OASIS Mailing List ArchivesView the OASIS mailing list archive below
or browse/search using MarkMail.

 


Help: OASIS Mailing Lists Help | MarkMail Help

 


 

   Re: [xml-dev] [Updated] A Categorization of Data Interoperability Proble

[ Lists Home | Date Index | Thread Index ]

Hi Joe,

Chiusano Joseph wrote:

> I was recently asked by a colleague to advise them on the "Different
> Format" problem.

Last month I wrote a short paper (based upon discussions on this list) on the
problem of producers and consumers using different formats:

     http://www.xfront.com/interoperability/CanonicalForms.html

I am currently updating this paper.  I no longer believe that "canonical form"
is important (other than as an engineering technique to reduce complexity).

The upshot of the paper is this:

1. Use OWL to declaratively express the various formats.
2. Create an "include file" that converts from any form to any other form.
3. When an application receives data in a "foreign format" it simply invokes
the include file function, which returns it in the desired form.
(Alternatively, the application could employ a "mediator agent" which
intercepts the data and converts it to the application's desired form using
the include file.  Thus, the application always "sees" the data in its desired
format).

A key point:
1. In an open system where there are interactions that cannot be predicted
apriori, it is unreasonable to expect a "standard format".  This is a key
point that I argue in "Living in a Schemaless Web":

    http://www.xfront.com/LivingInASchemalessWeb.html

/Roger






 

News | XML in Industry | Calendar | XML Registry
Marketplace | Resources | MyXML.org | Sponsors | Privacy Statement

Copyright 2001 XML.org. This site is hosted by OASIS