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Use of XML Documents For Data

Article Number: 1859 | Rating: Unrated | Last Updated: Thu, Jun 22, 2023 at 4:43 PM

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Use of XML Documents For Data

There are many good reasons why electronic means of exchanging data makes sense. At the very least, if data can be exchanged between organisations and processed by the receiving organisation electronically, it eliminates the need for the data to be re-keyed.

For example, a customer wants to place an order on a supplier, and enters the order onto their computer (indeed, the computer may have raised the order itself if it were a replenishment order). Traditionally the order is printed, faxed, and at the supplier’s end, is re-keyed into their computer. How wasteful of time, let alone the possibility of errors in the re-keying process. Electronic transfer is swift, and is expected to be error free.

Electronic systems already exist to do this, of course, known collectively as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) whereby such data is sent as data files. But there are a number of drawbacks to traditional EDI:

Receiving companies must have the electronic systems to process EDI, which are usually quite an investment. Typically it is a two-way process, so that they must return EDI messages to the source company too.

The source must know that the recipient can process their EDI messages, otherwise it is pointless to send them.

The transport mechanisms for such files (the distribution networks) are relatively costly and have typically been closed communities (you have to join for a fee).

EDI is still very much hub-driven; that is to say, forced on suppliers by their large customers, such as aerospace and vehicle manufacturers, multiple and supermarket retail chains, and the large drug companies.

Although message standards exist, their interpretation by the hub companies that drove the original EDI systems could differ from one another, giving suppliers headaches in processing the messages.

As a result, traditional EDI has developed a reputation as being costly, cumbersome, technical, and difficult to implement.

XML should have the advantages that:

If a receiving company does not have an electronic way to process XML documents, they can display and print it using their browser program, and take it from there.

The sending organisation does not need to know whether the receiving company can process their XML documents electronically, as they assume they have a browser.

The transport mechanism is to all intents free, being the Internet — it is a rare organisation that does not have the capability to receive e-mails (XML documents will often be sent as attachments to e-mails) or to use FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

The concept of XML is that the Internet community will be free and open to share the standards it develops for different document types, so as to make it easier for people to enter the community. This is happening already. For example, BASDA†, in conjunction with many organisations including Microsoft, has published standards for orders and invoices, with other documents in the pipeline. However, truly universal standards are likely to be a bit of a pipe-dream, as is demonstrated by the BOSSFed and Home Builders versions of the BASDA messages.

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