RE: profiles in AS2

[email protected] Tue, 20 Dec 2005 16:47:06 -0500
Newsgroups gmane.ietf.ediint
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Scott & Rik,

While I understand that  EDIINT-Features, CEM, & AS2-Reliability are not=20
technically part of the charter of the EDIINT WG, they are intended to=20
improve the usability and expand the use of AS1, AS2, & AS3.=20

Is it possible to either keep the WG open while these drafts are resolved, =

or at least keep the elist open to maintain the group of interested=20
participants? Thanks for your consideration.

John Duker
P&G



"Kyle Meadors" <[email protected]>
Sent by: [email protected]
12/20/2005 11:29 AM
=20
        To:     <[email protected]>
=20
        Subject:        RE: profiles in AS2
The closing of WG is decision to be made by Rik Drummond and Scott=20
Hollenbeck. Discussion on EDIINT?Features, CEM and the like are peripheral =

to EDIINT but not part of the charter. When EDIINT charter is complete,=20
and only a decision on AS3 is remaining, the elist will be closed as well. =


=20
However, it is open for the time being ? let's continue to use this space=20
for this discussion. We have only heard from a relative handful of=20
individuals ? can others chime in?=20
=20
Kyle Meadors
DGI

From: Richard Bigelow [mailto:[email protected]]=20
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 12:56 PM
To: Dale Moberg; Kyle Meadors; [email protected]
Subject: RE: profiles in AS2
 Concerning a 1.2 version interoperating with a 1.1 version:  The 1.1=20
version should accept the 1.2 messages.  The compression draft says that a =

version of 1.1 or greater indicates compression.=20
=20
I have some concern about Kyle's comment that this WG may be closing soon. =

 Is this in response to IETF's requirement to make progress on AS3?  I=20
hope that this WG will continue.  We have some proposals on the table,=20
including Reliability and CEM and perhaps Profiles in the future.
=20
=20
Richard Bigelow
Inovis
[email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]=
] On Behalf Of Dale Moberg
Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2005 7:49 AM
To: Kyle Meadors; [email protected]
Subject: RE: profiles in AS2
=20
The consensus seems to be that it should be possible to support some AS2=20
features independently, rather than cumulatively. Although I think the=20
combinations of features of Reliability, CEM, and Multipart could be coded =

up by 8 numbers, if more end user requirements get specified, that=20
encoding would become inconvenient to support. So moving to an=20
EDIINT-Features header seems to be a reasonable way to advertise=20
capabilities.
=20
Would AS1, AS2 and AS3 all use this header? I assume that CEM and=20
attachments are OK, but Reliability mainly pertains to AS2. Also, would=20
AS1 have to add an "X-" preface to the header? (So we would have=20
somemething like "X-EdiintFeatures" as the header value?)
=20
I take it that there is some concern about the waste of sending this=20
header every time and that partially motivates inventing new behavior to=20
supply these values in a MDN (when requested). While that might be more=20
elegant, I guess the logic would be that you can only use that form of=20
request when the original has an AS2-Version of "1.2"? My preference here=20
is not to try to develop option 4 into a new capability query and response =

pattern, but just accept that the Ediint-Features header may waste a few=20
bytes per message.=20
=20
How will existing applications respond to this? Presumably they would (or=20
should) ignore an included "EdiintFeatures" header and also never send=20
one. If they never sent one (and their ASx-version was either 1.0 or 1.1), =

then they must not be sent multiparts or CEM. In that case, messages with=20
the new features would not even be sent to older applications and could=20
not cause them to malfunction. So it should be stated that you may not use =

these features unless the other side both has a version value greater than =

1.1 and also has included the feature in its EdiintFeatures header.
=20
What should be said about a 1.2 version interoperating with a 1.1 version? =

