[ebxml-msg] Attribute on Role within To and From elements,notes on Syntax and Semantics

[Dale Moberg <dmoberg@cyclonecommerce.com>]

This note briefly describes the functionality that Dale and Hima
discovered while straightening out some interoperability problems
related to the value for Role in BPSS, CPPA, and Messaging. It is
presented as a slight enhancement of the Messaging Role element to
strengthen alignment between Messaging, CPPA, and BPSS. It presumes that
CPPA will make a clarification in an errata. Then corrected versions
will clearly specify that the Messaging Role values equal the CPA
Role/@name attribute values.


The BPSS Role element is a child of BinaryCollaboration and provides a
value for Role/@name within a CPA when BPSS is used. 

A BPSS description can involve transitions between several
BinaryCollaborations, and the same Role value can thread its way through
this sequence. Currently no value in the ebXML Message allows a MSH to
track where the business process is within this sequence of
BinaryCollaborations.
 
However, the CPA also contains an xlink:href value that points to the
specific Role element within a BinaryCollaboration. This value does
suffice to "track" where the business process is within the specified
sequence of BinaryCollaborations. 

If the current syntax 

"<Role>Buyer</Role>" 

were expanded by a minOccurs=0 attribute, possibly to be called
"context," it would be possible to put the Role/@xlink:href value from
the CPA into the message to track the position within a sequence of
actions. That is, under the To and/or From elements, the Role element
could be augmented to read: 

<Role
context="http://www.BPStandards.org/scenario32/#buyerStep3">Buyer</Role>



----------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe or unsubscribe from this elist use the subscription
manager: <http://lists.oasis-open.org/ob/adm.pl>