Introduction
XIP stands for XML Industrial project ( with effect from 2004, XIP
stands for XML Interoperability Platform) is an initiative by XML
Working group under ITSC Data Exchange Technical Committee to implement
a system to assist Singapore companies to evaluated XML as a tool for
data exchange amongst themselves.
The project was initiated in Jan 2002 and the following members jointly
develop the
specification:
- Dr Lee Eng Wah, Chairman of Data Exchange TC, Singapore
Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech).
- Mr Andy Tan, Member, from Intrinix Networks Pte Ltd
- Mr Chin Chee Kai, Member, from SoftML Pte Ltd
The objectives of this project are as follows:
- To act as a leading initiative to make XML practical for companies
and businesses.
- Oriented towards providing benefits to as large a community of
end-users as possible.
- Use XIP as a platform for the promotion of XML technologies
The key deliverables are as follows:
1.An illustrative system.
An illustrative system includes recommended computer hardware and software
configuration as well as software suite to enable interoperability and
exchange of business documents among companies.
2.A suite of XML e-business documents
Provide a set of document templates and supporting software utilities to
facilitate business document exchange. Companies can use this set of
templates and utilities to enable them to evaluate the system easily.
3.A list of vendors for business companies to follow-up
To provide a list of vendors who can provide supporting services and
products to enable companies to adopt and use the system for their
business. Supporting services include system installation, training and
customization.
System design principle
The project team adopted the following principle in the design stage:
1. Simple, Measurable and short
This is to serve as a guideline to design and implement the XIP project.
When the team faces many choices, uncertainty or possibilities this
principle shall serve as the guide to preserve the direction of the XIP.
This is to ensure that the project is completed on time.
2. Simple transaction model
The transaction model between partners shall be simple and common business
transaction is selected. 8 business documents are selected in this phase
of the project. The team envisages that more documents will be added
later.
The 8 business documents are:
- Request for quotation
- Quotation
- Purchase order
- Purchase order acknowledge
- Delivery order
- Invoice
- Receipt of delivery
- Receipt of Payment
3. Simple transaction scenario
The team focuses on common business transaction scenario for testing and
evaluation.
Project Consideration
Design Goals
- Simple and easy to implement - extension to existing applications
- Low infrastructure cost - Hardware and Software requirements
- Initially focus on data exchange -- using XML
- Uses proven technology - Internet and FTP
- Open system
System framework
This is a system configuration guideline that consists of a suite of
software, templates and exchange protocol. Companies can quickly set-up
a system base on this information.
The FTP transfer protocol is selected for the initial implementation
of the XIP, however the team does not rule out other transfer protocol
in the future enhancement of the standard.
Two or more companies can implement the XIP based on the following
configuration (refer to figure 1). Companies can also make use of value
added service provider to provide additional exchange support (refer to
figure 2).
Figure 1: Point to point configuration
Figure 2: Via value-added service provider
Documentation
A set of documentation, which includes system specifications,
e-business documents data type definitions files (DTD), user guide of
the evaluating software from participating members and companies are
provided.
Transformation
The team has selected a most common application, Microsoft Excel, to be
used as the front end user interface to the XIP. Software utilities are
provided to companies to transform Excel file to XIP compatible XML
files and vice versa as well as documentation transfer software to
enable these XML files to be exchanged between business partners.
Simulations and testing
A set of samples test files is available to enable system testing and
evaluations.
On March 28, 2002, the participating members had conducted the
interoperability test and the project was completed. The project team
will continue to enhance the software and perform further tests.
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