Since a 1.1 level app. would be entitled to ignore a message with a higher =

version, should a 1.2 app be advised to be configurable to advertise=20
itself as a 1.1 version to promote interoperation?
=20
What should be done about detecting a change (upgrade) of versions when=20
the other side begins sending the higher "1.2" value? Are implementations=20
expected to check the version or is this left to the implementation?=20
Richard B. says "A should update some state for every message received=20
from B" I think it would be sufficient to check the state and update if a=20
change is noticed. (Maybe that is what Richard meant though.) I suppose an =

empty message could be sent to announce a change in capabilities, but=20
again only to ediint agents with a version greater than 1.1.
=20
So far the specifications have not really required that the version be=20
checked for every message. For example, the AS3 draft says=20
=20
    The AS3-Version header is a header which is required only if the value
    of the header is not "1.0".  Its purpose is to allow systems to=20
    determine which version of this specification, should the
    specification evolve over time, the sender of a document has used to
    package the document. A user agent MUST NOT reject a message if the=20
    version header is missing.
=20
    AS3-Version: 1*DIGIT . 1*DIGIT
=20
    A version header value of "1.1" indicates an implementation can
    support EDIINT data compression [18]. A user agent MUST NOT send=20
    compressed messages to trading partners who do not use a version=20
    header of "1.1" or greater.=20
=20
=20
It seems to me that versions greater than 1.1 will need to check the=20
version values for every message. If a version header is missing, it is=20
version 1.0.
=20

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]=
] On Behalf Of Kyle Meadors
Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 3:21 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: profiles in AS2
=20
Not a lot of comments on this thread. But to summarize?
=20
3 in favor of Option 2 (Features header) and use of AS2?Version 1.2=20
1 in favor Option 3 where filtering is done on a message
=20
Still does not fully address the initial start?up conditions as Richard=20
pointed out, but perhaps that just can not be done without some manual=20
setup.
=20
Since this EDIINT WG will likely be closing relatively soon, I hope we can =

get some more to weigh in on this. Do others object to Option 2 (with=20
AS2?Version 1.2)?
=20
For those AS2 vendors supporting Option 2, would this impact your product, =

including those deployed in existing supply chains? Are their significant=20
backward compatibility problems with this choice?
=20
Kyle Meadors
DGI

From: Tim McCarthy [mailto:[email protected]]=20
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 9:14 AM
To: Kyle Meadors; [email protected]
Subject: RE: profiles in AS2
=20
Seems to me that a combination of features 2 and 4 would provide=20
everything we'd need.
=20

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]=
] On Behalf Of Richard Bigelow
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 5:07 PM
To: Kyle Meadors; [email protected]
Subject: RE: profiles in AS2
=20
These are my comments.  Option 2 is preferred.  This memo essentially=20
supports John Duker's memo of Dec. 5, Features Profile in AS2.
=20
1. This option requires that implementers of feature 1.n also implement=20
all earlier features.  Is that reasonable?  What if 1.5 is difficult and=20
many vendors don't want to do it, but many want to support 1.6?  Not=20
recommended.
=20
2.  The features header allows the partner A receiving the message to know =

the other partner's (B's) capabilities.  So when A sends to B, A knows=20
what is allowed.  A can also check B's AS2-version; 1.1 does not allow any =

of the controlled features, but does allow compression.  A should update=20
some state for every message received from B.  B might stop supporting=20
some feature.  Recommended.
=20
A possible variant of (2) is that a partner could send some message to all =

its trading partners when its capabilities change.  This message would=20
have headers only, no content.  It might be useful to send this=20
capabilities message to partners that would rarely receive normal=20
messages.
=20
3. This option allows receivers to ignore messages they don't understand,=20
and to detect those messages without looking for unknown headers.  But it=20
does not provide a mechanism for the sender to know whether a receiver can =

receive the message.  Suppose we had done compression this way.  A could=20
send a compressed file to B, and B could ignore it based on the feature=20
header, but then the file is lost.  B could return a new MDN code=20
indicating unsupported-feature, and A could then send the uncompressed=20
file, in this example.  In other cases, A would have to use some other=20
mechanism.  A could remember that B rejected the file and not try that=20
feature again, but how would A know if B upgraded and can now support the=20
feature?  The original intent of the features header was that the sender=20
could know in advance if the receiver supports the feature.  3 is not=20
recommended.
=20
4. Before sending a message to B, A should ask B for B's capabilities, and =

