ISO 29002
Nikolaus OndracekParadine GmbH
The exchange of master data and catalogues is primarily based on the exchange of (concept identifier, value) pairs: The concept identifier uniquely determines the concept which describes the value. To interpret the value correctly, it is necessary to resolve the concept identifier and to get information about the underlying concept. Currently, this is normally done by distributing complete reference dictionaries containing all information of all its concepts. But this is a heavy mechanism because (1) a lot of data needs to be transferred, and only part of it will be used, and (2) there does not exist a standard way how this information is exchanged so that it requires a lot of implementation and organisation efforts to make this exchange happen. To overcome this problem, a lighter mechanism is defined in this standard in form of a service specification: Instead of exchanging big complete reference dictionaries, software systems will get a means to obtain information about unknown concepts selectively and on the fly. This will ease the exchange of product data drastically.
This standard defines a service which resolves concept identifiers transmitted in catalogues or reference dictionaries. Given such a concept identifier, the service will produce at level 1 the terminological information describing the concept identified by the concept identifier (e.g. name, definition, alternative names).
On request, at level 2 the service will also produce a more specific computer sensible description of the concept (e.g. data type in case of a property, supertype in case of a class, etc.). This mechanism will support any ISO TC 184/SC4 data model standard by providing information in a neutral way and leaving the interpretation of the result to the receiver of the information. The requested information model which determines which data is sent back is a parameter of the service request.
The service which resolves concept identifiers transmitted in catalogues or reference dictionaries. Given such a concept identifier, the service will produce the terminological information describing the concept identified by the concept identifier (e.g. name, definition, alternative names).
On request, the service will also produce more specific computer sensible description of the concept (e.g. data type in case of a property, supertype in case of a class, etc.). This mechanism will support multiple dictionary metadata data model standards by providing information in a neutral way and leaving the interpretation of the result to the receiver of the information. The requested information model which determines which data is sent back is a parameter of the service request.
This standard has been built from the ground up to be compatible with relevant TC37 standards and ISO/IEC 11179. Thus, it should be compatible with any data model that follows the basic principles of these standards.
The specification of this service can be seen in close context with the development of an underlying exchange format for master data or catalogue data, providing a common resource resolving the meaning of identifiers in a way that is compatible with various dictionaries/metadata registries. In the same way, this service specification is supposed to build a common resource for various dictionary/metadata standards which can be used by them to exchange their specific model dependent information. It is planned to be as open as possible and not exclude any other standards but to allow an easy integration of any additional data model for describing concepts in reference dictionaries.
This standard will define the service using ISO/IEC 14750:1999, Information technology — Open Distributed Processing — Interface Definition Language. A Web Service implementation is planned.