RE: EDI

James K. Tauber (jtauber@jtauber.com)
Sat, 18 Jul 1998 22:15:33 +0800

> Xml-dev listeners:
> I was reading the July 13th issue of Network World and
> ran across an XML article on page 6 regarding a software product that will
> bridge the gap between EDI and XML. In this article, it suggests
> that XML was "concocted somewhat as a replacement for EDI." Is this true?

XML certainly wasn't "concocted" as a replacement for EDI, but it can be
used for EDI. There is a lot of work being done on X12 and EDIFACT in XML
(along with a number of heated discussions on whether using XML syntax
gives any benefits over X12).

XML has its origins as as a means for using SGML (and hence structured
documents) on the Web. It has a range of uses, but structured documents on
the Web was the original goal.

James

--
James Tauber / jtauber@jtauber.com      http://www.jtauber.com/
Lecturer and Associate Researcher
Electronic Commerce Network             ( http://www.xmlinfo.com/
Curtin Business School                  ( http://www.xmlsoftware.com/
Perth, Western Australia                ( http://www.schema.net/