TranXML XML for Transportation

1
TranXML - XML for Transportation

• Fred M. Domke, CTO and
• VP Business Integration Technology,
• Transentric

2
Transentrics experience is rooted in the rail
industrys broad implementation of message
exchange capabilities to reduce costs
90
80
70
60
Rail
Industry
50
US
40
Average
30
20
10
0
Bills of
Purchase
Invoices
Freight
US
Lading
Orders
Bills
Average
3
EDI Has Depth and Breadth

• A quarter century ago, the transportation and
  logistics industry recognized the benefits of a
  common format for data exchange led in the
  collaborative, open effort to create electronic
  data interchange (EDI) formats.
• Today, an estimated 30,000 carriers and large
  industrial manufacturers are heavy users of EDI.
• In many cases, organizations that have
  successfully implemented EDI will continue to be
  well served by it for a long time to come.
• Some will combine EDI with Internet technologies.
  The transmission protocols will change but the
  dictionaries will remain constant.

4
Whither EDI?

• Eventually B2B via XML will start encroaching on
  EDI.
• But only after XML is much better established.
• XML cost factors, time-to-market factors, and
  functionality will gradually dictate XML rather
  than EDI for new/updated TP relationships in
  traditional EDI roles.
• An evolution, rather than a revolution.
• And much of EDIs sophisticated business
  semantics may be merely transferred into the XML
  world.
• Bill Cafiero, GE Global eXchange Services

5
Reaching Out?

• A Bloom Group survey of 327 North American
  electronic commerce managers found that companies
  moving to B2B take an average 123 days (more than
  three-and-a-half months) to ramp up a single
  process with one trading partner.
• Multiply that by hundreds or thousands of trading
  partners, each collaborating on an average of 10
  processes and this is a major barrier to
  implementation.
• Only 25 of companies involved in B2B for more
  than 15 years are currently trading
  electronically with more than 75 of their
  partners.

6
Great Expectations

• 56 of companies surveyed conduct B2B operations
  with less than one-fourth of their trading
  partner base.
• 77 conduct fewer than 15 processes
  electronically with partners.
• 45 exchange fewer than 5,000 electronic
  transactions per month.
• 50 said they expect to ultimately trade
  electronically with more than three-fourths of
  partners.
• 40 plan to automate more than 25 processes.
• 50 expect to execute more than 50,000
  transactions per month.

7
XML Eclipsing EDI Soon?
Source Faulkner Gray Research
8
Is Ubiquitous Enough?

• Consultant Darrell Teague says The big
  advantage of EDI (and disadvantage) is that it is
  thoroughly entrenched and understood by Fortune
  500 companies like HomeDepot, Sears, Walmart, GM,
  Ford, Chrysler, Caterpillar, Kohler, etc. That
  does not make EDI particularly good or bad, just
  ubiquitous.
• EDIs adoption is ubiquitous because the data
  format has been around for years, and also
  because its an accepted standard (X12 or
  EDIFACT) whereas XML is a framework with hundreds
  of specifications, none of which is agreed-upon
  enough to constitute a true standard.

9
Peaceful Coexistence

• 'There is no doubt that XML has plenty to offer,
  but EDI is still the major force in the core
  business processes of many blue chips. If anyone
  believes that the corporates are able to
  re-engineer their business at the drop of a hat
  and adopt the 'new technology' they have a
  surprise coming. What is far more likely to
  happen is a parallel track.''
• Neal Moores, Managing Director of the U.K.'s
  FreewayCommerce.
• According to the Bloom Group study, XML is not a
  panacea for readiness.
• Of the companies surveyed that have used XML, 51
  said XML either had no impact on readiness
  efforts or actually made the process more
  difficult.

