OASIS ebXML Messaging Services TC

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RE: [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path Problem

  • 1.  RE: [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path Problem

    Posted 11-12-2001 17:44
    
    David,
    
    Some replies below, "MWS:"
    
    Regards,
    Marty
    
    *************************************************************************************
    
    Martin W. Sachs
    IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
    P. O. B. 704
    Yorktown Hts, NY 10598
    914-784-7287;  IBM tie line 863-7287
    Notes address:  Martin W Sachs/Watson/IBM
    Internet address:  mwsachs @ us.ibm.com
    *************************************************************************************
    
    
    
    "Burdett, David" <david.burdett@commerceone.com> on 11/12/2001 04:49:42 PM
    
    To:    Martin W Sachs/Watson/IBM@IBMUS, "Burdett, David"
           <david.burdett@commerceone.com>
    cc:    "Burdett, David" <david.burdett@commerceone.com>, "'Miller, Robert
           (GXS)'" <Robert.Miller@gxs.ge.com>, "'ebXML Messaging (E-mail)'"
           <ebxml-msg@lists.oasis-open.org>
    Subject:    RE: [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path Problem
    
    
    
    
    
    Marty
    
    You said ...
    
    >>>In summary, it's the endpoint URL that gets the message through the
    network to the mailroom and to the correct place on the enterprises's
    internal network (final destination MSH).� The routing elements in the
    messageheader then get it to the software entry point associated with the
    destination MSH.<<<
    
    I think you are implying that you **must not** use the Service and Action
    to work out the URL of the endpoint. This means that an intermediary, such
    as the mailroom MSH, cannot do any logical routing and that the original
    sender of a message must know the physical address (aka URL) of the final
    application that is to receive a message they want to send.
    
    MWS:  That's absolutely correct. The sender gets the physical address from
    the CPA.
    
    In turn this means that whenever you change the internal URL for an
    application you have to inform everyone who might send you a message which
    is a huge (and my view unnecessary) overhead.
    
    MWS:  That's no different from anything else in the CPA.  It does
    discourage people from unnecessarily reconfiguring their networks.  Aside
    from that a mailroom function could certainly include a "mail forwarding"
    function in which if it receives a message directed to a URL that has been
    changed, it substitutes the new URL before forwarding the message. This is
    no different than the forwarding services that the post office and phone
    companies already provide and have provided forever.
    
    If this is what you suggest then I don't think intermediaries can provide
    any value add at all from a routing perspective with the standard version
    of the spec.
    
    MWS:  That's why some people argue that if it is worth having an
    intermediary, it must have something to do beyond being a passive
    forwarder.
    
    MWS:  But the mailroom intermediary can provide the address forwarding
    function that I described above.
    
    I think that you should be able to (but not have to) do routing of messages
    based on the "PartyId, Service and Action" and map these, either using a
    CPA or by table/database look-up to the URL to which the message should be
    sent. Is there a problem with this that I don't see?
    
    MWS:  There are two problems that you are not seeing. One is that PartyId,
    service, and action are not network functions; they only identify the
    software to process the message.  The URL provides the routing across the
    network (inter- and intranet).  The second problem that you are not seeing
    is that in a large enterprise with many systems scattered, perhaps, all
    over the globe, uniqueness of service and action names across the whole
    enterprise is something not even to be dreamed of.
    
    David
    
    
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Martin W Sachs [mailto:mwsachs@us.ibm.com]
    Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 1:19 PM
    To: Burdett, David
    Cc: Burdett, David; 'Miller, Robert (GXS)'; 'ebXML Messaging (E-mail)'
    Subject: RE: [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path Problem
    
    
    David,
    
    The return path works the same way.� The response is sent using the
    requester's delivery channel which has the correct endpoint URL to get the
    message to where it is supposed to go.� Remember:� delivery channel =
    receive properties.
    
    In summary, it's the endpoint URL that gets the message through the network
    to the mailroom and to the correct place on the enterprises's internal
    network (final destination MSH).� The routing elements in the message
    header then get it to the software entry point associated with the
    destination MSH.� This approach requires no global (within the enterprise)
    definitions of service, action, CPAId, or anything else except the endpoint
    URLs. The mail room doesn't deal with the routing elements in the message
    header; it just passes the message on according to the URL.
    
