ebXML Architecture

Anne Thomas ManesSun Microsystems

atm@sun.com

O’Reilly Conference on Java, March 29, 2001

Disclaimer

The ebXML specifications are not complete.The details articulated in this

presentation are subject to change.The final specifications will be compete

in May 2001.

Agenda

• What is ebXML?• Architecture Overview• Architecture Details• SOAP and UDDI • Roadmap• How to get involved

What is ebXML

• ebXML = Electronic Business XML• Global Standard for electronic business• ebXML enables anyone, anywhere to do

business with anyone else over the Internet

• Specifically designed to support SME• Complementary to existing B2B initiatives

(UDDI, RosettaNet, TradeXchange, etc.)

An end-to-end B2B XML Framework

Sponsored by …

UN/CEFACT

(United Nations CenterFor Trade Facilitation

And Electronic Business)

(Organization for theAdvancement of Structured

Information Standards)

Hundreds of participants from all over the world

Businesses, governments, academia, institutions

ebXML Vision

• A global electronic market place where enterprises of any size, anywhere can:– Find each other electronically– And conduct business

• Using XML messages • According to standard business process

sequences• With clear business semantics• According to standard or mutually

agreed trading partner protocol agreements

• Using off the shelf purchased business applications

B2B Collaboration

• B2B collaboration requires more than just an XML protocol and a service registry

• You have to deal with – Business semantics– Negotiating terms and conditions– Interoperability– Security and Privacy– Reliability

• ebXML provides concrete specifications to enable dynamic B2B collaborations

ElectronicElectronicBusinessBusiness

CollaborationCollaboration

ElectronicElectronicBusinessBusiness

CollaborationCollaboration

ProcessDefinition

PartnerDiscovery

PartnerSign-Up

ElectronicPlug-in

ProcessExecution

ProcessManagement

ProcessEvolution

B2B Collaboration Process

ebXML Specifications

ElectronicElectronicBusinessBusiness

CollaborationCollaboration

ElectronicElectronicBusinessBusiness

CollaborationCollaboration

ProcessDefinition

PartnerDiscovery

PartnerSign-Up

ElectronicPlug-in

ProcessExecution

ProcessManagement

ProcessEvolution

Business Process,Core Components

CollaborationProtocol Agreement

Business Service

Interface

Message Service,Business Service

Interface

BusinessProcess

Management

ProcessReengineering

Registry/Repository

CollaborationProtocol Profile

ebXML Architecture

Registries/Repositories

Core/IndustryComponentsCore/IndustryComponents

BusinessDocumentsBusiness

Documents

CP AgreementCP Agreement

Des

ign

Tim

eBusinessProcess

BusinessProcess

CollaborationProtocolProfile

CollaborationProtocolProfile

CollaborationProtocolProfile

CollaborationProtocolProfile

Transport

Package

BusinessService

Interface

BusinessServices/App’s

Ru

nti

me

BusinessService

Interface

BusinessServices/App’s

XML based: XMI, Specification Schema, Document Schemas

Register & Discover

Query about Company X

Request Company X’s S

cenarioDO BUSINESS!

Company X’s Scenario

Company X’s Profile

Submit CPA

Accept CPA

Usage Example

INDUSTRY INPUT

ebXML BP Model

ebXML BO Library

ebXML BP Model

ebXML BO Library

Request ebXML specifications1

ebXML specifications detail

3

2

Build local system implementation

Register scenarios and implementation detailsRegister company business profile

6

7

8

9

10

Confirm profile and scenarios accepted

11

4

5

12 Scenarios

Profiles

Specifications

Company Profile

• Collaboration Protocol Profile– Defined using ebXML Specification Schema– Concrete specification of your ebusiness

offerings• Business scenarios you support• Service interfaces you implement• Document formats exchanged• Technical requirements/options (protocols,

security, reliability)

• Composed of– Business process models– Information models– Context rules

Business Scenarios

• Often defined by Industry Groups– Standard business scenarios remove the

need for prior agreements among trading partners

• Business Process Model– Interactions between parties– Sequencing of interactions– Documents exchanged in each interaction

• Information Model– Document definition– Context definition– Context rules

Core Components

• Reusable low-level data structures– e.g., party, address, phone, date,

currency– Context-sensitive

• Single, consistent lexicon• Used to define business process

and information models• Facilitates interoperability

between disparate systems

Context Affects Process

• Industry Sector• Product• Business process• Geo-political region• Official constraints

– Legislative– Standards– Good practice– Contractual

Business Process

Business ProcessBusiness Process

BusinessProcess

Collaboration

Transaction

...

