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Transcript of Implementing XML Guidelines for the Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) & eTravelIAEeTravel...
Implementing XML Guidelines for the Integrated Acquisition Environment (
IAE) & eTravel
June 16, 2004Ken Sall
([email protected])Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Presented to the CIO Council XML Working Group
2Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Outline
Federal XML Guidance Sources: – FEA, CIOC, DON, EPA
International Guidance Sources: – ISO 11179, ebXML Core Components, and UBL
Data Normalization for the eTravel Service
ISO 11179/Core Component/UBL Modeling for the Integrated Acquisition Environment
CORE.gov Registry and Repository
Summary and Conclusions
3Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Business Reference Model (BRM)• Lines of Business• Agencies, Customers, Partners
Service Component Reference Model (SRM)
Technical Reference Model (TRM)
Bu
sin
ess a
nd
Perfo
rman
ce-D
riven
Ap
pro
ach
Performance Reference Model (PRM)
• Inputs, Outputs, and Outcomes• Uniquely Tailored Performance Indicators
• Service Domains, Service Types• Business and Service Components
• Service Component Interfaces, Interoperability• Technologies, Recommendations
Data and Information Reference Model (DRM)• Subject Areas, Classifications, Data Elements, • Data Properties, Data Representations
Inte
rop
era
bility
/ Info
rmatio
n S
harin
g(B
usin
ess-C
on
text D
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)
Source: FEAPMO.govSource: FEAPMO.gov
Federal Enterpise Architecture (FEA)
4Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Federal XML Guidance Sources CIO Council, XML Working Group, “XML Developer’s Guide” [draft,
dated April 2002]: http://xml.gov/documents/in_progress/developersguide.pdf
DON XML Working Group, “XML Developer’s Guide”, Version 1.1 [dated May 2002] and related material [See “Library” and then “Developer’s Guide”; guide contains a very useful glossary; library includes a useful three-page XML Schema checklist] [TBD – link is broken ] https://quickplace.hq.navy.mil/quickplace/areatypes/navyxml/main.nsf
EPA’s “XML Design Rules and Conventions for the Environmental Exchange Network” [dated September 2003]. This long and comprehensive two-part document presents many XML design issues, contains a helpful “Summary of XML Rules” (Appendix A), and covers several issues that are unresolved as of this writing:
– http://www.exchangenetwork.net/documents/XML_DRC_Section_1.pdf– http://www.exchangenetwork.net/documents/XML_DRC_Section_2.pdf
“Recommended XML Namespace for Government Organizations” [dated August 2003] – This guidance is controversial: http://xml.gov/documents/completed/lmi/GS301L1_namespace.pdf
5Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
International Guidance Sources
JTC 1/SC 32 ISO/IEC 11179: Information technology -- Specification and standardization of data elements -- Part 5: Naming and identification principles for data elements
UN/CEFACT Techniques and Methodologies Group: ebXML Core Components
– ebXML Adoption Update as of Dec. 2003
OASIS Technical Committee: Universal Business Language (UBL), Version 1.0 (OASIS “Committee Draft”, May 2004)
– UBL: A Lingua Franca for Common Business Information– UBL Reader , the free UBL variant of GEFEG EDIFIX
Other eGovernment Sources: UK, Hong Kong (common schema), Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, etc. Some mature implementations.
6Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
ISO 11179: Data Element Naming Consider these ISO 11179-based element names:
– Employee Last Name– Payment Card Expiration Date– Tree Height Measure– Cost Budget Period Total Amount
Object Class - objects that share the same attributes, operations, methods, relationships, and semantics (e.g., Employee, Payment Card, Tree, Cost)
Property Term – property that the data element represents (e.g., Last Name, Expiration Date, Height, Total)
Representation Term – basic data type (e.g., Text [for Name], Date, Measure, Amount, etc.)
Object Class and Property Term can have Qualifiers (e.g., Budget Period)
[Object Class Qualifier] + Object Class + [Property Term Qualifier] + Property Term + Representation Term
[Object Class Qualifier] + Object Class + [Property Term Qualifier] + Property Term + Representation Term
7Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
UN/CEFACT Core Components (ebXML)
Methodology for developing a common set of semantic building blocks that represent the general types of business data in use today and provides for the creation of new business vocabularies and restructuring of existing business vocabularies.