10
XML Standards?
You have heard it before The nice thing about
standards is that there are so many to choose
from.
11
W3C Specifications Documentation, Text Encoding
Initiative (TEI), Markup Language for Complex
Documents (Bergen MLCD Project), Manuscript
Access through Standards for Electronic Records
(MASTER), XCES Corpus Encoding Standard for XML,
Encoding and Markup for Texts of the Ancient Near
East, Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian
Literature (ETCSL), Perseus Project, The Making
of America II Project, Image Metadata Aggregation
for Enhanced Searching (IMAGES), STEP/EXPRESS and
XML, STEPml XML Specifications, Channel
Definition Format, CDF (Based on XML), RDF Rich
Site Summary (RSS), Open Content Syndication
(OCS), Web Modeling Language (WebML), Portable
Site Information (PSI), XHTML and 'XML-Based'
HTML Modules, Ruby Annotation, W3C Document
Object Model (DOM), Level 1 Specification, Web
Collections using XML, Meta Content Framework
Using XML (MCF), XML-Data, Namespaces in XML,
Resource Directory Description Language (RDDL),
Resource Description Framework (RDF), Ontology
Interchange Language (OIL), The Australia New
Zealand Land Information Council (ANZLIC) -
Metadata, Alexandria Digital Library Project,
European Visual Archive Project (EVA), ATLA
Serials Project (ATLAS), BiblioML - XML for
UNIMARC Bibliographic Records, bibteXML XML for
BibTeX, Medlane XMLMARC Experiment - MARC to XML,
e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF),
US Federal CIO Council XML Working Group, US
Patent and Trademark Office Electronic Filing
System, Election Markup Language (EML), XML and
Voting (Ballots, Elections, Polls), PEO
Interchange XML Initiative (PIXIT), Tukwila Data
Integration System (University of Washington),
XML Metadata Interchange Format (XMI) - Object
Management Group (OMG), OMG Common Warehouse
Metadata Interchange (CWMI) Specification, OMG
Model Driven Architecture (MDA), Object
Management Group XML/Value RFP, MDC Open
Information Model (OIM), Dublin Core Metadata
Initiative (DCMI), Vocabulary Markup Language
(VocML), Open Archives Metadata Set (OAMS),
Xyleme Project Dynamic Data Warehouse for the
XML Data of the Web, Publishing Requirements for
Industry Standard Metadata (PRISM), Platform for
Internet Content Selection (PICS), Extensible
Graph Markup and Modeling Language (XGMML),
Structured Graph Format (SGF), Graph Exchange
Language (GXL), Petri Net Markup Language (PNML),
XML and Petri Nets, Outline Processor Markup
Language (OPML), ParlML A Common Vocabulary for
Parliamentary Language, Legal XML Working Group,
COSCA/NACM JTC XML Court Filing Project, New
Mexico District Court XML Interface (XCI),
Georgia State University Electronic Court Filing
Project, Web Standards Project (WSP), XML Mail
Transport Protocol (XMTP) for XML SMTP and MIME
Representation, HTML Threading - Use of HTML in
Email, Open Software Description Format (OSD),
XLF (Extensible Log Format) Initiative, ALURe
(Aggregation and Logging of User Requests) XML
Specification, Apache XML Project, Relational
Markup Language (RML), WAP Wireless Markup
Language Specification, Common Profile for
Instant Messaging (CPIM), XML Encoding for SMS
(Short Message Service) Messages, MessageML,
Multi-Channel Access XML (MAXML), The SyncML
Initiative, XML Document Navigation Language
(XDNL), HTTP Distribution and Replication
Protocol (DRP), Materials Property Data Markup
Language (MatML), Measurement Units Markup
Language, XML-Based 'Chem eStandard' for the
Chemical Industry, Chemical Markup Language,
Molecular Dynamics Markup Language (MoDL),
