Business Documents – Concepts and Techniques

© 2005-2006 The ATHENA Consortium.

Business Documents – Concepts and

Techniques

Ulrike Greiner, SAP

2© 2005-2006 The ATHENA Consortium.

Course Structure

1. Introduction

2. Business Document Standards

3. Business Document Modelling

4. Business Document Mapping


Introduction


Definition

• A business document is a set of information components that are interchanged as part of a business activity (Definition from ebXML).

• Possible components are:• Information (data)• Meaning of that information (meta-data)• Presentation information (layout)• Links to other information components


Information Contained v2

• Information in business documents can be of different types:– Structured:

• e.g. XML documents or databases

– Unstructured:• e.g. text files, Word documents, Emails, most Web pages

– Semi-structured:• Web pages with known fields of content (annotations)

<xml>…</xml>Structured information:

Unstructured information:


Business Example

MANUFACTURER

RETAILER

SUPPLIER

Goal of this course:Show methods for efficient and easy management of business documents exchanged in a cross-organisational business process

Request for Quotation

Quotation

Order

Order Conf.

Business documents represent the information exchanged in cross-organisational business processes.

Request for Quotation

Quotation

OrderOrder Conf.


Questions

No Question Option A Option B Option C Option D1.1 A business document is Set of information

componentsSet of

charactersExchanged as

part of a business activity

Exchanged during a phone call

1.2 A business document consists of

Information Layout Meta-data Process Information

1.3 Information can be structured unstructured Semi-structured

1.4 Unstructured information can be

Text files Word document XML document Annotated web page

1.5 Structured information can be

XML document Data from relational database

Data from object-relational

database

Image file

1.6 Information in cross-organizational business

processes

Is represented in business

documents

Is not represented in

business documents

Is stored in word documents

Is represented in XML documents

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Course Navigation

Recommended next section:● Business Document Standards

You can also continue with:● Business Document Modeling● Business Document Mapping


Business Document Standards


Classification Categories

• Collaboration Agreement: – agree on a document standard and how to implement it

• Collaboration: – exchange information and data between organisations, specified

e.g. in protocols, or cross-organisational business processes

• Business Process / Service Definition: – define organisation-internal business processes and business

services

• Information Definition: – define business documents and data models

• Infrastructure Services: – specify infrastructure necessary to model and exchange business

documents


Classification of Standards

Collaboration Agreement

Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.

Infrastructure Services

ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem

RosettaNetPIPs

STEP

EDI STAR OAGI WS-CDL

ebXMLBPSS

ebXMLCCTS

RosettaNetData

Dictionary

W3C transport protocols

(HTTP, SOAP, etc.)WSDL Discovery

IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI

UML UBLstandard product attributes

WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI STAR OAGI


• Detailed description and analysis of the following standards:• ebXML CCTS• RosettaNet data dictionary and schemas• STEP• OAGI• DFDL

RosettaNetPIPs

STEP

ebXMLCCTS

RosettaNetData

DictionarySTAR OAGI

Selected Standards


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI


ebXMLCCTS

ebXML CCTS (1)

• General information:– Core Components

Technical Specification (CCTS) / Part 8 of the ebXML Framework

– Defined and maintained by United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT)

– CCTS is fixed; extensions and modifications are performed by UN/CEFACT

– ebXML CCTS can be used in all industries

– CCTS does not provide implementation guidelines

• Repository:– CCTS describes a repository

structure that should be used to store CCTS-based business documents

– No information about repository interfaces is provided

RosettaNetPIPs

STEP

RosettaNetData

DictionarySTAR OAGI


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI

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ebXML CCTS (2)

• Business document modeling:– Component-oriented approach

to model business documents on the business level (i.e. business experts are involved in modelling) including different variants of one document

– No transformation to more technical representations is specified

– Business documents can be used for company-internal and –external communications

– Specifications are done in a semantically standardized syntax-neutral way

– Normative rules in CCTS allow for checking correctness of business documents

• Transformations / Mapping:– CCTS defines a vocabulary for

common concepts that are used in different business documents

– No specification provided for mapping CCTS-based documents to other formats

ebXMLCCTS

RosettaNetPIPs

STEP

RosettaNetData

DictionarySTAR OAGI


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI


RosettaNet (1)

• General information:– RosettaNet Business Dictionary

(RNBD), RosettaNet Technical Dictionary (RNTD), RosettaNet Implementation Framework (RNIF)