check if B supports the feature.  Since B might stop supporting a feature, =

A should ask each time.  This is ok for rare messages, like CEM, but not=20
for common ones, like Multiple Attachments.  Not recommended.
=20
None of these protocols fully addresses the initial case.  Before any=20
messages are exchanged, how do the partners know each other's=20
capabilities?  Each partner must assume that the other supports only the=20
basic 1.0 AS2 protocol.   Hopefully, they will be able to exchange normal=20
messages, which will contain at least the 1.2 version header.  They can=20
then use option 2 to discover each other capabilities.  This probably=20
works for most features.  For CEM, either they must first exchange test=20
messages that are unencrypted and unsigned to establish CEM capability, or =

exchange initial certificates manually.
=20
Alternatively, the partners would configure each other manually the first=20
time.  Thereafter, they would be automatically updated on each other's=20
capabilities.
=20
Richard Bigelow
Inovis
[email protected]

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]=
] On Behalf Of Kyle Meadors
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 9:04 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: profiles in AS2
=20
I am needing the opinion of the AS2 community on the use of a feature=20
profiles within AS2. Back in 2002, compression was added as an extra=20
feature. Using "AS2?Version: 1.1" in a message indicated the UA could=20
support compression even if the actual message did not contain the=20
compressed envelope. This assisted implementers in knowing if their=20
trading partners could support compression.=20
 =20
Moving to the present, users are requesting new features. These include=20
I?Ds for Reliability (from GS1), Multiple?Attachments (oil & gas users)=20
and Certificate Exchange Messaging (Wal?mart, P&G and others GS1=20
companies). Given AS2's adoption, I am sure there will be others in the=20
future.=20
 =20
My question to those on this elist is how to do move forward with new=20
features. What do we do to insure only those who support a feature receive =

it (e.g., only sending CEM message to trading partners who support that=20
profile)? Also, can anything be done to insure backward compatibility to=20
keep new Feature Header messages from being sent to & breaking older,=20
existing implementations (e.g. older implementation errors gracefully when =

getting an unrecognized MA message).=20
 =20
Here are some options. I would like to hear your thoughts on what is best=20
or other ideas.=20
=20
1. Use AS2?Version header to indicate UA support of profiles (e.g. 1.2=20
indicates CEM, 1.3 indicates CEM, Reliability). Works like compression=20
(e.g. "1.2" indicates capability of CEM but not an actual CEM message).
=20
2. Use a new header, e.g. EDIINT?Features. The features header shows all=20
features supported by UA (e.g. EDIINT?Features: CEM, multiple?attachment)=20
but like AS2?Version does not indicate every message contains profile.
=20
3. Use a new header for each feature which is present ONLY in the message=20
using that feature. For example, "CEM?Profile" for CEM messages. This=20
could allow receiving UA to filter in only profiles it recognizes.
=20
4. Create a "Capability Query" AS2 Message which returns a Capability MDN. =
MDN indicates what features receiving UA can support.
=20
=20
Kyle Meadors
Principal, Test Process
Drummond Group Inc.
615.212.0826
=20