StarDOM - Transforming Scientific Data into XML,
Bioinformatic Sequence Markup Language (BSML),
BIOpolymer Markup Language (BIOML), CellML, Gene
Expression Markup Language (GEML), GeneX Gene
Expression Markup Language (GeneXML), Genome
Annotation Markup Elements (GAME), Microarray
Markup Language (MAML), XML for Multiple Sequence
Alignments (MSAML), Systems Biology Markup
Language (SBML), OMG Gene Expression RFP,
Taxonomic Markup Language, XDELTA XML Format for
Taxonomic Information, The Species Analyst
Project, Virtual Hyperglossary (VHG), Weather
Markup Language (WeatherML), Weather Observation
Definition Format (OMF), Open Philanthropy
Exchange (OPX), Open Financial Exchange
(OFX/OFE), Interactive Financial Exchange (IFX),
FinXML - 'The Digital Language for Capital
Markets', Investment Research Markup Language
(IRML), Extensible Financial Reporting Markup
Language (XFRML), Extensible Business Reporting
Language (XBRL), XMLPay Specification, Financial
Products Markup Language (FpML), Market Data
Markup Language (MDML), MarketsML Initiative,
Research Information Exchange Markup Language
(RIXML), Data Link for Intermediaries Markup
Language (daliML), swiftML for Business Messages,
Straight Through Processing Markup Language
(STPML), FAML DTD for Financial Research
Documents, XML-MP XML Mortgage Partners
Framework, Mortgage Bankers Association of
America MISMO Standard, EcoKnowMICS ML, Trading
Partner Agreement Markup Language (tpaML),
Internet Open Trading Protocol (IOTP), XML
Messaging (IETF), Jabber XML Protocol, XML
Messaging Specification (XMSG), M Project Java
XML-Based Messaging System, Java API for XML
Registries (JAXR), Digital Property Rights
Language (DPRL), Extensible Rights Markup
Language (XrML), Open Digital Rights Language
(ODRL), MPEG Rights Expression Language,
Electronic Book Exchange (EBX) Working Group, XML
and Encryption, XML Digital Signature (Signed XML
- IETF/W3C), XML Key Management Specification
(XKMS), Security Services Markup Language (S2ML),
XML Access Control Language (XACL), AuthXML
Standard for Web Security, Intrusion Detection
Message Exchange Format, Digital Signatures for
Internet Open Trading Protocol (IOTP), XML
Encoding of SPKI Certificates, Digital Receipt
Infrastructure Initiative, Digest Values for DOM
(DOMHASH), Signed Document Markup Language
(SDML), FIXML - A Markup Language for the FIX
Application Message Layer, Electronic Commerce
Modeling Language (ECML), Bank Internet Payment
System (BIPS), smartX 'SmartCard' Markup
Language (SML), Real Estate Transaction Markup
Language (RETML), OpenMLS and RELML (Real Estate
Listing Markup Language), Data Consortium (Real
Estate Standards), Comprehensive Real Estate
Transaction Markup Language (CRTML), ACORD - XML
for the Insurance Industry, iLingo XML Schemas
for Insurance, Customer Profile Exchange (CPEX)
Working Group, Active Digital Profile, Customer
Support Consortium, XML for the Automotive
Industry - SAE J2008, Spacecraft Markup Language
(SML), XML.ORG - The XML Industry Portal, X-ACT -
XML Active Content Technologies Council,
Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML), BASDA
eBIS-XML, OASIS Business Transactions Technical
Committee, Portal Markup Language (PML),
EDGARspace Portal, Global Commerce Initiative
(GCI), DII Common Operating Environment (COE) XML
Registry, StarOffice XML File Format, Open eBook
Initiative, ONIX International XML DTD, NISO
Digital Talking Books (DTB), Mathematical Markup
Language, OpenMath Standard, OMDoc A Standard
for Mathematical Documents, Re-Useable Data
Language (RDL)", OpenTag Markup, Metadata - PICS,
