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OFDAxml Best
Practices
Last update: 01/14/04
OFDAxml
can be described as a content-, or data oriented schema, reflecting
a model of how the
data is communicated in the 'real world', often representing
internal data structures like tables
from relational databases, and using hierarchies to reflect
containment relationships. With
OFDAxml, the structure of the data itself is more important than any
particular end-presentation
of that information.
To
guarantee cross-industry interoperation as well as maintain a
consistent approach to schema
design, the OFDA Technology Committee has adopted the best practices
from a variety of XML
resources including the W3C, OASIS/ebXML, the xml-dev list as well
as from other vertical
industries.
When
creating this set of schema guidelines, several design issues are
considered, most
notably, how can we design OFDAxml schema to be extensible?
Can we design it to support
dynamically changing requirements, without forcing each user of the
schema to upgrade in lock-
step?
The
short answer to this question is "absolutely!" The
extended answer to this question has
many considerations, can seem quite technical, and covers many areas
of schema design
including:
This is
not a final document but a living document to which additions will
be made as determined
by further work of the OFDA Technology Committee. Each
addition should by expected to be
consistent with the guidelines listed here. The guidelines are
to be considered recommendations
and apply to all uses of XML and XML schema by the OFDA Technology
Committee.
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