Core Component Type – basic concept without any business context (e.g., Quantity)
BIE – Business Information Entity = Core Component with business context (e.g., Quantity Shipped)
8Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
UN/CEFACT ebXML Core Components
ABIE – Aggregate BIE; several related BIEs (e.g., Address [consists of BIEs for Street, City, State, Zip, etc.]); relates to Object Class
ASBIE – Association BIE; represent relationships between 2 or more Object Classes (e.g., Work Address, Home Address, Shipping Address)
9Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Core Components Documents
Approved Documents – UN/CEFACT - Core Component Technical Specification Version 2.01 (200
3-11-15)
– UN/CEFACT TMG - General Document Download Section [http://www.untmg.org/doc_tmg.html]
– UN/CEFACT - Modeling Methodology - Meta Model - Revision 12 (2003-01-17)
– UN/CEFACT - UMM User Guide Revision 12 (2003-09-22)
– ebXML - Business Process Specification Schema v1.10 (2003-10-18)
– ebXML - Business Process Specification Schema v1.01 (2001-05-11)
Documents for TMG Review (not for implementation) – CC User Guide V20031030 Revision 10A
10Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
UBL Technical Committee
OASIS Universal Business Language TC includes link to the UBL 1.0 release and downloadable documents.
Goal: to develop a standard library of XML business documents (purchase orders, invoices, etc.) by modifying an already existing library of XML schemas to incorporate the best features of other existing XML business libraries.
The TC will then design a mechanism for the generation of context-specific business schemas through the application of transformation rules to the common UBL source library. UBL will become an international standard for electronic commerce freely available to everyone without licensing or other fees.
Highly recommended intro: Eve Maler’s "XML for e-Business" [July 2003; tutorial on UBL, Core Components, and ISO 11179] http://www.ibiblio.org/bosak/ubl/tut/csw-xml-for-ebusiness.ppt
Source: OASISSource: OASIS
11Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
UBL: A Lingua Franca for Common Business Information
“UBL is designed to facilitate data interchange between entities that may not use common vertical industry vocabularies. A good example might be a scenario involving an electronic equipment manufacturer, a hospital, and a chemical supplier.”
“Rather than adopt each of the vertical industry vocabularies, the hospital could eventually conduct business within healthcare in HL7 and all others in UBL...UBL could be the interchange to each of the many formats an organization may interact with. “
Source: UBL: A Lingua Franca for Common Business Information Source: UBL: A Lingua Franca for Common Business Information
12Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Selected UBL Sub-Committees
* Code List SC - Create "standard" and "stock" code lists, and template
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/sc_home.php?wg_abbrev=ubl-clsc
* Library Content SC - Library of BIEs, Schema, examples, customization
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/sc_home.php?wg_abbrev=ubl-lcsc
* Naming and Design Rules SC - Rules for Schema design and element naming
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/sc_home.php?wg_abbrev=ubl-ndrsc
Forms Presentation SC - Formatting Specifications
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/sc_home.php?wg_abbrev=ubl-fpsc
Implementation SC - Collate issues discovered during implementation phase http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/sc_home.php?wg_abbrev=ubl-isc
Tools and Techniques SC - Utilities such as spreadsheets and scripts
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/sc_home.php?wg_abbrev=ubl-ttsc
GSA's Marion Royal is co-chair of Library Content SC.
LMI's Mark Crawford is co-chair of Naming & Design Rules SC.
GSA's Marion Royal is co-chair of Library Content SC.
LMI's Mark Crawford is co-chair of Naming & Design Rules SC.
13Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
UBL NDR: Naming and Design Rules
Long checklist of Do's and Don't for moving from BIE/ASBIE/ABIE to XML Schema.
Rules are in flux.
Some rules are debatable (e.g., xsd:choice not allowed) or perhaps context-specific.
14Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
UBL Code Lists
Clever but complicated mechanism for creating separate XML Schema for each code list (e.g., Country codes, FIPS codes, etc.)
Goal is for standards organizations such as ISO and NIST to take ownership of these XML Schema.
Everyone else "includes" the code list schema they need without worrying if it's up-to-date.
For example, IAE might designate itself as maintainer of U.S. procurement-related code lists.
15Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
eTravel eGov Initative In fiscal year 2001, agencies processed roughly 2.4 million employee
travel vouchers totaling over $9 billion.
GSA’s eTravel Initiative “[p]rovides a government-wide web-based service that applies world-class travel management practices to consolidate federal travel, minimize cost and produce superior customer satisfaction. The eTravel Service will be commercially hosted to minimize technology costs to the government and guarantee refreshed functionality.”
“From travel planning and authorization to reimbursement, end-to-end service will leverage administrative, financial and information technology best practices to realize significant cost savings and improved employee productivity.”
Three 10-year contracts—worth $450 million combined—are expected to cut federal travel management costs by as much as 50 percent.
12/23/03: FTR Amendment requiring agencies to complete adoption of eTS by September 2006.
Sites (multiple vendor award): – http://www.govtrip.com/govtrip/site/index.jsp (Northrop Grumman Mission Systems (NGMS))– http://cwgt.com/default.asp (Carlson Wagonlit Government Travel, Inc. (CWGT)) – http://www.fedtraveler.com/ (Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS) )
16Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
eTravel Data Modeling Process Started with 40 poorly defined elements in the Federal Travel Regulations (see
“Appendix C to Chapter 301—Standard Data Elements for Federal Travel”).
Focus on U.S. Federal travel, not on international harmonization.
Given 3 months (10 man months) to complete work due to RFP schedule.
Data call responses received from 17 of the 24 BRM agencies.
Identified 385 elements (279 for exchange, 106 for data warehouse).
Arranged elements into “groups” (e.g., Official Duty Station) and larger functional “categories” (e.g., Traveler Profile), analogous to XML Schema complex types and schema, respectively.
Worked with agencies to normalize names. NOTE: Did not follow ISO 11179.
Published results as GFI via an attachment to the eTravel Service RFP on FedBizOpps: “to provide eTravel Service offerors with details concerning the standard data elements identified to date by the Government as needed across agencies for exchange between eTS and agency business systems. The goal is to create a standard data set for input and output that is common across agencies, making it easier and less costly for agencies to integrate with the eTS.”
Multiple awards; 3 vendors delivering XML Schema based on our attachment.
Hope to eventually align with non-profit OpenTravel Alliance.
17Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
eTravel Data Modeling Spreadsheet
18Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
eTravel XSD Evaluation Criteria
19Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) The Federal government spends roughly $190 billion to $220 billion on
the acquisition of goods and services each year, making it the largest purchaser in the world. There are over 315,000 vendors registered in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) system.
GSA’s Integrated Acquisition Environment (IAE) E-Government initiative is creating a secure business environment that facilitates and supports cost-effective acquisition of goods and services in support of agency mission performance.
Common acquisition functions that benefit all agencies, such as the maintenance of information about suppliers (e.g., capabilities, past performance histories) are managed as a shared service.
Associated web sites include: – www.BPN.gov – www.ICD.gov [new: Interagency Contract Directory]– www.EPLS.gov – www.FedBizOpps.gov – www.FedTeDS.gov – https://www.FPDS.gov– www.PPIRS.gov – www.WDOL.gov
20Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE Business Areas and Standard Transactions
IAE is composed of 4 business areas:– Business Partner Network (BPN)– eMarketplace– Intra-governmental Transactions (IGT)– Acquisition Information Reporting (AIR)
Objective of Standard Transactions is to develop a Standard Vocabulary to facilitate exchange of data between and within agencies.
In October 2003, the PMO (Program Management Office) published initial definitions of Standard Information Exchanges and Standard Vocabulary based on an analysis of the existing interfaces for five of the shared IAE systems:
– CCR (Central Contractor Registration), – FPDS-NG (Federal Procurement Data System Next Generation), – PPIRS (Past Performance Information Retrieval System),– IGT (Intra-governmental Transactions), and – FedReg (Federal Registration).