MIX - Mediation of Information Using XML, CDIF
XML-Based Transfer Format, Synchronized
Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL),
Multimodal Presentation Markup Language (MPML),
Moving Picture Experts Group MPEG-7 Standard,
DIG35 Metadata Standard for Digital Images, W3C
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Precision
Graphics Markup Language (PGML), Vector Markup
Language (VML), Image Markup Language (IML), VRML
(Virtual Reality Modeling Language) and X3D,
Covad xLink API (XML-Based DSL Provisioning),
WebBroker Distributed Object Communication on
the Web, Web Interface Definition Language
(WIDL), XML/EDI - Electronic Data Interchange,
Global Engineering Networking Initiative (GEN),
XML/EDI Repository Working Group, TranXML, Global
Uniform Interoperable Data Exchange (GUIDE),
Implementation Guideline Markup Language (igML),
BizCodes Initiative, Universal Data Element
Framework (UDEF), European XML/EDI Workshop, EEMA
EDI/EC Work Group - XML/EDI, ANSI ASC X12/XML and
DISA, OpenTravel Alliance (OTA), Hospitality
Industry Technology Integration Standards (HITIS)
Project, Information and Content Exchange (ICE),
CommerceNet Industry Initiative, eCo
Interoperability Framework Specification, BizTalk
Framework, eCo Framework Project and Working
Group, Commerce XML (cXML), Marketplace XML
(mpXML), SMBXML An Open Standard for Small to
Medium Sized Businesses, RosettaNet, Open Catalog
Protocol (OCP), eCatalog XML (eCX), vCard
Electronic Business Card, Customer Identity /
Name and Address Markup Language (CIML, NAML),
AND Global Address XML Definition, Historical
Event Markup and Linking, iCalendar XML DTD, XML
Encoded Form Values, Capability Card An
Attribute Certificate in XML, Telecommunications
Markup Language (tML), Telecommunications
Interchange Markup (TIM, TCIF/IPI), aecXML
Working Group - Architecture, Engineering and
Construction, Building Construction Extensible
Markup Language (bcXML), MasterBuilder
Construction Management and Accounting,
eBuild-XML, Green Building XML (gbXML), Product
Data Markup Language (PDML), Product Definition
Exchange (PDX), Electronic Component Information
Exchange (ECIX) and Pinnacles Component
Information Standard (PCIS), ECIX QuickData
Specifications, ECIX Component Information
Dictionary Standard (CIDS), ECIX Timing Diagram
Markup Language (TDML), XML and Electronic Design
Automation (EDA), Encoded Archival Description
(EAD), UML eXchange Format (UXF), XML Data
Binding Specification, Translation Memory
eXchange (TMX), P3P Specification Platform for
Privacy Preferences, Extensible Name Service
(XNS), Dialogue Moves Markup Language (DMML),
Scripting News in XML, InterX.org Initiative,
Document Encoding and Structuring Specification
for Electronic Recipe Transfer (DESSERT), NuDoc
Technology, Coins Tightly Coupled JavaBeans and
XML Elements, DMTF Common Information Model
(CIM), Universal Plug and Play Forum, XML
Transition Network Definition (XTND), IPDR.org
Network Data Management Usage Specification,
Process Interchange Format XML (PIF-XML), (XML)
Topic Maps, DARPA Agent Mark Up Language (DAML),
Robotic Markup Language (RoboML), Rule Markup
Language (RuleML), Simple Rule Markup Language
(SRML), Relational-Functional Markup Language
(RFML), Ontology and Conceptual Knowledge Markup
Languages, Information Flow Framework Language
(IFF), Simple HTML Ontology Extensions (SHOE),
XOL - XML-Based Ontology Exchange Language,
Description Logics Markup Language (DLML), Case
Based Markup Language (CBML), Artificial
Intelligence Markup Language (AIML), Physics
