surveyed said they are using AJAX. China had the lowest
rate of AJAX adoption, with just over 16 percent of developers claiming
to use AJAX. Evans Data surveyed more than 400 developers from Eastern
Europe, Brazil, China and India. The Evans study also looked at PHP
adoption. The study found that the largest number of developers using
PHP can be found in Eastern Europe, where 39 percent of developers
surveyed said they use PHP. India and Brazil showed similar adoption
rates, with just over 31 percent of developers saying they use PHP. In
contrast, only 21 percent of Chinese developers said they are using PHP,
while in North America, 35 percent of the developers surveyed said they
are using PHP. The Evans study came up with some other findings, one
being that 42 percent of the developers in emerging markets surveyed
said they are using Adobe's Flash. Also, increased usage of Linux for
embedded operating systems is expected across all regions, and China
is leading the way with 39 percent of developers using it. And nine
out of 10 emerging market developers use Windows as the primary
platform on which they host development.
Google Unveils Office Rival
Ted Samson, InfoWorld
With Microsoft Office clearly in its long-range sights, Google has
launched a package of Web-based productivity apps. The offering, called
Google Apps for Your Domain, comprises Google services that all have
seen the light of day: Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, and Google
Page Creator. Notably absent from the menu are Writely and Google
Spreadsheets, which respectively provide basic word-processing and
spreadsheet functions that would be essential for a productivity suite,
a la the more feature-rich Microsoft Word and Excel. Also, Google has
yet to unveil an application that could rival Microsoft PowerPoint.
With Google Apps for Your Domain, organizations can tailor the included
applications' UIs with their own branding, and they can pick and choose
which services to use. Moreover, there's a Web-based management
interface through which admins can manage their user account list, set
up aliases and distribution lists, and enable the services they want
for their domain. End-users will be able to access their apps from any
Web-connected computer. For the time being, there's one package
available: the Standard Edition. Still in beta and free to use, it
offers 2GB of e-mail storage per user as well as customer service for
admins via e-mail or an online help center. According to Google's
announcement, organizations that sign up during the beta period will
not ever have to pay for users accepted during that period — provided
Google continues to offer the service. Google says that a premium
version of the package is under development for organizations with
more advanced needs. More information, including details on pricing,
will be available soon. Google acknowledges in its announcement that it
will eventually reach out for the enterprise, as well as ISPs and
universities.
W3C Announces Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL-FO) V2.0 Workshop
Staff, Announcement
W3C has issued a Call for Participation in connection with a W3C
International Workshop on the future of the Extensible Stylesheet
Language (XSL-FO) Version 2.0. The XSL specification is in two parts:
a language for transforming XML documents (XSLT), and an XML vocabulary
for specifying formatting semantics (XSL-FO). This Workshop concerns
the second of these two parts — the formatting language. W3C's XSL
Working Group has started work on version 2.0 of XSL-FO, and is looking
for experts in the field to bring their knowledge, insight and
experience, as well as for use cases and representatives of user
communities. The XSL Working Group expects to be working in conjunction
with the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Working Group to enhance the
layout capabilities of XSL-FO. The Workshop is designed to to gather
inspiration, needs and techniques for a future version of XSL-FO. The
W3C XSL Working Group expects that the enhancements for XSL-FO 2.0 will
focus on layout-driven formatting, augmenting the content-driven layout
facilities already defined.
See also: W3C Workshops
BI Megatrends: Seventh Annual Special Report
Neil Raden, IntelligentEnterprise.com
What are the latest directions in business intelligence? In our seventh
annual report, we take a look at the major drivers impacting how you'll
architect and implement BI in your organization. Could search,
semantics and master data management push BI over the top? BI as we
know it will disappear from view. Existing BI will linger, but the real
action will be elsewhere. In an accelerating arc of progress with
enterprise systems, organizations are moving beyond purely operational
systems and toward embedding analytics into operational processes. The
need to take action on analytics, not just be informed by them, has never
been more urgent. The relentless externalization of business, the rapid
emergence of loosely coupled computing environments based on standards
and the Web-as-the-platform paradigm are all driving BI in a new and
exciting direction. This is an extraordinary opportunity for the BI
community, but only for those who can adapt to the changing
circumstances. Where are the strongest signs of a shift? Factors
influencing BI's future fall into three categories, with important
subjects as part of each of them: new capabilities, including search and
guided navigation, master data management, semantics and operational BI;
technology architecture changes, including service oriented architecture,
Web 2.0, Web services, emerging standards, Ajax and intelligent,
real-time agents; and external (to the BI industry) drivers, such as
open source, business externalization and Moore's Law.
