Sun, Partners Introduce New XML Standard

Sun Microsystems

Called XML Pipeline Definition Language, the specification is designed to define the sequence of application processes in Web services, increasing software interoperability, said Eve Maler, an XML standards architect at Sun.

W3C, a global standards body, acknowledged XML Pipeline Definition Language two weeks ago, following Sun's submission of the new specification, according to Maler.

Sun began developing Pipeline after a W3C workshop on the XML processing model last July, she said, adding that Sun is the primary developer of the spec but worked with Cisco Systems, Fujitsu, Oracle, SAP, SoftwareAG and other companies to test the technology.

Pipeline defines the proper steps that applications must go through to send messages to other applications, Maler said. For instance, in an application where an XML message for ticketing is sent to the travel agent, the processes in the message--transforming the data from XML to a language the other system can read--must occur in the proper order for the message to be sent successfully, she said.

"You need to have a way to say what's happening under the covers when you send an XML-based message," said Maler. "Those [processes have to happen in the right sequence. Pipeline is a way to specify what the right sequence is."

Currently, much of this sequencing is proprietary for different applications, Maler said. For different applications to be linked in the creation of Web services, there must be a standard such as Pipeline to sequence processes in messages, she noted.

Solution providers can use one XML-based Pipeline document to define the process sequence of a group of applications that share the same processes, she added.

Sun soon plans to release free software that implements Pipeline, Maler said. Down the road, Pipeline likely will be used as a configuration file in software designed to help facilitate XML messaging and application interoperability for Web services, she said.