Markup Language (PhysicsML), Procedural Markup
Language (PML), QAML - The QA Markup Language,
LACITO Projet Archivage de données linguistiques
sonores et textuelles Linguistic Data Archiving
Project, Geography Markup Language (GML), Point
of Interest Exchange Language Specification
(POIX), Exploration and Mining Markup Language
(XMML), LandXML, Navigation Markup Language
(NVML), Extensible Data Format (XDF), FITSML for
Flexible Image Transport System, Gemini
Observatory Project, NASA Goddard Astronomical
Data Center (ADC) 'Scientific Dataset' XML,
Extensible Scientific Interchange Language
(XSIL), Object Oriented Data Technology (OODT)
and XML, Astronomical Markup Language,
Astronomical Instrument Markup Language (AIML),
GedML GEDCOM Genealogical Data in XML,
BannerML, adXML.org XML for Advertising,
Newspaper Association of America (NAA) - Standard
for Classified Advertising Data, News Industry
Text Format (NITF), XMLNews XMLNews-Story and
XMLNews-Meta, NewsML and IPTC2000, News Markup
Language (NML), XMLTV, Notes Flat File Format
(NFF), Java Help API, Cold Fusion Markup Language
(CFML), Edge Side Includes (ESI), Document
Content Description for XML (DCD), XSchema,
Document Definition Markup Language (DDML),
Character Mapping Markup Language (CharMapML),
WEBDAV (IETF 'Extensions for Distributed
Authoring and Versioning on the World Wide Web'),
DAV Searching and Locating (DASL), Graphic
Communications Association - GCA 'Paper' DTD,
DocBook XML DTD, Apache Cocoon JavaDoc
Documentation in XML, JDox XML Format for Sun
Javadoc, JRefEntry DTD, XML for Publishers and
Printers (XPP), Job Definition Format (JDF),
Printing Industry Markup Language (PrintML), PML
Markup Language for Paper and Printing, PrintTalk
Consortium, printcafe eProduction eCommerce
eXchange (PCX), PostSecondary Electronic
Standards Council XML Forum for Education, IEEE
LTSC XML Ad Hoc Group, Universal Learning Format
Technical Specification, Educom Instructional
Management Systems Project (IMS) Metadata
Specification, Shareable Courseware Object
Reference Model Initiative (SCORM), Learning
Material Markup Language (LMML), Schools
Interoperability Framework (SIF), Tutorial Markup
Language (TML), International Development Markup
Language (IDML), Call Processing Language (CPL),
Call Policy Markup Language (CPML), VoiceXML
Forum (Voice Extensible Markup Language Forum),
CallXML, VoxML Markup Language, Telephony Markup
Language (TML), DARPA Communicator Project and
XML Log Standard, Multilevel Annotation, Tools
Engineering (MATE), Computing Environment for
Linguistic, Literary, and Anthropological
Research (CELLAR), Architecture and Tools for
Linguistic Analysis Systems (ATLAS), TalkBank and
the Codon XML-Based Annotation Framework, ACE
Pilot Format DTDs, Transcriber - Speech
Segmentation and Annotation DTD, Natural Language
Semantics Markup Language, Extensible Telephony
Markup Language (XTML), SABLE A Standard for
Text-to-Speech Synthesis Markup, W3C Speech
Synthesis Markup Language Specification, W3C
Speech Recognition Grammar Specification, Java
Speech Markup Language (JSML/JSpeech), SpeechML,
TalkML, Project Management XML Schema, XML for
Workflow Management NIST, SWAP - Simple
Workflow Access Protocol, XML-Based Workflow
Process Management Standard Wf-XML,
Exchangeable Routing Language (XRL), Architecture
Description Markup Language (ADML), Human Markup
Language (HumanML), Theological Markup Language
(ThML), LitML A Liturgical Markup Language,
XML-F ('XML for FAX'), XML and Forms, XHTML-FML
Forms Markup Language, Extensible Forms
Description Language (XFDL), XML Forms