Enterprise-Quality Open Source Implementation of WSRP
GlassFish Blog
Sun Microsystems has delivered the first code drop into the
WSRP.dev.java.net seb site. This drop is an evolution of the same code
used in PS 7.0; the first installment includes only the WSRP Producer
code, but the remaining pieces will follow. It is one more addition to
the growing collection of OpenSource projects, building a complete
Enterprise-Quality Middleware Software at Java.Net. This project aims
to: (1) build a community of developers who are committed to increasing
the quality of the WSRP implementation; (2) demonstrate uncompromising
commitment to test-first development and code review for all code
coming into the project; (3) have a fast turn-around time for getting
bug fixes into the hands of users. The key features that are planned
are: Provide a WSRP v1 Producer; Provide a WSRP v1 Consumer that can
consume Remote Portlets exported by any WSRP v1 Producer; Provide
support for Registries that allow publishing and discovery of remote
portlets; Provide support for user identity propagation and other
security and policy capabilities between the Producer and the Consumer.
See also: WSRP Open Source Project
Ransom Payments Set Maps Free
Aliya Sternstein, Federal Computer Week
Jared Benedict of Marlboro, Vt., has raised enough money to centralize
all official government topographic maps online for free public
downloading from the Internet. Until now, the more than 56,000 digital
topographic maps have been scattered among many Web sites; Benedict
was unavailable for comment at press time. A significant number of
states charge citizens to download the data from the Web. Benedict
recently purchased most of the data from a private vendor and then
held the maps for a $1,600 ransom to recoup the expense: "Once the
$1,600 ransom is met, all maps will be handed over to the Internet
Archive. The Internet Archive will make every map available for free
download forever!" The Internet Archive, a nonprofit entity that offers
access to historical collections in digital format, will eventually make
every map available for free public access. The U.S. Geological Survey,
which is responsible for distributing government maps, produced the
maps on paper then scanned them into digital formats. They show details
of physical features such as mountains and rivers, which can make them
useful for families planning outdoor expeditions, students researching
land change or businesses planning expansions.
Reinventing the Internet, Part 3: Unlocking the Potential of the URI
Jason Kolb, Blog
I was born and bred in the relational database, web-based application
world. I cut my programming teeth on Microsoft technology like ASP,
ASP.NET, and SQL Server. So I grew up thinking of a URL as a way to
get to a page or application on the Web, or maybe somewhere on an
internal network. To me, a URI = DNS work, and as a programmer it was
something the network guys took care of. Later in my programming career
I thought of a URI as a way into a REST API. But for the most part,
it was one of those things I took for granted, an ingredient in my
standard technology stew. It got me where I needed to go, but I now
realize that I wasn't seeing the forest for the trees. It wasn't until
just recently that I started re-looking at the URI. Recently I began
combing thru the XMPP specs that make up the core of Jabber, and
something dawned on me: a URI can be used to get to ANYTHING. And
ANYTHING is the key word here, because I'm not just talking about a
blog, or email, or an instant messaging account. I had always thought
in terms of directories, pages, and REST and Web Service endpoints,
but not in terms of resources and living, breathing objects at the
other end. And what I really missed is the fact that you have complete
freedom to determine what that resource is. Yes, a page or a
subdirectory is a resource, and a REST service is a resource, but
there's no reason to stop there. In fact, if you don't stop there, a
whole new world of possibilities open up when you look at it from the
standpoint of a global decentralized database.
Fedora Goes Live
Sean Michael Kerner, InternetNews.com
Ever wanted to run Fedora Core Linux as a Live CD? Well now you can.
Though Red Hat's sponsored community distribution, Fedora Core,
includes a lot of applications and has an easy-to-use installer, it
has long been missing a critical piece, namely a Live CD. The Live
Fedora CD is a product of the FedoraUnity.org community group, which
is composed of site maintainers, Fedora Project contributors, and
interested users. The Live CD is part of the Fedora Unity "re-spins,"
which are ISOs of Fedora Core releases with additional up-to-date
applications already bundled in. With a Live CD, users can run Fedora
from their media drives without the need to actually physically install
the OS on their hard drives. According to Fedora Unity Co-Founder Bob
Jensen: "The biggest item in my opinion is a newer (2.6.17-1.2174)
kernel... This brings added hardware support for those who had issues
with the initial Fedora Core 5 release... Naturally there are many
more update packages like KDE and gnome also." A Live Fedora CD has
been one of the most requested projects by Fedora users.
XML.org is an OASIS Information Channel
sponsored by BEA Systems, Inc., IBM Corporation, Innodata Isogen, SAP AG and Sun
Microsystems, Inc.
Use http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage
to unsubscribe or change an email address. See http://xml.org/xml/news_market.shtml
for the list archives. |
