UDDI and other resource identification tools

This page looks at UDDI, keyword schemes such as RealNames and Navicode, and other resource identification tools.

     UDDI

The XML-based Universal Description, Discovery & Integration (UDDI) project aims to create

a platform-independent, open framework for describing services, discovering businesses, and integrating business services using the Internet, as well as an operational registry that is available today. UDDI is a comprehensive, open industry initiative enabling businesses to discover each other and define how they interact over the internet and share information in a global registry architecture. UDDI is the building block which will enable businesses to quickly, easily and dynamically find and transact with one another via their preferred applications.

It has been endorsed by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).

     status

The UDDI standard 'went live' in 2001 with the launch of registries by HP, IBM and Microsoft.

The intention is that the partners, with support from Ariba, will provide online registries that use a common, shared set of identifiers that allow organisations to identify what services they provide and thereby facilitate transactions among multiple partners in government and the private sector.

In essence, the registries (which the partners say will ultimately be supervised by a non-profit organisation with wider membership) serve as an interactive set of 'colour pages' for electronic procurement management systems, rather than humans.

The expectation is that UDDI will enable communication between systems maintained by all participants in a supply chain, from the manufacturer of the widgets to the law firm that signs off the environmental compliance statement and the transport company that ships the finished product out of the factory. Much of the information in those systems is incompatible: it thus can't be found and can't be exchanged. As Robin Cover notes in his XML Cover Pages project, development of company/industry-specific data interchange standards has been problematical.

Proponents of the proposed ebXML standard have sought to standardise how XML is used in general business-to-business communication, allowing the integration of databases with and across industries or supply chains. UDDI is less ambitious, aiming to create a standard registry for companies that will accelerate the integration of systems around Net Marketplaces.

It centres on middleware connectivity, with XML being used to describe the systems that organisations employ to interface with one another. That involves storing information about corporate integration profiles and capabilities in a shared directory that other organisations can access through a set of XML standards that are currently being developed.

     specifications

Key specifications include

UDDI Programmer's API Specification (PDF), a "programmatic interface provided for interacting with systems that follow the UDDI specifications" using XML and the related Simple Open Access Protocol (SOAP), a W3C-recognised specification for using XML in simple message based exchanges.

UDDI XML Structure Reference (PDF), defines thirty SOAP messages used to perform inquiry and publishing functions against any UDDI-compliant service registry. The specification outlines each of the XML structures associated with those messages.

Fundamental documents include the short Executive White Paper (PDF) and detailed Technical White Paper (PDF).

     the data

The UDDI scheme used three data categories, sometimes referred to as White, Yellow, and Green pages.

White comprises business names, descriptions of the type of business, the services used and what information protocols the business supports. Yellow comprises international and technology-based naming protocols, along with geographical data. Green - the hardest category - is expected to offer more specific information on what types of electronic documents a business can receive, the entry points for transactions and underlying technology.

The developers and supporters envisage enriching interfaces and building ancillary services that are available on a commercial basis, with UDDI as an open standard for all major exchanges.

     and RealNames

The RealNames vision was that users would be able to locate online resources by simply entering a keyword into their browsers. No more need to write URLs on post-it notes. No more reliance on search engines. The concept is reminiscent of keyword navigation within AOL's walled garden: content will be selected for you.

Microsoft planned to include RealNames keywords as part of the UDDI standard. A RealNames spokesperson claimed that

Keywords are poised to become the digital name tag of choice for small and large business ... We can now foresee a future where RealNames name services are central to the next-generation Internet and the Internet Explorer browser becomes a primary access point for anyone making inquiries about companies through UDDI.

The expectation was that site owners would be able to identify their sites in the Microsoft UDDI registry, which will be compatible with the next generation of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser (generally thought to account for 85% or more of the global market). Users entering a keyword such as 'Pets' or 'Flowers' would be pointed to selected sites within their particular market. US consumers, for example, would not see overseas sites. Verification of data in the registry currently appears to be less than best practice.

It was unclear whether there would be substantial consumer and business support for the initiative and similar schemes such as that promoted by Navicode and Actioneer. That may be why Microsoft withdrew support in mid-2002: expiry of RealNames is imminent and is being chronicled in a blog by company founder Keith Teare.

RealNames had promoted its services to potential resellers as "high-margin revenue", reminiscent of dot-com registrations during the 1990s domain goldrush, with keywords priced up to US$50,000 per country per annum. At the beginning of 2002 it claimed 51 resellers (although the extent of their activity is unclear) and was supposedly handling around 500 million keyword-to-site translations per quarter.

     the future

Some vendors are interested in leveraging the UDDI standard as it evolves, developing registries with customised features that overlie UDDI. There is likely to be confusion with ebXML-based initiatives by organizations such as RosettaNet, GCI and AIAG.



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