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<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"sans-serif">Scott &amp; Rik,</font>
<br>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"sans-serif">While I understand that &nbsp;EDIINT=
-Features, CEM, &amp; AS2-Reliability are not technically part of the chart=
er of the EDIINT WG, they are intended to improve the usability and expand =
the use of AS1, AS2, &amp; AS3. &nbsp;</font>
<br>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"sans-serif">Is it possible to either keep the WG=
 open while these drafts are resolved, or at least keep the elist open to m=
aintain the group of interested participants? Thanks for your consideration=
.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"sans-serif">John Duker</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"sans-serif">P&amp;G</font>
<br>
<br>
<table width=3D100%>
<tr valign=3Dtop>
<td>
<td><font size=3D1 face=3D"sans-serif"><b>&quot;Kyle Meadors&quot; &lt;kyle=
@drummondgroup.com&gt;</b></font>
<br><font size=3D1 face=3D"sans-serif">Sent by: [email protected].=
org</font>
<p><font size=3D1 face=3D"sans-serif">12/20/2005 11:29 AM</font>
<td><font size=3D1 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </font>
<br><font size=3D1 face=3D"sans-serif">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; To: &nbs=
p; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&lt;[email protected]&gt;</font>
<br><font size=3D1 face=3D"sans-serif">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </font>
<br><font size=3D1 face=3D"sans-serif">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Subject:=
 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;RE: profiles in AS2</font></table>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">The closing of WG is deci=
sion to be made by Rik Drummond and Scott Hollenbeck. Discussion on EDIINT&=
#8211;Features, CEM and the like are peripheral to EDIINT but not part of t=
he charter. When EDIINT charter is complete, and only a decision on AS3 is =
remaining, the elist will be closed as well. </font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">However, it is open for t=
he time being &#8211; let's continue to use this space for this discussion.=
 We have only heard from a relative handful of individuals &#8211; can othe=
rs chime in? </font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Kyle Meadors</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">DGI</font>
<div align=3Dcenter>
<br>
<hr></div>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Tahoma"><b>From:</b> Richard Bigelow [mailto:ric=
[email protected]] <b><br>
Sent:</b> Monday, December 19, 2005 12:56 PM<b><br>
To:</b> Dale Moberg; Kyle Meadors; [email protected]<b><br>
Subject:</b> RE: profiles in AS2</font>
<br><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font><font size=3D2 col=
or=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Concerning a 1.2 version interoperating with a =
1.1 version: &nbsp;The 1.1 version should accept the 1.2 messages. &nbsp;Th=
e compression draft says that a version of 1.1 or greater indicates compres=
sion. &nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">I have some concern about=
 Kyle's comment that this WG may be closing soon. &nbsp;Is this in response=
 to IETF's requirement to make progress on AS3? &nbsp;I hope that this WG w=
ill continue. &nbsp;We have some proposals on the table, including Reliabil=
ity and CEM and perhaps Profiles in the future.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D1 color=3D#808080 face=3D"Verdana">Richard Bigelow<br>
Inovis</font><font size=3D1 color=3Dblue face=3D"Verdana"><u><br>
</u></font><a href=3Dmailto:[email protected]><font size=3D1 color=
=3Dblue face=3D"Verdana"><u>[email protected]</u></font></a>
<div align=3Dcenter>
<br>
<hr></div>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Tahoma"><b>From:</b> [email protected].=
org [mailto:[email protected]] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Dale Moberg=
<b><br>
Sent:</b> Saturday, December 17, 2005 7:49 AM<b><br>
To:</b> Kyle Meadors; [email protected]<b><br>
Subject:</b> RE: profiles in AS2</font>
<br><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">The consensus seems to be=
 that it should be possible to support some AS2 features independently, rat=
her than cumulatively. Although I think the combinations of features of Rel=
iability, CEM, and Multipart could be coded up by 8 numbers, if more end us=
er requirements get specified, that encoding would become inconvenient to s=
upport. So moving to an EDIINT-Features header seems to be a reasonable way=
 to advertise capabilities.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Would AS1, AS2 and AS3 al=
l use this header? I assume that CEM and attachments are OK, but Reliabilit=
y mainly pertains to AS2. Also, would AS1 have to add an "X-" preface to th=
e header? (So we would have somemething like "X-EdiintFeatures" as the head=
er value?)</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">I take it that there is s=
ome concern about the waste of sending this header every time and that part=
ially motivates inventing new behavior to supply these values in a MDN (whe=