– Mainly developed by industrial member organizations of RosettaNet

– Definitions follow the RosettaNet Standards Methodology (RSM)

– Initially targeted at high-tech industry, extended to other industries

– Provides excel-based tools to support implementation projects

• Repository:– No specifications for a

repository are provided

RosettaNetData

Dictionary

RosettaNetPIPs

STEP

ebXMLCCTS

STAR OAGI


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI


RosettaNet (2)

• Business document modeling:– Component-oriented XML

specifications for business documents on technical and execution level are provided

– Business documents can be used for company-external information exchange

– Variants of a document are supported through implementation guides describing which elements are generic and can be specialized to meet the specific needs of trading partners

– Software programs to test the validity of RosettaNet business documents

• Transformations / Mapping:– RosettaNet provides

dictionaries for both business terms and technical term that can be used to create documents.

– No specifications provided for mapping RosettaNet documents to other formats

RosettaNetData

Dictionary

RosettaNetPIPs

STEP

ebXMLCCTS

STAR OAGI


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI


STEP (1)

• General information:– Standard for the Exchange of

Product Model Data– Defined by TC184/SC4 at ISO– STEP is fixed, extensions and

modifications are performed by TC184/SC4

– STEP is used in manufacturing industry

– Provides implementation guidelines for business documents

• Repository:– ISO 13584 specifies a

repository structure, the Parts Library Structure

– Also specifies how documents should be stored and retrieved

STEP

RosettaNetPIPs

ebXMLCCTS

RosettaNetData

DictionarySTAR OAGI


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI


STEP (2)

• Business document modeling:– Component-oriented approach

to specify technical level business documents for internal as well as external communication

– Business documents are specified in EXPRESS

– Variants of documents can be specified using specialization and generalization of entities

– EXPRESS to XML transformations are described to generate execution level document representations

– Validation process for STEP implementations supported by conformance testing methodology and framework

• Transformations / Mapping:– STEP defines a vocabulary /

data dictionary for common concepts

– No specifications provided for mapping STEP documents to other formats

STEP

RosettaNetPIPs

ebXMLCCTS

RosettaNetData

DictionarySTAR OAGI


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI


OAGI (1)

• General information:– OAGIS = OAG Integration

Standard – Defined by OAGi = Open

Applications Group, inc. plus, AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group), AAIA (Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association )

– Standard is defined in ISO 10303 documents and can be extended or modified following a dedicated procedure

– Standard is open for all industries

– OAGi provides implementation guidelines and support services

• Repository:– OAGi does not describe a

repository structure

– Business documents are usually stored on standard but structured file systems

OAGI

RosettaNetPIPs

STEP

ebXMLCCTS

RosettaNetData

DictionarySTAR


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI


OAGI (2)

• Business document modeling:– Component-oriented

specification of company-internal and –external business documents on technical and execution level

– Business documents are specified using XML, XSD

– No explicit support for handling variants of documents

– XML schemas available to check correctness of business documents

• Transformations / Mapping:– No specifications provided

for mapping OAG business documents to other formats

OAGI

RosettaNetPIPs

STEP

ebXMLCCTS

RosettaNetData

DictionarySTAR


Collaboration

Business Process /

Service Def.

InformationDef.


ebXMLCPPA

Impl. Guide

VariantProblem


ebXMLBPSS



IEEE FIPA

OGSAOGSI


WS-BPEL XPDL

EDI


DFDL (1) – Why and Who

• Format Description for Non-XML data– Need for a mechanism bringing

the benefits of formal schema definition to legacy or other non-XML formats.

– Description, rather than prescription, of formats, to allow use with existing technology alongside definition of new

– Uses in integration of new and legacy systems, creation of high performance formats, and mapping and transformation tooling.

