RE: AS2 XML requirements (was Re: HL7 Standards Process)

Dave, see responses inline.

> I'll try to be careful about how I phrase this response: the original
> draft of AS1 may have only referred to a payload of EDI, but that's not a
> strict requirement, and not the case now.
>
> The later (and current) drafts do not specify that the payload MUST be
> EDI, and I believe that since Terry took over authorship, generic EC
> payloads are now mentioned, although they may not be highlighted by
> example.

Dave, the AS1 draft (ref:
http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-ediint-as1-11.txt) does state
in section 2.1:

   "This standard is also NOT limited to
   strict EDI use, but applies to any electronic commerce
   application where business data needs to be exchanged over the
   Internet in a secure manner."

However, there is no definitive text describing how non-rfc1767 types are
supported in AS1. The AS1 specification is tightly intertwined with
references to RFC 1767 and all examples are based on RFC 1767 payloads.

As both you and Terry have pointed out, many AS1 vendors have added support
for non-RFC1767 payloads in their products. I'm concerned the lack of
definitive language in AS1 describing support for non-RFC1767 types leaves
it to up to the individual AS1 vendors to decide how non-RFC1767 payloads
are supported in their products and this opens the door to interoperability
issues.

AS2 contains definitive text describing support for ANY MIME media type. I
believe the AS1 authors should consider adding language similar to what is
contained in AS2. I also believe it would be beneficial to include some
non-RFC1767 payloads in their interoperability testing.

Rik, does the AS2 interoperability test currently underway include a test
case using a non-rfc1767 payload? If not I would suggest adding a test case
exchanging XML payloads.

Dick Brooks
Group 8760
110 12th Street North
Birmingham, AL 35203
[email protected]
205-250-8053
Fax: 205-250-8057
http://www.8760.com/

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