    The mailroom or any other MSH doesn't stick anything on the end of the
    endpoint URL.� The URL is provided in the CPP and CPA and is designed by
    the people who understand the configuration of the enterprise's internal
    network.
    
    Regards,
    Marty
    
    *************************************************************************************
    
    
    Martin W. Sachs
    IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
    P. O. B. 704
    Yorktown Hts, NY 10598
    914-784-7287;� IBM tie line 863-7287
    Notes address:� Martin W Sachs/Watson/IBM
    Internet address:� mwsachs @ us.ibm.com
    *************************************************************************************
    
    
    
    "Burdett, David" <david.burdett@commerceone.com> on 11/12/2001 03:54:22 PM
    
    To:��� Martin W Sachs/Watson/IBM@IBMUS, "Burdett, David"
    ������ <david.burdett@commerceone.com>
    cc:��� "'Miller, Robert (GXS)'" <Robert.Miller@gxs.ge.com>, "Burdett,
    ������ David" <david.burdett@commerceone.com>, "'ebXML Messaging (E-mail)'"
    ������ <ebxml-msg@lists.oasis-open.org>
    Subject:��� RE: [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path Problem
    
    
    Marty
    
    In the examples you give, are these PartyIds or are they the URL to which a
    message is physically sent. I'm assuming the latter.
    
    If so, then your suggestion works for the outbound message but I doesn't as
    far as I can see work for *the return path* as the MSH returning the
    message
    does not know which service sent the original message and therefore what it
    should put on the end of the URL.
    
    For example, if the outbound message was as follows ...
    
    <MessageHeader>
    � <From><PartyId>XYZinc</PartyId></From>
    � <To><PartyId>ABCco</PartyId></To>
    � <CPAId>ABC-XYZ-CPA</CPAId>
    � <ConversationId>5678</ConversationId
    � <Service>PriceCheck</Service>
    � <Action>PriceCheckResponse</Action>
    � <MessageData>
    ��� <MessageId>56723</MessageId>
    ��� <RefToMessageId>79465</RefToMessageId>
    ��� ...
    � </MessageData>
    � ...
    </MessageHeader>
    
    ... then the only way the MSH sending the response to this message can know
    what to put at the end of the URL is from the CPAId and the agreement that
    was set up previously.
    
    This means that you need separate CPAs for, in Use Case 1, the Buyer order
    Management Service and the Price Query Service. I don't think this is right
    as why should XYZ Co care which internal service made the request for a
    Price Check.
    
    ... or am I missing something.
    
    David
    
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Martin W Sachs [mailto:mwsachs@us.ibm.com]
    Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 10:21 AM
    To: Burdett, David
    Cc: 'Miller, Robert (GXS)'; Burdett, David; 'ebXML Messaging (E-mail)'
    Subject: RE: [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path Problem
    
    
    The way I read Bob Miller's posting he is suggesting completely separating
    routing through the network from the PartyIds. He is suggesting using the
    endpoint URL to do the routing in the standard way.� Thus a message might
    go to
    
    �� http://www.ABCco.com/CustomerService�� or
    �� http://www.ABCco.com/Procurement/CustomerService
    
    The domain name gets the message to the mail room and the rest of the
    segments of the URL get it to its final destination behind the mail room.
    The enterprise may design the routing however it wishes and express it in
    the URL.
    