• Standard for use in implementing mapping tools– DFDL – Data Format

Description Language– Something fulfilling this role

already exists in many proprietary systems (e.g. Websphere Message Broker, Microsoft Biztalk)

– Common way of describing physical format desirable for interoperability

– DFDL Working Group within Open Grid Forum developing specification

– First revision to be available in near future


DFDL (2) – What and How

• Schema based approach– XML schema used to

describe logical data format– Annotations contain physical

format information e.g.<xs:sequence

dfdl:separator=","> <xs:element name="y" type="double" dfdl:initiator="baseQ" dfdl:tagSeparator="=" />

– Use of XML Schema gives several benefits

• Existing body of tooling• Can apply prior knowledge• Useful document model and

implementation libraries

• Implementation and status– Provided properties should

support description of a wide variety of formats

• Support for fixed length formats, binary and text encodings, field delimeters

• Support for ‘variables‘ e.g. field specifying length of another

– Parsers and Serializers can make use of physical annotations to read and write data in the described format

– Prototype making use of the current version of specification available (within Virtual XML Framework from IBM)


Questions

No Question Option A Option B Option C Option D

2.1 Which categories have been used to classify standards?

Collaboration Infrastructure services

Information Definition Database definition

2.2 STEP belongs to the following categories:

Collaboration Business process Definition

Information Definition Infrastructure services

2.3 STAR belongs to the following categories:

Collaboration Collaboration Agreement

Infrastructure services Information Definition

2.4 UBL is related to CCTS STAR OAGI

2.5 ISO stands for International Standards

Organization

Internal Standards Organization

International Sunshine Organization

2.6 Which might be suitable situations for applying DFDL:

Designing a new XML based message exchange format

Designing a highly optimized (for size)

RFQ format

Describing a legacy message format when interfacing with a new

system

Describing the SOAP headers for a web service call

2.7 DFDL Annotations: Describe a format’s logical structure

Describe a format’s Physical structure

Are embedded in the XML schema for the document

Are kept discrete / separate from the

XML schema

2.8 DFDL Properties can support physical formats containing:

Fixed length fields Binary Data Comma separated fields Length Prefixed (variable ‘fixed’ length) fields

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Course Navigation

Recommended next section:● Business Document Modeling

You can also continue with:● Business Document Mapping


Business Document Modelling


Modeling Requirements

• Requirements for modeling of business document:– Re-use of model types that are modeled once and can

then be used in different document models– Model representation targeted at business experts

• Semi-automatic transformation to technical specification

– Support for handling variants of business documents:• Share most of their data fields• Differ in a limited number of data fields that depend on the

context in which the document is used• Example: a purchase order that differs slightly if used in

different European countries


Modeling Approach

• Based on Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS)

• Component-based thus supporting re-use• Graphical representation to support business

experts• Export functionality to create e.g. XML

representations• Provides the concept of a business context:

– Defines a specific context in which a document is used– Can be assigned to mark a particular variant of a

business document


Types of Models

• Primitive Type Model• Context Category Model• Code List Model• Core Component Type Model• Core Component Model• Business Context Model• Data Type Model• Business Information Entity Model


Relationships between Models

Primitive Type ModelContext Category

Model

Core Component Type Model

Code List Model

Core Component Model

Data Type Model

Business Context Model

Business Information Entity Model


Primitive Type Model

• Models all primitive types• Examples: string, integer,

URL• Represented by nodes• Primitive type nodes can be

connected by edges:– Means that primitive type x

can be substituted by primitive type x

– e.g. a URL can be substituted by a string

Primitive type integer:

Primitive types string and URL:


Core Component Type Model

• Specifies the data fields of business documents

• Groups multiple data fields each represented by a primitive type– exactly 1 content component:

primary data field with the actual value

– 1 to n supplementary components: describe the value

• Examples: Price, Text

Core Component Type Price:


Core Component Model

• Represents a template of a business document:– contains all possible data fields

• Examples: order, quotation• Aggregate Core Component

(ACC) aggregates core components

• Association Core Components (ASCC) connects two ACCs

• Basic Core Component (BCC) connects ACC with CCT

• Property Terms specify the child CC

Core Component

Type

Basic Core Component

Aggregate Core Component

Association Core Component


Data Type Model

• Represent data fields of a business document– similar to CCTs but more restrictive

• Is based on a CCT or on a primitive type model

• Specifies a Data Type Restriction (DTR) for each content and supplementary component of a CCT– limits the possible values

• Several Data Types can be based on the same CCT

Data Type A7_Number (based on CCT

Number):


Context Category Model

• Classify the business circumstances, which define a business context

• Examples: industry, geopolitical

• Represented by nodes• Edges define a hierarchy of

categories

Context Category Geopolitical with two

sub-categories:


Code List Model

• Provide values for business contexts

• Restrict the values of data types

• Example: country code• Represented by nodes• Code values of a code list

are specified textually as an attribute value

• Code list authority: organization that wants to define code lists (e.g. ISO)

Code list authority ISO and four code lists

defined by ISO:


Business Context Model

• Describes the business circumstances in which a variant of a business document is used

• Specified by an enumeration of context values– Context values are code values of

a code list– All necessary code lists are put

into a business context node– All required code values are

selected • Examples: geopolitical region

Business context CountryContext:

Selected value from code list:


Business Information Entity Model

• Represents a concrete business document used in a cross-organizational business process

• Is a variant of a Core Component

• Is created in three steps:– Assign a business context– Select the required data field from

the data fields of the core component

– Add a qualifier

• Examples: quotation


Questions

No Question Option A Option B Option C Option D3.1 Which of the following are

requirements for business document modeling?