Architecture (XFA)Electronic Form System (EFS),
Broadcast Hypertext Markup Language (BHTML), IEEE
Standard DTD, Open Settlement Protocol (OSP) -
ETSI/TIPHON, Directory Services Markup Language
(DSML), DirXML, DIF Directory Interoperability
Proposal, XML DTD for ACAP - ACAP Data
Interchange Format, WDDX - Web Distributed Data
Exchange, XIOP - XML Corba Environment-Specific
Inter-ORB Protocol, XML-RPC, Blocks eXtensible
eXchange Protocol Framework (BEEP), Layered
Object Transport Protocol (LOTP), XML for
Exchange of Structure and Identification of
Management Information (SMI), WorldOS, Business
Process Modeling Language (BPML), Business Rules
Markup Language (BRML), Common Business Library
(CBL), Universal Commerce Language and Protocol
(UCLP), VISA XML Invoice Specification, ARTS
IXRetail, First Retail Mark-up Language, Open
Applications Group - OAGIS, Schema for
Object-oriented XML (SOX), XMLTP.Org - XML
Transfer Protocol, The XML Bookmark Exchange
Language (XBEL), Simple Object Definition
Language (SODL) and XMOP Service, W3C XML
Protocol, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP),
Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration
(UDDI), Web Services Description Language (WSDL),
Microsoft Hailstorm, Information Technology
Markup Language (ITML), Extensible Provisioning
Protocol (EPP), Transaction Authority Markup
Language (XAML), ASN.1 Markup Language (AML), XML
Encoding Rules for ASN.1 (XER), Object-Oriented
Programing Meta-Language (OOPML), XML and Music,
FlowML A Format for Virtual Orchestras, Clinical
Data Interchange Standards Consortium, National
Library of Medicine (NLM) XML Data Formats, ISIS
European XML/EDI Healthcare Pilot Project
(XMLEPR), Open Healthcare Group 'XChart',
DocScope Open Source XML Healthcare Project,
Health Level Seven XML Patient Record
Architecture, ASTM XML Document Type Definitions
(DTDs) for Health Care, The CISTERN Project -
Standard XML Templates for Healthcare, Template
Definition Language (TDL), Human Resource
Management Markup Language (HRMML), HR-XML
Consortium, XML-HR Initiative - Human Resources,
Rosetta Group XML Résumé Library, ECMData -
Electronic Component Manufacturer Data Sheet
Inventory Specification, Bean Markup Language
(BML), The Koala Bean Markup Language (KBML),
Jigsaw XML Format (JigXML), Chinese XML Now!,
MOS-X (Media Object Server - XML), FLBC (Formal
Language for Business Communication) and KQML,
ISO 12083 XML DTDs, Electronic Thesis and
Dissertation Markup Language (ETD-ML), Extensible
User Interface Language (XUL), The Extensible
Bindings Language (XBL), User Interface Markup
Language (UIML), Process Specification Language
(PSL) and XML, Batch Control Markup Language,
AgXML, Steel Markup Language (SML), Energy
Trading Standards Group (ETSG), Petrotechnical
Open Software Corporation (POSC) XML Related
Projects, PetroXML Initiative, Partner Interface
Process for Energy (PIPE), Marine Trading Markup
Language (MTML), Navy CALS Initiatives XML,
eFirst XML for Scholarly Articles, XML DTD for
Phone Books, Using XML for RFCs, Guideline XML
(gXML), Extensible Protocol, XML Belief Network
File Format (Bayesian Networks), Predictive Model
Markup Language (PMML), Data Documentation
Initiative A Project of the Social Science
Community, Triple-s XML Survey Interchange
Standard, XML and 'The Semantic Web', XML and
Attribute Grammars, XML and Databases, XML for
Analysis, SODA2 - An XML Semistructured Database
System, RAX - Record API for XML, XML and CORBA,
Chess Markup Language (ChessML), Mind Reading
Markup Language (MRML) Source
XMLCoverpages.org
12
Industrial XML Efforts