n requested). While that might be more elegant, I guess the logic would be =
that you can only use that form of request when the original has an AS2-Ver=
sion of "1.2"? My preference here is not to try to develop option 4 into a =
new capability query and response pattern, but just accept that the Ediint-=
Features header may waste a few bytes per message. </font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">How will existing applica=
tions respond to this? Presumably they would (or should) ignore an included=
 "EdiintFeatures" header and also never send one. If they never sent one (a=
nd their ASx-version was either 1.0 or 1.1), then they must not be sent mul=
tiparts or CEM. In that case, messages with the new features would not even=
 be sent to older applications and could not cause them to malfunction. So =
it should be stated that you may not use these features unless the other si=
de both has a version value greater than 1.1 and also has included the feat=
ure in its EdiintFeatures header.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">What should be said about=
 a 1.2 version interoperating with a 1.1 version? Since a 1.1 level app. wo=
uld be entitled to ignore a message with a higher version, should a 1.2 app=
 be advised to be configurable to advertise itself as a 1.1 version to prom=
ote interoperation?</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">What should be done about=
 detecting a change (upgrade) of versions when the other side begins sendin=
g the higher "1.2" value? Are implementations expected to check the version=
 or is this left to the implementation? Richard B. says "A should update so=
me state for every message received from B" I think it would be sufficient =
to check the state and update if a change is noticed. (Maybe that is what R=
ichard meant though.) I suppose an empty message could be sent to announce =
a change in capabilities, but again only to ediint agents with a version gr=
eater than 1.1.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">So far the specifications=
 have not really required that the version be checked for every message. Fo=
r example, t</font><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">he AS3 draft says </=
font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; The AS3-Version heade=
r is a header which is required only if the value</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; of the header is not =
&quot;1.0&quot;. &nbsp;Its purpose is to allow systems to </font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; determine which versi=
on of this specification, should the</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; specification evolve =
over time, the sender of a document has used to</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; package the document.=
 A user agent MUST NOT reject a message if the </font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; version header is mis=
sing.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; AS3-Version: 1*DIGIT =
. 1*DIGIT</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; </font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; A version header valu=
e of &quot;1.1&quot; indicates an implementation can</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; support EDIINT data c=
ompression [18]. A user agent MUST NOT send </font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; compressed messages t=
o trading partners who do not use a version </font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp; &nbsp; header of &quot;1.1&q=
uot; or greater. </font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Courier New">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">It seems to me that versi=
ons greater than 1.1 will need to check the version values for every messag=
e. If a version header is missing, it is version 1.0.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<div align=3Dcenter>
<br>
<hr></div>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Tahoma"><b>From:</b> [email protected].=
org [mailto:[email protected]] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Kyle Meador=
s<b><br>
Sent:</b> Thursday, December 15, 2005 3:21 PM<b><br>
To:</b> [email protected]<b><br>
Subject:</b> RE: profiles in AS2</font>
<br><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Not a lot of comments on =
this thread. But to summarize&#8230;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">3 in favor of Option 2 (F=
eatures header) and use of AS2&#8211;Version 1.2 </font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">1 in favor Option 3 where=
 filtering is done on a message</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Still does not fully addr=
ess the initial start&#8211;up conditions as Richard pointed out, but perha=
ps that just can not be done without some manual setup.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Since this EDIINT WG will=
 likely be closing relatively soon, I hope we can get some more to weigh in=
 on this. Do others object to Option 2 (with AS2&#8211;Version 1.2)?</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">For those AS2 vendors sup=
