Re: [ubl-dev] UBL in real life shipping web services integration

[Tim McGrath <tmcgrath@portcomm.com.au>]

Thank you for your encouraging words on the value of UBL to your 
application.

Your suggestions come at a timely moment as we are currently gathering 
requirements for the next release of  UBL (hopefully to be released 
later this year).

You have correctly identified that we could strengthen the UBL library 
in the area of shipment.  From what you describe it appears that you 
require some finer grained information components or specific code sets 
than those currently available.  We would very much like to discuss this 
further with you.

It would help us greatly if you could document your requirements in a 
form that helps us integrate them into our new designs.  By way of 
reference you might want to see how the Japanese ECALGA requirements 
were submitted to UBL (contained in the document 
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ubl/200503/doc00001.doc).
Also for your interest, one of the new documents we will be introducing 
in the next release of UBL is the Certificate of Origin which 
incorporates many additional trade and transport related components.

With respect to your desire to create a 'virtual carrier interface', 
whilst this seems like a sensible architectural approach it does not 
relate to scope of UBL.  We should perhaps better define UBL as 
document-oriented, in that we do not specify how messages are exchanged. 
 We prefer  to remain agnostic of this and would see that frameworks 
such as ebXML's ebMS, ebBPSS and ebCPPA would be more appropriate 
technologies to investigate.  UBL is designed as the payload for these 
(and other) web services.

Finally, you should note that the UBL project used a subset of xCBL 3.0 
as the starting point for developing our vocabulary.  This was because 
it had some traction as a working solution, it already contained a lot 
of material from both ANSI ASC X12 and UN/EDIFACT, and was provided 
unemcumbered to the UBL project.  However, it was never intended that 
Commerce One or UBL would maintain compatibility - so we have no 
official knowledge of xCBL in its current form.

Please address your response to the ubl-dev list.

constantine@expeditebiz.com wrote:

>Hello UBL mailing list members,
>
>UBL seem to me a very good starting point to achieve what I think
>will be very usefull for our industry - a generic and simple to implement
>shipping web service.
>
>UBL is like a good candidate for me as a basis because of its wide industry
>acceptance and relatively simplicty.
>
>>From other side UBL is a document oriented - for printing documents. There is
>a semantic difference when you name the elements ShipFrom, ShipTo, Shipper from
>the shupment transaction point of view and name the same thing Seller, Buyer, Billing
>from business point of view.
>
>Also delving deeper in Dispatch Advice XML elements I can see most of the shipping
>related info needed to be send to a shipping web service. But there is a lot missing -
>for example the carriers' specific services. These services include shipping
>services - 2nd day, etc., there are special services such as Satuday delivery,
>there is also specific packaging info.
>
>We have a real life problem - we created a hosted SOAP Web Service for DHL and it
>allows easy integration but adding additional carriers will complicate the matters
>if we create different SOAP interfaces. I want our customers to create their shipping
>application a carrier neutral and to switch easy between them. That way they will save
>on their integration project doing it just once.
>
>In the UBL description I read that it is also messaging oriented but I do not see that
>implemented in practice. UBL gets a lot from xCBL - there is more shipping related info
>in xCBL. But there is something strange in xCBL. Reading the documentation for ver 4.0
>I do not see CarrierCode. In ver 2.0 I see CarrierCode = UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.
>also more carrier specific info such as TransportMean = 2nd Day, etc. but in ver. 4.0 it is
>missing.
>
>
>Constantine Wasco,
>ExpediteBiz
>ExpediteShip.com
>
>
>  
>

-- 
regards
tim mcgrath
phone: +618 93352228  
postal: po box 1289   fremantle    western australia 6160

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