Transaction

Collaboration

BusinessProcess

Create Long Term Contract

Forecast Component Requirements

Send Planning Document

Place Order

Ship Materials

Customer

Arrange Payment

Supplier

ebXML Specification Schema

Business Transaction

Business Collaboration

Request Document

Response DocumentRoles

Partner Types

Business ProcessBusiness Process

Business Transaction Execution PatternsBusiness Transaction Execution Patterns

ChoreographyChoreography TransitionTransition GuardGuard

Process CompositionProcess Composition

BP and Info Modeling Architecture

Registry

Conversion to XML

XML BP-DTD XML Info-DTD

Model-XML Rules Model-XML Rules

XML BP-docXML BP-doc

Conversion to XML

XML Info-docXML Info-doc

InformationModeling

InformationModeling

Info-MetamodelInfo-MetamodelInfo-model

MethodologyMethodology

ContentContent

PatternsPatterns

BP-MetamodelBP-Metamodel BP-model

MethodologyMethodology

ContentContent

PatternsPatternsBusiness Process Modeling

Business Process Modeling

Conversion of UML Models to XML

• Business process definitions• XML Schema and DTD

generation• Populate classification scheme

XML Schema

XMI(MOF.DTD)

TransformationRules

XML Process Definition

Populate Classification

Scheme

Traditional Classification Scheme

TaxonomiesIndustry

HealthCare Automotive Retail

Geography

USA Japan Europe

Ford:object

Chevy:object

Toyota:object

Nissan:objectBMW:object

Registering Your Business• Register your business in an ebXML

Registry– Index to all information in the repository– Rich query facility

• Store specifications in an ebXML Repository– CPP– Schemas– Process models– Core components– Classification and categorization schemes– Arbitrary objects and code

ebXML Reg/Rep

• ebXML Registry and Repository– Registry = index of things– Repository = holder of things

• Distributed model• Nodes maintained by

– Industry groups– Market places– Exchanges– Communities– Individual companies

Negotiating an Agreement• Find registry and search for partners• Examine CPP• Ascertain compatibility of business

process and technical specifications• Stipulate your “rules of engagement”• Produce Collaboration Protocol

Agreement– Conditions under which two partners will

conduct business transactions together

CP Agreement Formation

CooperativeProtocol Profile 1

CooperativeProtocol Profile 2

Rules ofEngagement

Cooperative Partner

Agreement

• Negotiate two Cooperative Protocol Profiles• Party 1 queries and discovers Party 2• Party 1 proposes rules of engagement • Sends CPA to Party 2 for review and acceptance

Collaborative Protocol Agreement

• Agreement for business interaction between two parties– Technical specifications:

• Message Service requirements• Application requirements

– References:• CPPs• Legal terms and conditions

Business Service Interface• Implements the CPA, supporting

dynamic integration• Not yet specified

– Hand-crafted for the moment

• Enables one Party to converse with the other Party using the ebXML Message Service

ebXML Message Service

• Reliable, secure XML messaging service– Enforces the rules of engagement in

CPA

• Transport independent• Extends SOAP Messages with

Attachments (SwA)– Reliability framework– Security framework– Manifest, trace, and delivery options

Delivery Options

• Communications models– Synchronous or asynchronous– Request/response– Fire and forget– Multipart message delivery

• Reliability options:– Best effort– Once and only once

Security

• Identification• Authentication• Authorization• Privacy• Integrity• Non-repudiation• Logging

ebXML Message Structure

Communication Protocol Envelope (HTTP, SMTP, etc.)

SOAP Messages with Attachments MIME Envelope

MIME Part

MIME Part

SOAP-ENV:Envelope

SOAP-ENV:Headereb:MessageHeader

eb:TraceHeaderList

Other:etc…

SOAP-ENV:Bodyeb:Manifest

eb:etc…

Other:etc…

Payload

Message Package

Header Container

Payload Container(s)

ebXML Header Information

ebXML Message Service Handler control data

Summary of Components• Registry and Repository• Core Components• ebXML Specification Schema

– Business Process Model– Information Model

• CPP/CPA• Message Service

SOAP and UDDI

• Obviously useful, but they don’t constitute an end-to-end B2B framework

• No support for business models or negotiating business agreements

• No Quality of Service facilities• Complementary not competitive to

ebXML– SOAP provides messaging foundation– UDDI helps you find ebXML services– ebXML Repository stores service

specifications

ebXML Timetable

Sept 1999

ebXML Commissioned -- Canberra

Nov 1999

First Meeting – San Jose

May 2000

Requirements document -- Brussels

Nov 2000

Message Service beta - Tokyo

Feb 2001 Technical Architecture - Vancouver

Mar 2001

All specs in review

May 2001

All specs released - Vienna

ebXML Summary

• Worldwide project to standardize the exchange of electronic business data

• XML-based infrastructure to enable consistent, secure, and interoperable message exchange

• Supported by hundreds of industry consortia, standards bodies, companies, and individuals from around the world

ebXML Changes the Future• Out-of-the-box technical

interoperability• Unambiguous commercial

interoperability – Explicitly specified and “executable”

business processes• Service-based business process

architecture• Enable the evolution of many new

business models and patterns

Resources

• ebXML Participation & Mailing Lists– Open to everyone– http://www.ebxml.org/participate.htm

• ebXML Specifications– http://www.ebxml.org/specdrafts/

approved_specs.htm