porting Option 2, would this impact your product, including those deployed =
in existing supply chains? Are their significant backward compatibility pro=
blems with this choice?</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Kyle Meadors</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">DGI</font>
<div align=3Dcenter>
<br>
<hr></div>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Tahoma"><b>From:</b> Tim McCarthy [mailto:TMcCar=
[email protected]] <b><br>
Sent:</b> Wednesday, December 07, 2005 9:14 AM<b><br>
To:</b> Kyle Meadors; [email protected]<b><br>
Subject:</b> RE: profiles in AS2</font>
<br><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Seems to me that a combin=
ation of features 2 and 4 would provide everything we'd need.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<div align=3Dcenter>
<br>
<hr></div>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Tahoma"><b>From:</b> [email protected].=
org [mailto:[email protected]] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Richard Big=
elow<b><br>
Sent:</b> Tuesday, December 06, 2005 5:07 PM<b><br>
To:</b> Kyle Meadors; [email protected]<b><br>
Subject:</b> RE: profiles in AS2</font>
<br><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">These are my comments. &n=
bsp;Option 2 is preferred. &nbsp;This memo essentially supports John Duker'=
s memo of Dec. 5, Features Profile in AS2.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">1. This option requires t=
hat implementers of feature 1.n also implement all earlier features. &nbsp;=
Is that reasonable? &nbsp;What if 1.5 is difficult and many vendors don't w=
ant to do it, but many want to support 1.6? &nbsp;Not recommended.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">2. &nbsp;The features hea=
der allows the partner A receiving the message to know the other partner's =
(B's) capabilities. &nbsp;So when A sends to B, A knows what is allowed. &n=
bsp;A can also check B's AS2-version; 1.1 does not allow any of the control=
led features, but does allow compression. &nbsp;A should update some state =
for every message received from B. &nbsp;B might stop supporting some featu=
re. &nbsp;Recommended.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">A possible variant of (2)=
 is that a partner could send some message to all its trading partners when=
 its capabilities change. &nbsp;This message would have headers only, no co=
ntent. &nbsp;It might be useful to send this capabilities message to partne=
rs that would rarely receive normal messages.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">3. This option allows rec=
eivers to ignore messages they don't understand, and to detect those messag=
es without looking for unknown headers. &nbsp;But it does not provide a mec=
hanism for the sender to know whether a receiver can receive the message. &=
nbsp;Suppose we had done compression this way. &nbsp;A could send a compres=
sed file to B, and B could ignore it based on the feature header, but then =
the file is lost. &nbsp;B could return a new MDN code indicating unsupporte=
d-feature, and A could then send the uncompressed file, in this example. &n=
bsp;In other cases, A would have to use some other mechanism. &nbsp;A could=
 remember that B rejected the file and not try that feature again, but how =
would A know if B upgraded and can now support the feature? &nbsp;The origi=
nal intent of the features header was that the sender could know in advance=
 if the receiver supports the feature. &nbsp;3 is not recommended.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">4. Before sending a messa=
ge to B, A should ask B for B's capabilities, and check if B supports the f=
eature. &nbsp;Since B might stop supporting a feature, A should ask each ti=
me. &nbsp;This is ok for rare messages, like CEM, but not for common ones, =
like Multiple Attachments. &nbsp;Not recommended.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">None of these protocols f=
ully addresses the initial case. &nbsp;Before any messages are exchanged, h=
ow do the partners know each other's capabilities? &nbsp;Each partner must =
assume that the other supports only the basic 1.0 AS2 protocol. &nbsp; Hope=
fully, they will be able to exchange normal messages, which will contain at=
 least the 1.2 version header. &nbsp;They can then use option 2 to discover=
 each other capabilities. &nbsp;This probably works for most features. &nbs=
p;For CEM, either they must first exchange test messages that are unencrypt=
ed and unsigned to establish CEM capability, or exchange initial certificat=
es manually.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">Alternatively, the partne=
rs would configure each other manually the first time. &nbsp;Thereafter, th=
ey would be automatically updated on each other's capabilities.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D1 color=3D#808080 face=3D"Verdana">Richard Bigelow<br>
Inovis</font><font size=3D1 color=3Dblue face=3D"Verdana"><u><br>
</u></font><a href=3Dmailto:[email protected]><font size=3D1 color=
=3Dblue face=3D"Verdana"><u>[email protected]</u></font></a>
<div align=3Dcenter>
<br>
<hr></div>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Tahoma"><b>From:</b> [email protected].=
