Re: [ubl-hisc] Input specification documentation for UBL

[Mark Seaborne <mark@picoforms.com>]

Hi John,

As suggested I have posted to the UBL list, so more people will notice 
:-)

All the best

Mark

On Fri, 2 Nov 2007 08:04:48 -0700 (PDT), jon.bosak@sun.com wrote:
> Hello Mark,
> 
> Welcome!  I'm really excited about the plan you've suggested.
> 
> As the ubl-hisc mailing list is quite small, however, I think you
> should re-send your message to the entire UBL list.  People may
> not have much to say in response simply because the plan you've
> laid out is so sensible (though they might -- you never know), but
> I'd like the whole TC to be aware of what you're doing.
> 
> Jon
> 
>    Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:52:40 +0000
>    From: Mark Seaborne <mark@picoforms.com>
> 
>    Hi All,
> 
>    I have just joined the group at Ken's suggestion with a view to seeing 
>    if I can help devise a way to create useful documentation to record the 
>    requirements for creating input mechanisms for UBL XML.
> 
>    I have been working with electronic forms for some years now - 
>    initially working with EDI, and latterly with XML. I have been a member 
>    of the W3C XForms WG for some years now, and my current employer, 
>    PicoForms has XForms implementations that run in desktop browsers and 
>    mobile devices.
> 
>    Until recently I worked for a UK standards body, (Origo), that works on 
>    XML standards for the UK Life and Pensions Industry. We had the same 
>    requirement to specify generic rules for creating input applications to 
>    populate documents conformant to our Schemas. 
> 
>    Historically this was achieved by producing prose documents that 
>    described:
> 
>     - The logical grouping of fields and groups of fields in an electronic 
>    form.
>     - The order in which fields should be presented to the user (if 
>    significant).
>     - Where data cross-population was valid (e.g. if the same address 
>    could perform more than one role).
>     - Where and how values could be calculated internally (e.g. 
>    subtotals). 
> 
>    The documentation was somewhat flawed as it assumed a visual 
>    presentation on a computer desktop, and all rules were expressed, often 
>    poorly, as prose. It was nevertheless a useful starting point.
> 
>    More recently we started to look at using XForms + XHTML + CSS to 
>    produce better documentation. XForms lends itself well to use as a 
>    "meta" forms description language. It is a largely declarative language 
>    designed to capture the intent of a form author without imposing any 
>    particular presentation mechanism. It consumes XML Schema and 
>    instances, and allows for the creation of XPath based constraints 
>    (similar to Schematron) and calculated values.
> 
>    I am now keen to explore a similar approach in he context of UBL. I 
>    recently built a simple, generic form that allows a user to walk an XML 
>    instance and view associated annotations from the UBL schema (see: 
>    
> 
http://www.picoforms.com/wiki/index.php/Universal_Business_Language_%28UBL%29) 
>    and am now looking to see how this can be adapted.
> 
>    Ken pointed me at the specification for calculating totals ( 
>    
> http://www.oioubl.info/documents/en/en/Guidelines/OIOUBL_GUIDE_TOTALS.pdf) 
>    from which I can derive XPath expressions that I can use with an XForm 
>    to test that they work. So this looks like a nice, simple next step.
> 
>    It has been suggested that it would be best for me to create 
>    implementation-technology-neutral documentation to describe rules for 
>    building input applications, and then to test by generating XForms that 
>    implement the rules from the documentation. The resulting XForms could 
>    also serve as interactive appendices to the main documentation. This 
>    seems a reasonable approach to me.
> 
>    Anyway, I would really appreciate thoughts and ideas from others with 
>    experience in this field. Does the general approach sound reasonable?
> 
>    My employer is happy to allow people to use our XForms implementation 
>    freely to access the forms I produce - so I will let you know when 
>    there is something to play with.  
> 
>    All the best
> 
>    Mark
> 
>    Mark Seaborne
>    Senior Standards Architect
>    PicoForms
>    web:    http://www.picoforms.com
>    e-mail: mark.seaborne@picoforms.com
>    tel: +44 131 2080031
>    mobile:  +44 787 2180215
> 
> 
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