Developers Back New XML Spec

With the time frame for delivering the ebXML standard pushed up two months, companies working on the initiative say they already have plans to support the specifications in their products and services.

Last week, 16 vendors gathered in San Francisco to prove Electronic Business Extensible Markup Language is real and works.

The group announced that three of the ebXML specifications are now stable enough for adoption: transport routing and packaging, also known as message service; trading partner agreements; and the registry and repository. Members also said the final delivery date for all of ebXML was moved up from May to March. The effort is sponsored by the United Nations and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards.

Because the specifications that make up ebXML can be implemented piecemeal, several companies are already fine-tuning products that support the standard.

XMLSolutions Corp. supports early versions of the messaging and registry-and-repository specifications in its business integration platform. The product line will be enhanced to support ebXML interfaces as the standard evolves, said JP Morgenthal, chief technology officer of XMLSolutions, in McLean, Va.

TIE Commerce Inc., a subsidiary of TIE Holdings NV, in Burlington, Mass., also has support for the transport routing and packaging specification in its eVision Integrator product, an XML translator that allows users to parse ebXML messages, Chief Operating Officer Joe Dalman said.