XML USER GUIDE v 6 - GS1

1 GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release version August 2009 GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release September 2008, Version All contents copyright GS1 2008 Page 2 of 31 Document Summary Document Item Current Value Document Title GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release Date Last Modified 2009-07-15 Current Document Issue Status For Publishing Document Description (one sentence summary) This document provides users with the technical guidelines to the structure and design of the GS1 XML standard release Contributors Name Organization Dipan Anarkat GS1 HO Marilyn Dodd 3M Company John Duker Procter & Gamble Company Anders Grangard GS1 France Anthony Hoang WWRE Ewa Iwicka GS1 HO Christian Przybilla GS1 Germany Sylvia Webb GEFEG US Log of Changes Section # Summary of Change 10 Section content aligned with the GS1 XML Message Architecture Implementation GUIDE 11 Section content aligned with the GS1 XML Message Architecture Implementation GUIDE Proxy file example updated 13 A reference to an obsolete tool has been removed All

2 Updated external hyperlinks Disclaimer Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the guidelines to use the GS1 standards contained in the document are correct, GS1 and any other party involved in the creation of the document HEREBY STATE that the document is provided without warranty, either expressed or implied, of accuracy or fitness for purpose, AND HEREBY DISCLAIM any liability, direct or indirect, for damages or loss relating to the use of the document. The document may be modified, subject to developments in technology, changes to the standards, or new legal requirements. GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release September 2008.

3 Version All contents copyright GS1 2008 Page 3 of 31 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Sc ope of t he doc um e 2 Ge ne r a l pic t ur e how t o us e t he XM L s t a nda r Prerequisites for using GS1 set of XML Mapping from UML to 3 GS1 XM L public a t ion s t r a t e 4 GS1 na me s pa c e GS1 namespace GS1 namespace XML schema namespace and 5 GS1 XM L v e r s ioning s t r a t e Minor Major Specifying version 6 C ont e x Context Representing context in GS1 XML 7 C ode lis t External code Internal code 8 XM L built-in t y pe Handling date and 9 St a nda r d B us ine s s D oc um e nt H e a de 10 M e s s a ge a r c hit e c t ur 11 D oc um e nt la y e Proxy Business Common 12 Ex t e ns ion m e c ha nis General extension Validation of the extension 13 XM L t 14 C he c k lis t f or s olut ion pr ov ide r A PPEN D IX: M a jor c ha nge s of de s ign be t we e n r e le a s e 1.

4 3 .1 a nd 2 . GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release September 2008, Version All contents copyright GS1 2008 Page 4 of 31 1 Scope of the document This "GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release " covers only technical aspects of the GS1 Business Message Standard Release It does not explain the technical details of any earlier releases. The major differences between the current one ( ) and the previous release ( ) are listed in an Appendix. Should you need further information about the release , please refer to the document "How to use XML Standards version " "GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release " does not contain any guidelines for use of the particular business messages in specific business processes.

5 This aspect is covered in the Business Message Standards, separately for each business message. GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release September 2008, Version All contents copyright GS1 2008 Page 5 of 31 2 General picture how to use the XML standard Prerequisites for using XML The use of the XML standards requires certain software tools. In the simplest case, these are an XML processor and validator. The XML processor is usually included in the application used to view the XML document. It verifies whether the XML file is well formed, which means that it follows all the rules defined in the W3C recommendation for XML syntax.

6 The validator checks whether the XML instance document conforms to the XML schema. XML schemas contain definitions and structures which can be used in XML instance documents. The instance documents contain the actual data with their respective tags in the form of elements and their attributes. Validating software compares the instance document to its schema. This includes checking that the document contains only legal tags, if the data conforms to the format specified in the schema, whether the structure of its content is correct, etc. One schema can define multiple data representations, contained in different XML instance documents.

7 However, the content of all those documents must remain within the limits and restrictions specified in the schema. Validating different instances of XML business documents with one schema Validation can be used in business scenarios, where each of the trading partners involved in the data exchange holds a copy of a standard schema and validates each instance document sent or received. Of course, there have to be separate schemas for each type of business document, as they all have different content and structure, Order, Despatch Advice, Invoice, etc. Documents VALID ORDER .. <seller>CompanyA</seller> <buyer>CompanyX</buyer> <item>Product 1</item> <quantity>20</ quantity>.

8 XML Instance 1 (Order message 1) ORDER .. <seller>CompanyB</seller> <buyer>CompanyY</buyer> <item> Product 2</item> <quantity>50</ quantity> .. XML Instance 2 (Order message 2) ORDER .. <seller>CompanyC</seller> <buyer>CompanyZ</buyer> <item> Product 3</item> <quantity>17</ quantity> .. XML Instance 3 (Order message 3) ORDER SCHEMA .. <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="seller" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:element name="buyer" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:element name="item" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:element name="quantity" type="xsd:integer"/> </xsd:sequence> .. XML Schema for Order VALIDATING TOOL VALID VALID GS1 Technical XML user GUIDE to Release September 2008, Version All contents copyright GS1 2008 Page 6 of 31 that are not valid (do not conform to the respective schema) are rejected.

9 At the sender's side, the validating software should be installed at the document generation point. Thus, each business message is validated and the possible errors can be corrected before sending. Validating XML documents at the sender's side At the receiver's side the validation takes place in the receiving point of the exchange software, before any data is transmitted to the users' business application. Validating XML documents at the receiver's side Usually, the XML tools combine the functionalities of parsing (extracting data and tags from the native XML document), editing, checking well-formednes and validating in one software unit, but there are also a number of self contained validators and editors.

10 For more information refer to the XML Tools. GS1 set of XML standards GS1 produces several work products as part of it s standards for implementation. Two of those work products are schemas and Business Message Standards or BMS. Message standards allow users to convert business documents into a format that can be electronically exchanged. XML business documents are referred to as messages , or ORDER .. <seller>CompanyA</seller> <buyer>CompanyY</buyer> <item> Product 1</item> <quantity>50</ quantity> .. VALID XML MESSAGE READY TO BE SENT ORDER SCHEMA .. <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="seller" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:element name="buyer" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:element name="item" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:element.