Eric Okin Assistant Deputy Director Policy and Architecture; DFAS - DTB

1. Premise • EDI’s Weak Points • 14 XML/edi Advantages • General Benefits of XML • Summary Eric Okin Assistant Deputy Director Policy and Architecture; DFAS - DTB Mike Lubash XML Team Leader DoD Finance and Accounting Namespace Manager

2. Premise ANSI X12 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) restrictive scope, “door-to-door”, difficult to repurpose, not real-time, not for web, long turn-around to add to standard, messages are extensible; thus a decline in usage. Very few, if any, new EDI Transaction Sets will be added to X12/EDIFACT... … Since introduction of the idea of exchanging business documents by the XML/edi Group in 1997, an unprecedented number of exchange definitions and uses have been developed and a plethora of tools have appeared on the market.

3. EDI Weak Points - Specific to Where XML Plays • Limited Internet support; IETF • Version control – whole standard rolls • Maintaining and updating the standards; dictionary vs UIDs • Cost of Implementation; steep on-ramp • Time to Implement; discovery and exchange of metadata • No provision for process and information exchange, data only • Hurdles for near real-time • Semantics • Qualifiers overloaded • ZZ; never ‘standardized’ • Rationale not kept • Structure – not self-describing • Grouping – end tag processing • Limited indentures – HL loops

4. EDI Weak Points - Specific to Where XML Plays 1. Built with Internet in mind 2. At domain component level 3. Dynamic registry with UIDs (dfas.info) 4. Low cost tools on the market 5. Collaborative Profiles / Agreements 6. Web Services are verbs; also there exists workflow and BP schemas 7. Dynamic Registry (dfas.info) 8. XML is self-keying into Registry 9. with end tags 10. Unlimited indentures... • Limited Internet support; IETF • Version control – whole standard rolls • Maintaining and updating the standards; dictionary vs UIDs • Cost of Implementation; steep on-ramp • Time to Implement; discovery and exchange of metadata • No provision for process and information exchange, data only • Hurdles for near real-time • Semantics • Qualifiers overloaded • ZZ; never ‘standardized’ • Rationale not kept • Structure – not self-describing • Grouping – end tag processing • Limited indentures – HL loops

5. 10. Unlimited Indentures - Higher Granularity EDI XML Very Rich: Unlimited Number of Levels Restricted: 3-4 levels only* * Can be extended via complex Hierarchical Looping (HL) mechanism

6. 11. Lowers the Bar – Easy To Read Back ARMY 1010D34,507,584,4721110D436,9881120D12,112,353 1130D01190D145,618,8071195D01200D57,747,632 1310D688,542,5921310D357,282,8391319C0 1319C-41,291,4191320D01320D01330D0 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> - <SGLAccounts> <ReportingDept>Dept. of the Army</ReportingDept> <Account Number="1010" NBI="D">34507584472</Account> <Account Number="1110" NBI="D">436988</Account> <Account Number="1120" NBI="D">12112353</Account> <Account Number="1130" NBI="D">0</Account> <Account Number="1190" NBI="D">145618807</Account> <Account Number="1195" NBI="D">0</Account> <Account Number="1200" NBI="D">57747632</Account> <Account Number="1310" NBI="D">688542592</Account> . . If XML… If Flat File... If EDI...

7. 12. Semantic Reference – Machine Interchange Fixed Width - Version 1 1010D34,507,584,4721110D436,9881120D12,112,353 1130D01190D145,618,8071195D01200D57,747,632324545 4721110D436,9881 0D357,282,8391319C0319C-41,291,4191320D01320D013300 4721110D436,9881120D12,112 Delimited - * - Version 2 1010D34*507,58* *4,4721*110D436*9881120*D12*112,353*1130D01190D1*45,618,80711*95*D0*1200*3233 D*57,747,632*324545* 4721110*D*436,988*1 0**D*357,282,839*1319C0319*C*-1,291,419*1320*D0*1320D0 If the sender adds one other field the receiving program needs to be modified or the interchange breaks

8. 12. Semantic References – Version 3; Segmented (Con’t) EDI X12 New data elements don’t break the exchange To interpret the fields the EDI parser needs to reference the EDI standards to field the data STD

9. 12. Semantic References – v.4 Smart Delimiters (Con’t) XML <Date>02/05/02</Date> <From>Jerry.Hinton@dfas.mil</From> <To>AttendeesList</To> <CC>Mike.Lubash@dfas.mil</CC> <BCC>Jerry.Hinton@aol.com</BCC> <Subject>Thank You</Subject> The XML parser will not break if a field is added to the exchange and knows immediately context of the information -more later

10. 12. Semantic References – EDI Comparison Control # = Do…A 101010101 EDI X12 ST*810*101010101~ Read Processing Do…B Do…C X12 STD Transaction Lookup (Con’t) Declarative Processing <From> <To> <Subject> XML Do…A <Date>02/05/02</Date> <From>Jerry.Hinton@dfas.mil</From> <To>AttendeesList</To> <CC>Mike.Lubash@dfas.mil</CC> <BCC>Jerry.Hinton@aol.com</BCC> <Subject>Thank You</Subject> Do…B Do…C

11. 13. Processing:Reducing the Mapping Alternative • want a data mart of transaction data, but all current options require further map development • desire a capability for XML-based communications and processing, without requiring more map development Option A: Translation Fielded (RDBMS) EDI or XML Feed Reports Mapping Query Option B: XML Store/Query Reports Simple Conversion XML Indexed Query

12. 14. Context Views – Multiple levels of Resolution… … give multiple views of the information. Low Resolution High Resolution e.g. External Organization Viewpoint External Organization Viewpoint + XML provides multiple views (high and low resolutions) which allow for additional constraints for processing; where as RDBMS tables, no views are not included in the structure. With RDBMS tables, the relationships give a hint as to the possible views Internal Organization Viewpoint

13. Benefits of XML Lowers the Bar - easy to read for business users and technologist alike – providing a common ground for communicating information. Available labor pool is large due to the fact that XML parallels HTML education and XML doesn’t require large amounts of specific training to leverage. Machines can easily parse XML and align with data in a robust manner. Independence - from Operating Systems, Applications, Databases, Software Language, Presentation, etc. XSL stylesheets describe how to render data on different devices (monitors, printers, palm pilots, WebTV, voice and agent interactions). Universal Clipboard- implemented as hierarchical nodal trees XML can accommodate entity-relationships, freeform, and network data representations. Any application can validate information prior to internal processing. With XML, all nodes can use the same methods for simplifying and automating processes. End-tagging and consistent syntax enables enhance detection of incomplete information packages. Granularity - XML tagging provides high-resolution access to data enabling context-based searching and delta updates. Contextual information improve the ability to retrieve relevant information from total pool of information. eXtensible - domain-specific vocabularies, that enable tag names to be specific business needs of a community (e.g., finance and accounting, human resources). Need not be limited to “standard” transactions, and many initiatives which to choose. Semantic References - minimal prior knowledge of sender application is necessaryto process information. Not positional or delimiter defined, thus allowing flexible packaging based on business needs. Context Views – any application can extract and separate information it needs to satisfy business functions from other facilitation types of information (e.g., routing, security, archiving). Users (or applications) can on-demand select data views(e.g., one record or all, sort by different attributes, various details) based on business needs/rules.

14. XML EDI • Tagging Standard • Script Attachment • Transaction Validation • Search • Linking & Reference • Multimedia • Web • Tools • Business Language • Business Practices • Trading Partner • Logging • Acknowledgements • APIs • Standards • Transaction Expertise Summary XML/edi