org [mailto:[email protected]] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Kyle Meador=
s<b><br>
Sent:</b> Thursday, December 01, 2005 9:04 AM<b><br>
To:</b> [email protected]<b><br>
Subject:</b> profiles in AS2</font>
<br><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">I am needing the opinion of the AS2 commu=
nity on the use of a feature profiles within AS2. Back in 2002, compression=
 was added as an extra feature. Using &quot;AS2&#8211;Version: 1.1&quot; in=
 a message indicated the UA could support compression even if the actual me=
ssage did not contain the compressed envelope. This assisted implementers i=
n knowing if their trading partners could support compression.</font><font =
size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"> </font><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial"><br>
 </font><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font><font size=3D2=
 face=3D"Arial"><br>
Moving to the present, users are requesting new features. These include I&#=
8211;Ds for Reliability (from GS1), Multiple&#8211;Attachments (oil &amp; g=
as users) and Certificate Exchange Messaging (Wal&#8211;mart, P&amp;G and o=
thers GS1 companies). Given AS2's adoption, I am sure there will be others =
in the future.</font><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"> </font><font =
size=3D2 face=3D"Arial"><br>
 </font><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font><font size=3D2=
 face=3D"Arial"><br>
My question to those on this elist is how to do move forward with new featu=
res. What do we do to insure only those who support a feature receive it (e=
.g., only sending CEM message to trading partners who support that profile)=
? Also, can anything be done to insure backward compatibility to keep new F=
eature Header messages from being sent to &amp; breaking older, existing im=
plementations (e.g. older implementation errors gracefully when getting an =
unrecognized MA message).</font><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"> </=
font><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial"><br>
 </font><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font><font size=3D2=
 face=3D"Arial"><br>
Here are some options. I would like to hear your thoughts on what is best o=
r other ideas.</font><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"> </font><font =
size=3D2 face=3D"Arial"><br>
 &nbsp; &nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">1. Use AS2&#8211;Version header to indica=
te UA support of profiles (e.g. 1.2 indicates CEM, 1.3 indicates CEM, Relia=
bility). Works like compression (e.g. "1.2" indicates capability of CEM but=
 not an actual CEM message).</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">2. Use a new header, e.g. EDIINT&#8211;Fe=
atures. The features header shows all features supported by UA (e.g. EDIINT=
&#8211;Features: CEM, multiple&#8211;attachment) but like AS2&#8211;Version=
 does not indicate every message contains profile.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">3. Use a new header for each feature whic=
h is present ONLY in the message using that feature. For example, "CEM&#821=
1;Profile" for CEM messages. This could allow receiving UA to filter in onl=
y profiles it recognizes.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">4. Create a "Capability Query" AS2</font>=
<font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial"> </font><font size=3D2 face=
=3D"Arial">Message which returns a Capability MDN. MDN indicates what featu=
res</font><font size=3D2 color=3D#000080 face=3D"Arial"> </font><font size=
=3D2 face=3D"Arial">receiving UA can support.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">&nbsp;</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">Kyle Meadors</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">Principal, Test Process</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">Drummond Group Inc.</font>
<br><font size=3D2 face=3D"Arial">615.212.0826</font>
<br><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font>
<p>
<p><font size=3D2 face=3D"Times New Roman">--<br>
No virus found in this outgoing message.<br>
Checked by AVG Free Edition.<br>
Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.13.10/189 - Release Date: 11/30/2005=
</font>
<p>
<p><font size=3D2 face=3D"Times New Roman">--<br>
No virus found in this incoming message.<br>
Checked by AVG Free Edition.<br>
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.13.12/193 - Release Date: 12/6/2005<=
/font>
<p>
<p><font size=3D2 face=3D"Times New Roman">--<br>
No virus found in this outgoing message.<br>
Checked by AVG Free Edition.<br>
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.0/203 - Release Date: 12/15/2005<=
/font>
<p>
<p><font size=3D2 face=3D"Times New Roman">--<br>
No virus found in this incoming message.<br>
Checked by AVG Free Edition.<br>
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.1/207 - Release Date: 12/19/2005<=
/font>
<p>
<p><font size=3D2 face=3D"Times New Roman">--<br>
No virus found in this outgoing message.<br>
Checked by AVG Free Edition.<br>
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.1/207 - Release Date: 12/19/2005<=
/font>
<p>
<p>
--=_alternative 0077AD75852570DD_=--