Re-use of models

Representation targeted at

business experts

Handling variants of business documents

Creating XML documents

3.2 Data Type models can be based on

Primitive type models

Core component type models

Context category model

Code list model

3.3 Business context models are based on

Primitive type models

Code list models Business Information Entity

Model

3.4 Basic core components connect

Aggregate core components and core component

types

Aggregate core components and association core

components

Primitive types and core component

types

3.5 Aggregate core component Is a template for a business document

Contains all possible value

fields

Specifies the business context

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Course Navigation

Recommended next section:● Business Document Mapping

You can also continue with:● Business Document Standards


Mapping Business Documents


Mapping Requirement

• Requirement for document mapping– Business processes and services are developed by

different groups and use different interfaces.– Standards (ebXML, RosettaNet, etc,) are too

complicated for applications to implement– Document mapping bridges between requester‘s

service definition and provider‘s service definition.

Requester 1

Requester n. . .

ServiceDoc 1

MAP

ServiceDoc 2

Server


Mapping Architecture (1)

RuntimeTransformation

SourceSchema

TargetSchema

conforms to conforms toMaps

generate

save

Source

Source

Target

Target

Automatic matching

XQuery, XSLT, Java, proprietary

Transformationgenerator

Map Generator

•A mapping generator •An optional automatic map generator•A transformation generator•A runtime that executes the transformation


Mapping Architecture (2)

• A mapping generator – Is usually a graphical component that is used to

define the relationship between the source and target schema.

• An optional automatic map generator– Automatically populates mapping generator based on

computed similarities between source and target

• A transformation generator– Generates the runtime instantiation of the map in the

target mapping language. For example XSLT, XQuery, Java, SQL

• A runtime that executes the transformation against business documents.


Automatic Map Generator

• Automatically discovers mappings between elements and attributes in the source and target schema using– Examples of source and target documents (Instance

level matching)– Names and structure defined in the schema only

(schema level matching)

Source TargetDeliveryAddress CustomerAdress

AddrLine1 AddrLine1City City State State


Schema Level Matching

• Schema level matching can use a number of matching algorithms or combination of algorithms– Lexical matcher looks for schema elements with equal

or similar names – A thesaurus matcher makes use of an external non-

domain specific thesaurus to find common synonyms and hyponyms

– A type matcher makes uses of the simple and complex types of the elements

– A structure matcher looks for similar structures and sub-structures within the source and target

– An ontology matcher makes use of an external ontology which provides a domain specific vocabulary


Example

• Source Schema • Target Schema

Orderamount float

UPC string

dueDate datetime

accntId string

deliveryAddr address

clientName string

PurchaseOrderEAN string

Qty float

deliverydate dateTime

clientId string

deliverAddress address

Ontology matching

EANCode

UPC

EAN 8

EAN 13subClassOf

type

type

PartNumber

subClassOf

See ontology on next foil

Lexical matchingThesaurus matching

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Ontology

Due Date

Delivery Date

EquivalentClass

NumberOfItems

Quantity

EquivalentClass

EANCode

UPC

EAN 8

EAN 13

subClassOf

type

type

PartNumber

subClassOf

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Questions

No Question Option A Option B Option C Option D4.1 Which of the following are

requirements for business document mapping?

Match different

Service definition

Match to standard

documents

Match between xml and non-xml

Match between communication

protocol

4.2 Map generator can be A graphical interface

A text interface Generate runtime transformation

Can map XML and non-XML documents

4.3 Runtime transformation language can be

XSLT XQuery Java C

4.4 Lexical matching matches elements with

the same name

matches elements with similar names

Matches elements that are synonyms

Matches elements that

are subclasses

4.5 An ontology can be used To provide a domain

vocabulary

To describe synonyms

To describe subclasses

Are defined outside a mapping system

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