• Development effort has centered on vertical
  industry implementations motivated by the
  formation of B2B exchanges.
• Efforts have addressed the supply chain needs of
  their respective industries.
• The business process models, semantic
  vocabularies and message functions directly
  reflect the business practices found in a
  specific environment.
• Vertical industries are creating collaborative
  XML dictionaries that facilitate one-to-many
  trading partner relationships within a specific
  vertical industry.
• Many-to-many relationships across industries have
  different goals and requirements and require a
  new XML open standard.

13
Industry-Standard XML

• In the long run, experts say, IT managers should
  push for consistent, industry-specific XML specs
  by joining nonprofit XML specification
  development groups that broadly represent their
  industries.
• "You aren't going to choose the right standards
  for exchanging XML data. There are just too many
  out there. Find one that suits your needs and
  go."
• "Until there's one best-of-breed solution for
  each vertical industry, people are going to live
  through a lot of pain. Don't make it worse. Help
  your industry define an existing schema.
• Rita Knox, Gartner Group eWeek, August 9, 2000

14
XML for Transportation

• XML technology represents the most versatile and
  robust format for exchanging business information
  since the development of open EDI standards.
• In the last two years corporate entities,
  vertical industry groups and trade portals have
  begun to realize the benefits of XML.
• Many have embarked on a fast-track development
  effort to establish XML as their preferred format
  for Business to Business Exchanges (B2B) and
  Enterprise Application Integration (EAI).

15
Transportation as a horizontal industry
16
XML for Transportation -Yet Another Dialect?

• If vertical industry dialects are inappropriate,
  we can simply create our own dialect.
• This is a naïve view that does not recognize the
  enormous task of creating a dialect usable both
  within transportation and across the verticals.
• EDI formats such as X12 and EDIFACT were
  developed in a collaborative environment and
  provide a high level of interoperability.
• These standards come the closest to establishing
  the semantic repositories needed for all
  participants in Transportation.

17
Collaborative Efforts

• Although the standards bodies represent
  collaborative efforts, many of them are still
  based on the business practices and semantic
  objects of a particular vertical industry.
• The X12 and EDIFACT dictionaries represent the
  largest collaborative repository of information
  in the world.
• TranXML is based upon that collaborative effort
  and draws the semantic meaning of the XML objects
  directly from its open-standards dictionaries.
• TranXML is licensed as 'Open Source' and
  Transentric encourages licensees to collaborate
  on additions and enhancements to incorporate the
  needs of other trading partners

18
Semantic Definition is Key!
Common Semantic definitions which span vertical
industries Context based on business
practices Collaborative efforts are necessary
Dictionary
Design
Business Rules
19
What is TranXML?

• Common vocabulary for the Transportation and
  Logistics industries
• Semantic repositories are contained in the open
  standard data dictionaries
• X12
• EDIFACT
• Open standard for future collaboration
• Open to any entity to incorporate business
  requirements in TranXML

20
TranXML Objectives

• TranXML must provide a standardized set of XML
  structures to foster the flow of information
  between various internal and external
  applications.
• It must allow for the optimization of data
  structures to ensure interoperability, structures
  that are based on existing EDI formats.
• It must provide a format that is both human and
  machine readable, allowing for greater
  flexibility than traditional EDI.

21
Where to begin?

• The solution was found in the pioneering work of
  XMLSolutions (now a division of Vitria) in
  creating XEDI - an XML representation of EDI.
• In XEDI, the machine-readable EDI element codes
  are the attributes of the XML-EDI objects, and
  the human readable meaning for the attribute is
  maintained in the contents of the XML elements.
• This approach preserves the semantic integrity as
  well as the validation capabilities of EDI.
• TranXML has leveraged this semantic repository by
  using the XEDI DTDs as the base for mapping from
  EDI to meaningful XML objects.

22
XMLSolutions XEDI

• The XEDI approach allows EDI programmers to
  leverage that they have used for the last twenty
  years.
• It offers users the wealth of common semantics
  contained in the X12 and EDIFACT dictionaries,
  but its close binding to EDI constrains it.
• XEDI is restrictive in its ability to create
  common structures as it maintains the structural
  integrity of the EDI.
• This limits the interoperability of the objects,
  as all elements are tied to the higher-level
  structures on the segment and message levels.

23
Metadata-based Transformation

• What the XMLSolutions platform will do is
  automate the mapping of metadata (the coded name
  for data fields) from one format to another.
• For example, in a two-step process, the software
  describes a particular field, such as "part
  price," by taking that field description and
  representing it as an XML structure.
• In the second step, it reformats the XML
  structure into the particular version of XML
  being used, such as cXML.
• The system stores all EDI and XML standards and
  builds mappings between them as if they were
  native on either end.