    Regards,
    Marty
    ****************************************************************************
    
    
    *********
    
    Martin W. Sachs
    IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
    P. O. B. 704
    Yorktown Hts, NY 10598
    914-784-7287;� IBM tie line 863-7287
    Notes address:� Martin W Sachs/Watson/IBM
    Internet address:� mwsachs @ us.ibm.com
    ****************************************************************************
    
    
    *********
    
    
    "Burdett, David" <david.burdett@commerceone.com> on 11/12/2001 12:47:45 PM
    
    To:��� "'Miller, Robert (GXS)'" <Robert.Miller@gxs.ge.com>, "Burdett,
    ������ David" <david.burdett@commerceone.com>, "'ebXML Messaging (E-mail)'"
    ������ <ebxml-msg@lists.oasis-open.org>
    cc:
    Subject:��� RE: [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path Problem
    
    
    
    Bob
    
    This� effectively what I am suggesting except that I want to make it
    explicit. The� PartyId should identify the "business" or a division of the
    business. In the� real world we would would say,please reply to:
    
    ��� Customer Service
    ��� ABC Co
    ��� 123 Main St
    ��� Smallville, CA
    
    In� this instance the internal department is "Customer Service" and the
    Party is� "ABC Co".
    
    Doing� it your way we would say, please reply to:
    
    ��� Customer Service, ABC Co
    ��� 123 Main St
    ��� Smallville, CA
    
    Where "Customer Service,� ABC Co" is the Party and department� combined.
    
    Although we could do it the way you suggest and� concatenate the two in the
    spec, this is not the best way to do it if you are� using XML where the
    whole idea is to make the different elements of a data� structure explicit.
    It also causes problems for the recipient. For example,� following your
    suggestion your PartyId might look something� like:
    
    <From><PartyId>urn:duns:1234567:fromservice:CustService</PartyId></From>
    
    The recipient now has a problem that they don't which� part of the PartyId
    identifies the business and which the service unless we� specify the
    standard in the spec. This means that they might not even be able to
    recognize the sending Party. I think it would be much easier if we� had:
    
    <From><PartyId>urn:duns:1234567</PartyId><Service>CustService</Service></Fro
    
    
    m>
    
    In this case the PartyID represents the business and� the "From Service" is
    identified separately. So really I am agreeing with you� except that I
    think we should make the information explicit rather than buried� in the
    PartyId.
    
    David
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Miller, Robert (GXS)� [mailto:Robert.Miller@gxs.ge.com]
    Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001� 6:24 AM
    To: Burdett, David; 'ebXML Messaging� (E-mail)'
    Subject: RE: [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path� Problem
    
    
    Good People,
    
    In the EDI world, we simply use multiple from party� addresses.� For
    example, we might use a DUNS number, in which the high� order part of the
    number has been assigned to our compnay, and the low order� portion is
    internally assigned.
    
    Seems to me that life gets even easier in the Internet� world.� We're all
    familiar with the EMail 'mailroom'.� It's the name� that follows the "@"
    symbol.� The internal address is the part that� preceeds the "@" symbol.
    We're also familiar with subaddesses in the� WWW.� The mailroom address
    preceeds the '/', and the subaddresses follow� the first '/'/
    
    Why isn't the obvious solution being considered?� I'm� confused.
    
    Cheers,
    ������� Bob Miller
    
    -----Original Message-----
    From:� Burdett, David [mailto:david.burdett@commerceone.com]
    Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 7:31 PM
    To: 'ebXML Messaging (E-mail)'
    Subject:� [ebxml-msg] RE: The Return Path Problem
    
    I forgot the attachment ... ;(
    
    David
    �<<The Return Path� Problem.pdf>>
    
    >� -----Original Message-----
    > From: ������� Burdett,� David
    > Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 5:28� PM
    > To:�� ebXML Messaging� (E-mail)
    > Subject:������ The Return Path Problem
    >
    > Folks
    >
    >� Here's a PDF that describes three use cases that illustrate the return
    > path problem that is on the agenda for next week's F2F.� Two of the use
    > cases are from the meeting at SAP� in October which we never got round to
    > discussing� the third is new.
    >
    > I� also suggest some solutions. Note that these are suggestions and I am
    > open to alternatives.
    >
    > If anyone has any comments before the meeting� then ... ;)
    >
    >� Regards
    >
    > David
    >
    > Product Manager, xCBL, XML� Standards
    > Solution Strategy, Commerce One
    > 4400 Rosewood Drive, Pleasanton, CA 94588, USA
    > Tel/VMail: +1 (925) 520 4422; Cell: +1 (925) 216� 7704
    > mailto:david.burdett@commerceone.com;� Web: http://www.commerceone.com
    >