I have no problem with adopting the "profile" terminology, and I like the
suggestions you've made, but I wonder if this will introduce conflict with those
familiar with the WS-I Basic Profile? Anyone have an idea about this?
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Denning
[mailto:pauld@mitre.org]
Sent: Sat 24-Sep-05 3:38
To:
uddi-spec@lists.oasis-open.org
Cc:
Subject: [uddi-spec]
TN/BP or Profile
UDDI has used the terms "Technical Note (TN)" and "Best
Practice
(BP)" to talk about ways of using UDDI in a consistent
manner.
The OASIS ebXML Registry TC has a similar concept, but they
call them
"Profiles".
This difference in terminology for the same
basic concept can be confusing.
I get the feeling that some people
consider an ebReg "profile"
somehow more legitimate or formal than a UDDI
TN/BP.
I think they are equal.
Using different terminology seems
to be used as a way to
differentiate ebREg from UDDI and make ebReg look
more suitable for
enterprise deployments. There are other differences
besides Profile
vs TN/BP, but when ebReg says that they have profiles for
this or
that, it somehow sounds like UDDI does not have something
equivalent
or as formal. Some people looking to compare and
contrast UDDI and
ebReg may ask "does UDDI have an XYZ profile like
ebReg?" The answer
may be "yes, but we call it an XYZ
TN".
Where am I going with this?
I propose that the UDDI Spec TC
adopt the term "profile" as a
replacement for TN and BP.
The boiler
plate for a UDDI Profile could say something like "UDDI
profiles provide
technical notes and best practice for using UDDI."
Another motivation
for this proposal is that the term "profile" is
used quite a bit by the US
DoD, who is my customer/sponsor. People
tune-in when the word
"profile" is used more so than TN/BP.
Historically, a standards profile
has referred to additional
constraints associated with implementation of a
standard. Standards
that have been developed by committees sometimes
include options that
are included as a way of reaching consensus within the
committee. A
profile of such as standard may be developed by a
vertical industry
or some other organization. For example, WS-I has a
Basic Profile
that specifies constraints on the use of SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI
with
the goal of better interoperability. Profiles may provide a way
of
defining a standard "subset" of a broader standard.
ebReg and the
proposed UDDI profiles would be a little different in
that these specs
provide some basic building blocks. The idea of a
profile in this
context is not to identify fewer building blocks
(standard subsets), but it
is to document one arrangement of the
building blocks to solve a particular
problem in a consistent
way. If people publish to a registry in a
consistent manner, then
queries to search for those things can be
simpler. Nonetheless, the
term "profile" is being used in a more or
less consistent way when
compared to the historical use of the standards
"profile".
Some other advantages of both ebReg and UDDI using the term
"profile"
include serendipitous discovery. People searching Google
(for
example) for "profile" (and some other terms) may get a few hits
for
UDDI documents mixed in with ebXML profiles if "profile" is
adopted
as a replacement for TN/BP. That person may have known about
ebReg,
but may have not known about UDDI. Without UDDI using the
term
"profile", these UDDI hits may not have shown up in the
search
results, and that person would not have known about UDDI.
Likewise,
someone who knows about UDDI. but not ebXML may search for
"profile"
and may learn about ebXML.
I don't think ebReg TC is going
to change to using TN/BP terminology.
OASIS may want to consider
adopting a general policy to use the term
"profile" when talking about
subsets or ways of using (and extending)
OASIS
standards.
Comments?
Paul
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