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Tony,
I agree with your overview here - but not that the
use and
boundaries be perscribed.
I believe the 6 patterns show that we can provide
these as
illustrative, but then people need to
provide their own context configuration - and we
need to
just state that when
that occurs that they need to be
cognisent of ensuring that they fulfil legal business
requirements - we
cannot guarantee that.
We provide the tools - they determine how to use
them.
The IV&I example I posted shows this exactly -
where
you need to model the process as descrete steps
that
have their own TTP settings and own start
conditions.
So we cannot antipicate what the answer is for a
given
scenario.
DW.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 11:03
AM
Subject: [ebxml-bp] Early and Late
Binding
Dear
Colleagues,
I would like to
return to one of the earlier mails from Anders (sorry I seem to have deleted
the exact one I was intending to build on - could be the one from 5 Jan 04 in
the Archive) and try to make a few other points.
It seems to me
that there is (as I think others have already stated) a natural progression of
where one can make statements about the values of certain parameters of a
business interchange, such as a TimeToPerform. Here I am interested in
the What and When rather than the How. The How could be by using schema
tricks, or by using CAM tricks or some other technique we eventually agree on
- may be more than one according to circumstances.
It seems to me
that the progression is as follows:
The contract (UBAC
work) can establish the master values or say that they are open for
determination at a later stage
The Business
Process specification (a use of BPSS) can establish values, perhaps
particularly important for default values.
A CPA can provide
agreement to override or establish certain values for the uses of a
Business Process specification that it governs
Some parameters
could be overridden / established at the start of (or when first needed) a use
of CPA + Business Process specification (an instance of
use)
Some parameters
could be overridden / established at the start of a communications session (a
long running Business Process specification might have several of these with
times of inactivity in between).
Finally some
parameters could be overridden / established by a particular
message.
(Note this
ordering is for establishing / overriding parameters. Of course in
principle a BPSS and CPA may be written in order or iteratively, and a
contract be written at a later date that references them.)
Two points occur
to me. The first is that we need somewhere to agree this progression, or
some other and exactly what can be overridden / needs to be established at
each stage. One possibility is in the Technical Architecture.
Another possibility is in the UBAC specification. (A third possibility
would be to have the same specification in the UBAC, CPP/A, BPSS and Messaging
specifications, but this has obvious problems of trying to maintain
consistency and such repetition is usually frowned open and usually only
occurs as a temporary measure forced by timing of approval or when folk can
not agree on a single place.)
Secondly, although
it seems logical for the things that occur later in time to be able to
override things that were 'agreed' earlier (hence the above suggested ordering
of the list), it seems to me that the overall contract, the use of the UBAC
specification should actually be the master document in some sense. It
seems to me that an electronic contract (a use of UBAC) should state what can
be overridden / established when and should be able to set ranges for some
parameters that the later stages can not go outside of.
For instance with
regard to a TimeToPerform for a delivery process the contract might say
something like: the delivery time request shall be between 1 day and 30
days. In this case trying to set this value to 2 hours or 40 days at a
later stage would need be permitted under the terms of this contract /
agreement (though of course actually achieving the delivery in 2 hours would
be fine!)
Summary:
1) we need to
agree where to document this scheme
2) we need to
agree the precise scheme - what can be established / overridden
when
3) the contract
(use of UBAC) should establish ranges / boundaries or explicitly state
that the establishment of a parameter is left to a particular 'later
stage'.
Best Regards
Tony
A M Fletcher
Home: 35, Wimborne
Avenue, IPSWICH IP3 8QW
Tel: +44 (0) 1473
729537 Mobile: +44 (0) 7801 948219
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