XML Announcements

Tue Sep 14 02:45:43 BST 1999

There were two fairly significant sets of announcements on XML today.
I posted news summaries on my Web site
(http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/sgmlnew.html), but the server
has apparently been taken the server down, so for those interested,
I post the news items on this email channel.  When the server is
back up, some additional links will be alive:

[September 13, 1999]  XML Featured in Microsoft Announcements.

XML is highlighted in a series of recent announcements from Microsoft
Corporation in connection with Windows DNA (Distributed interNet
Architecture) 2000 and the BizTalk Framework. The company "announced
the availability of a freely downloadable
<a href="http://www.biztalk.org/">BizTalk JumpStart Kit</a> to aid
developers in the immediate creation of BizTalk-compatible software
applications. The Microsoft BizTalk JumpStart Kit makes it easier for
developers to use XML schemas and the BizTalk Framework in current
development projects and existing applications and to realize the
benefits of industry-standard eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for
electronic-commerce and application integration within and across
organizations. In addition, a library for BizTalk-compatible schemas
is now live on the BizTalk.Org Web site, with more than 100 freely
available schemas submitted by 30 organizations." See
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/Sept99/
JumpStartPR.htm">"Microsoft Releases BizTalk JumpStart Kit for
Developers. BizTalk.Org Library Open for Business Today With More Than
100 Schemas JumpStart Kit, Schema Library Allow Developers to Quickly
Create BizTalk-Compatible Solutions Today With XML Schema, Tools,
Services and Sample Applications."</a> Press releases from several
other companies (Ariba, Bentley, Clarus, Concur Technologies, HR-XML
Consortium, Intelisys, KeyFile, Litefoot, Motiva DesignGroup, NetFish,
PMSC, Prophet 21) are referenced in the
<a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/xmlNews.html">"XML Industry
News"</a> section. XML features strongly in a related Microsoft
announcement,
<a
href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1999/Sept99/XMLPr.htm">
"Windows DNA 2000 Provides Pervasive XML Support For Next-Generation
Web Development Microsoft Deepens Commitment to XML as Industry-
Standard Integration Mechanism."</a> - "Microsoft Corp. today
expanded its industry-leading commitment to eXtensible Markup Language
(XML) with a series of announcements for far-reaching XML support in
Windows. Distributed interNet Architecture (Windows DNA) 2000, the
next generation of the Microsoft. platform for building distributed
Web applications. XML, an industry-standard technology developed by
the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C), enables heterogeneous
interoperability of data, components, business processes and
applications over the Internet. The Microsoft Windows 2000 operating
system, the cornerstone of Windows DNA 2000, is the first operating
system with integrated, end-to-end XML support. Key products of the
Windows DNA 2000 solution will offer new features and functionality
based on XML, including Microsoft SQL Server, the 'Babylon'
Integration Server, Microsoft Commerce Server and Microsoft BizTalk
Server. The key enabler for Microsoft's vision of integrated,
programmable Web services is XML. Through the exchange of XML
messages, services can easily describe their capabilities and allow
any other service, application or device on the Internet to easily
invoke those capabilities. To help realize that vision, Microsoft
today is submitting to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) an
Internet draft specification for the Simple Object Access Protocol
(SOAP), an XML-based mechanism that bridges different object models
over the Internet and provides an open mechanism for Web services to
communicate with one another. Highlights: (1) SOAP provides an open,
extensible way for applications to communicate using XML-based
messages over the Web, regardless of what operating system, object
model or language particular applications may use. SOAP facilitates
universal communication by defining a simple, extensible message
format in standard XML and thereby providing a way to send that XML
message over HTTP. (2) Microsoft is tightly integrating XML into the
SQL. The next version of SQL Server, code- code-named 'Shiloh,' will
be fully XML-enabled and will include a superset of the features
available in the technology preview for SQL Server 7.0. (3) Microsoft
announces XML Transaction Integrator (XML-TI), a new feature of the
forthcoming 'Babylon' integration server that enables customers to
easily integrate and commerce-enable their existing enterprise
applications via XML. XML-TI allows developers to easily invoke
transactions on a host with XML without having to change any existing
host code or write any new code. XML-TI consists of a runtime proxy
and a component builder that generates an XML document interface for
executing legacy CICS and IMS transactions."

[September 13, 1999] OASIS Announces Expansion of XML.org as an XML
Information Clearinghouse.

A <a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/xmlOrg19990913.html">press
release</a> from <a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/">OASIS
(Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information
Standards</a>) announced "major enhancements to <a
href="http://xml.org/">XML.org</a>, the open, vendor-neutral industry
portal for XML. New XML schemas from <a
href="http://www.datachannel.com/">DataChannel</a> and the <a
href="http://www.hr-xml.org/">HR-XML Consortium</a> have been
submitted to XML.org. Other content upgrades include the addition of
the XML.org Specifications Catalog (<a
href="http://www.xml.org/xmlorg_catalog.htm">www.xml.org/
xmlorg_catalog.htm</a>), a comprehensive list of XML specifications
currently under development including links for more information."
This catalog is described as "the precursor to the fully functional
XML.org Registry and Repository, coming in early 2000, the XML Catalog
provides an overview of organizations producing XML specifications."
The Web site now publicizes a document describing "XML.org
Recommendations, Working Drafts, and Submissions; it provides detailed
information on specifications submitted to XML.org. An XML.org
Recommendation is an XML specification that was developed for one
or more industries in a vendor-neutral manner and has broad industry
acceptance. An XML.org Recommendation is suitable for widespread use
within the industry or industries for which it was designed and has
been given the OASIS Board of Directors stamp of approval. An
XML.org Working Draft represents a
work-in-progress by an OASIS working group or an industry consortium.
The ultimate goal of the group producing the Working Draft must be to
seek XML.org Recommendation status. To be accepted as an XML.org
Working Draft, the development organization must demonstrate that the
specification was developed in a vendor-neutral manner. An XML.org
Submission has been given to XML.org for consideration as an
XML.org Recommendation, for input to an OASIS XML.org working group,
or as an announcement of the availability of a specification for
review or application. A Submission can only be forwarded to XML.org
by the organization that developed the specification." The XML.org
Web site also now incorporates the XML.org Specification Submission
Form to encourage and enable organizations to share their XML
specifications with the community at large. The form allows one to
submit XML DTDs, XML schemas, XSL stylesheets, and descriptive web
pages, together with keyword assignments from the <a
href="http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics/naicscod.txt">North American
Industry Classification System (NAICS)</a> codes and descriptions.
"Data Channel's [recent] submission to XML.org is the <a
href="portalML.html">Portal Markup Language (PML)</a>, which is
designed to support inter-portal communication by providing an XML-
based description of portal-related data and metadata. PML in
corporates the basics of vocabularies such as Dublin Core, Directory
Services Markup and WebDAV and will continue to closely track
applicable standards of relevance to this arena."

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