A primary goal is to maximize interoperability with other agency, federal lines-of-business, and external (industry, state and local, international) vocabularies.
21Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE Conceptual Architecture (partial)
22Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE Data Modeling Process
The process used in defining the IAE Standard Vocabulary is based on the general approach outlined in the FEA DRM: – Data modeling using UML (Unified Modeling Language)
– ISO/IEC 11179 data element naming
– UBL and UN/CEFACT Core Component principles.
– Followed by XML Schema development to define the precise structure of Information Exchange payloads.
23Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE Data Modeling Process [cont] The data modeling and naming process results in Business
Information Entities (BIEs), which are data elements with a business context.
An Aggregate Business Information Entity (ABIE) is a collection of related pieces of business information that together convey a distinct business meaning in a specific business context. Expressed in modeling terms, it is the representation of an Object Class, in a specific business context.
In XML Schema, an ABIE becomes a complex type (e.g., ContactInformation). Ultimately, modular transactional and validation XML Schema will result from combining the ABIEs into Information Exchanges. Back office and agency systems can then apply XSLT stylesheets to map their data elements to or from the IAE Standard Vocabulary.
24Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE Data Modeling Process [cont]
For Information Exchanges, an IAE-specific process was used.
Procurement SMEs identified 73 Information Exchanges that encompassed all steps in the acquisition process (to date).
Of these, 33 Information Exchanges apply to the IAE Portal IOC.
Particular Information Exchanges were then associated with specific shared systems.
Data elements were associated with the exchange as Sent, Received, Both, or Neither.
Information Exchanges with their designed data elements were then reviewed by SMEs.
Normalized ISO/Core Component/UBL element names were then substituted for the system-specific data element names.
25Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Result: IAE Standard Vocabulary
Version 1.0 – 9/31/03– Data Call in Early 2003
– 450 data elements
– 5 shared systems (CCR, FPDS-NG, PPIRS, FedReg, IGTE)
– Early UBL 0.7
Version 2.0 – 6/30/04– Data Call in March 2003
– 1,300 data elements
– All 20 shared systems
– UBL 1.0 (Committee Draft)
– 33 Information Exchanges for 4 shared systems in Portal IOC
26Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE XML Implementation Questionnaire
1. Which XML standards have you selected for project use?
2. Which international standards do you support?
3. Explain briefly how you decide on the XML element names used in your system. How do they relate to business names?
4. Describe briefly the case convention you follow when naming XML elements.
5. Do your XML elements include acronyms and abbreviations? If so, how do you decide which acronyms and abbreviations will be known to all of your business partners?
6. Is your XML fully documented, especially with comments or annotations in XML Schema, with appropriate headers, etc.?
7. Are you using XML Schema or DTDs for your data models?
8. To what degree do you use attributes? How do you decide whether to make something an attribute vs. an element?
9. To what extent do your XML Schema use global type and element definitions vs. local definitions?
10. How do you represent code lists (enumerations) in your XML?
11. How do you constrain data values to a range?
12. What is the XML namespace you have defined for your system? What other namespaces do you use?
27Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE Summary XML Guidance
Published by the IAE Program Management Office in August 2003 and updated February 2004.
The purpose of the document is to provide summary guidance concerning the use of XML technology for the IAE eGov initiative. The goal is to highlight the key points from the major references and Web sites that XML developers should consult for federal guidance and governance.
Since this document is a high level summary, it is assumed that, whenever necessary, developers will refer to the sources listed at the end of the document for more authoritative and definitive information and governance.
28Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE Summary XML GuidancePurpose
Guidance Areas
1. Selecting XML Standards for Project Use
2. Importance of International Standards
3. Creating ISO 11179 Names
4. Creating XML Element Names from Business Terms
5. Case Conventions
6. Usage of Acronyms and Abbreviations
7. Adding Comments and Metadata
8. When to Use XML Schema vs. DTDs
9. Schema Development Methodology
10. When to Use Attributes vs. Elements
11. Global vs. Local Elements and Attributes
29Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE Summary XML Guidance [cont]12. Enumeration of Data Values (Code Lists)
13. Constraining Data Values
14. XML Namespaces
15. Web Services
16. Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT)
17. XML Software Tools
18. Unresolved Issues
Key Federal XML References and Web Sites
1. XML Guidance Documents
2. Related Guidance and Methodology
3. Related Web Sites
Glossary To request a copy, email [email protected] and cc: [email protected]
30Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE XML QuickPlace Area
31Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Element Naming Procedure
32Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE UBL Modeling Spreadsheet Identifier
Original Data Source
Original Source ID
Original Source Data Element Name
Definition
XML Tag Name
Dictionary Entry Name
ABIE/ASBIE/BBIE
Object Class Qualifier
Object Class Term
Property Term Qualifier
Property Term
Representation Term Qualifier
Representation Term
Data Type Qualifier
Data Type
Associated Object Class Qualifier
Associated Object Class Term
Business Term
Min Occurrence, Max Occurrence
Data Format
Min Length, Max Length
Owning Agency
Comments
Data Flow
IAE SS Source
IAE Associated Object Qualifier
IAE Associated Object
IAE Business Rules
IAE Min Value, IAE Max Value
IAE Default Value
IAE Code List
IAE Type
IAE SS Interface Element Name
IAE SS Destination
IAE SS Name
Reviewer Initials
Core Component
UBL Source
LMI Status - Reviewed, Harmonized, Submitted
33Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE UBL Modeling Example Identifier - 12889
Original Data Source
Original Source ID
Original Source Data Element Name - SELLER_ANNUAL_REVENUE
Definition - Total revenue from Intra-governmental sales for the previous fiscal year
XML Tag Name
Dictionary Entry Name
ABIE/ASBIE/BBIE
Object Class Qualifier - Seller
Object Class Term - Party
Property Term Qualifier – IntraGovernmental Sales
Property Term - Amount
Representation Term Qualifier
Representation Term - Amount
Data Type Qualifier
Data Type
Associated Object Class Qualifier
Associated Object Class Term
Business Term
Min Occurrence, Max Occurrence – 0, 1
Seller Party IntraGovernmental Sales Amount
34Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE UBL Modeling Example [cont.] Data Format
Min Length, Max Length – 0, 15
Owning Agency
Comments
Data Flow
IAE SS Source - FedReg
IAE Associated Object Qualifier
IAE Associated Object
IAE Business Rules - Mandatory for Seller business Types. All Numeric Data but stored in character format.
IAE Min Value, IAE Max Value
IAE Default Value
IAE Code List
IAE Type – Alphanumeric ?
IAE SS Interface Element Name - Annual Revenue
IAE SS Destination - User Input
IAE SS Name - IGTE, IGTS
Reviewer Initials
Core Component
UBL Source
LMI Status - Reviewed, Harmonized, Submitted
35Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
GSA’s CORE.gov Registry/Repository
To improve interagency collaboration on component-based development.
To improve efficiency of development of component-based applications.
To support e-Gov initiatives.
To be user-friendly, efficient and effective.
To promote stakeholder participation.
To support OMB mandates for FEA development.
To refine and manage the component lifecycle process.
36Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
IAE.CORE.gov Structure
37Copyright © 2004 Kenneth B. Sall. All Rights Reserved.
Summary and Conclusions Full compliance with Federal and International XML guidance is time-
intensive. Requires active buy-in from all partners.
Active participation of Subject Matter Experts in all phases is crucial for success.
Element naming is the first step toward defining robust information exchanges and XML Schema to implement them.
Objective evaluation and performance criteria are lacking.
Coordinating disparate systems across numerous agencies poses additional challenges that are out of the scope of XML (i.e., change management, political barriers, etc.).
Less than rigorous data modeling efforts may be fruitful if carrying the work forward becomes a requirement in the RFP.
eTravel: Time constraint due to RFP deadlines.
IAE: International scope, 4 times as many data elements, 20 shared systems, data modeling well underway.