Commerce One's Common Business Library (xCBL) 2.0 is the first open XML specification for the cross-industry exchange of business documents such as product descriptions, purchase orders, invoices, and shipping schedules. xCBL 2.0 is a set of XML building blocks and a document framework that allows the creation of robust, reusable, XML documents for electronic commerce. Using the xCBL 2.0 document framework, businesses everywhere can seamlessly exchange business documents of different types, resulting in frictionless electronic commerce across multiple trading communities. For businesses already using traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards, xCBL 2.0 provides a transition path to an XML-based commerce capability.
Based on a broad range of Internet and commerce-related industry
standards and specifications, xCBL 2.0 is endorsed by industry
leaders including Microsoft's BizTalk initiative, OASIS, the UN/CEFACT
Techniques and Methodologies Working Group, and CommerceNet and
its eCo Framework Project and Working Group. To encourage its
industry-wide adoption and development, xCBL 2.0 is free of charge
and available from e-commerce document repositories including
XML.org, BizTalk.org, and Commerce One's MarketSite.
xCBL 2.0 enables any business, large or small, to conduct document-based transactions using the Web. In the past, electronic document exchange has been limited to the companies that could afford expensive EDI infrastructure and subscriptions to value-added networks. xCBL 2.0 provides a transition path for companies that want to move from EDI systems to open Internet-based commerce systems. In addition, xCBL 2.0 is especially valuable for smaller companies that want to transition from simple Web forms to more sophisticated XML e-commerce applications.
xCBL 2.0 is the first XML specification for electronic commerce designed to take advantage of the expressive power of XML schemas. As a demonstration of its commitment to interoperability, xCBL is available in XML DTD form and in two different schema languages: Microsoft's XML Data Reduced (XDR) and Commerce One's Schema for Object-oriented XML (SOX). The upcoming W3C Schema Definition Language will also be supported.
Commerce One is a active participant in numerous XML standards bodies and industry initiatives including the World Wide Web Consortium, the IETF, CommerceNet's eCo Working Group, OBI, IOTP, RosettaNet, BizTalk, ebXML, and OASIS. This broad and open perspective has enabled xCBL 2.0 to satisfy diverse requirements in a robust and flexible manner. xCBL 2.0 is the first effort to address the overlap in the XML specifications for vertical industry initiatives to facilitate interoperability across industries and marketplaces.
xCBL 2.0 represents more than two years of research and development by Commerce One and Veo Systems, which was acquired by Commerce One in January 1999. Veo was chosen in September 1997 by the U.S. Government's Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to conduct research and development on XML foundations for electronic commerce. Dr. Marty Tenenbaum, the founder of Veo and Commerce One's Chief Scientist, foresaw the need for a Common Business Library to enable companies to interconnect their business services over the Internet.