24
Transformation Rules

• XEDI provides the base formats
• TranXML makes the formats more approachable
• Tag names derived from open standard
  dictionaries/directories
• Tag Naming Conventions (Java-like)
• Tag Suffix Names for Segment Structures
• Attributes (Qualifiers) - Code Lists for
  Validation

25
TranXML Transformation
IFTSTA
XEDI
404
214
TranXML Dictionary
Standard EDI Messages
EDI Semantic Repository
Actual Transaction Schemas
26
TranXML Structure

• Transentric applied a set of transformation rules
  to develop the TranXML core components,
  structures and elements.
• An XSLT has been developed to automate the
  transformation process.
• The data element definitions and segment names
  are transformed into XML tags.
• Approximately 80 of the transformation from XEDI
  to TranXML can be automated
• The other 20 must be evaluated and manually
  added to the dictionary.
• Structures that can not be automated are called
  core components, and must be developed using
  domain knowledge.

27
Common Objects

• By applying specified transformation rules, there
  is only one map from TranXML for all of the
  applications that use the messages that use the
  same object.
• The common objects greatly reduce the Application
  Data Interface (ADI) programs and formats needed
  to integrate the data.
• Transentric is migrating its existing systems and
  developing new systems using the TranXML
  Dictionary in order to reduce internal ADI
  maintenance.

28
Structures - TranXML
29
Core Componentsbased on Domain Knowledge
30
Schema and Structural Components
Message Schemas
Main Dictionary
Group Schemas
Group Schemas
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TranXML Benefits

• Provides common semantic objects used by multiple
  applications (internal and external)
• Based on X12 XEDI for the creation of objects and
  structures
• Provides capability for only one map between
  TranXML and applications
• Based on Business Rules developed from Domain
  Knowledge

32
TranXML Data Dictionary Components

• Bill of Lading/Load Tenders
• Rail
• Motor (Bulk)
• Motor (LTL)
• Shipment Status
• CLM
• Generic
• Intermodal Ramp Activities
• Operational
• Scale Weights

33
TranXML - Current Release
34
TranXML Summary

• Drawing on the robust collaborative effort in
  developing open-standard EDI, TranXML has the
  ability to provide a common semantic repository
  that cuts across vertical vocabularies.
• It is envisioned that transportation entities and
  their trading partners will endorse the TranXML
  repository and will soon be developing messages
  and structures to support their electronic
  commerce needs.
• TranXML provides a complement to companies who
  have already implemented EDI and a solution to
  those who are now developing XML solutions for
  their transportation data exchange.

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TranXML.org Mission Statement
The mission of TranXML.org is to provide the
forum for the development of a collaborative XML
vocabulary supporting logistics supply chain
functions across vertical markets. The vision
of TranXML is to provide significant cost savings
to trading partners by reducing the maintenance
and development costs of supporting application
data interfaces. Additionally it will allow for
the entry of new trading partners without current
messaging capabilities. The collaborative
effort will encompass carriers, shippers and
third parties to guarantee that business needs
are met, facilitating inter-enterprise messaging.

36
TranXML.org
TranXML.org
Architecture Committee
Administrative Committee
Gatekeeper
Policy Based
Releases, Versioning, Liaison
Working Committees
Working Committees
Subject Based
Subject Based
Add Hoc for schema development
Add Hoc for schema development
37
TranXML Opportunities
Opportunities No other comprehensive XML
repository for transportation and logistics
dictionaries Opportunity to span vertical
vocabularies Adopt as internal API reducing the
effort and cost associated with development and
maintenance Ability to quickly and effectively
establish connectivity with ERP systems Leverage
semantic repositories of established open
standards (reflecting years of collaboration and
definition of common objects)
38
TranXML Benefits

• Provides common semantic objects used by multiple
  applications (internal and external)
• Based on X12 XEDI for the creation of objects and
  structures
• Provides capability for only one map between
  TranXML and applications
• Based on Business Rules developed from Domain
  Knowledge

39
Questions?

• Fred M. Domke, CTO and VP
• Business Integration Technology,
• Transentric
• FDomke_at_Transentric.com