This afternoon I'm attending a meeting of the XML registry project team. The first speaker is Jim Keppler, talking about an integrated repository for logistics metadata. The work was done for the Defense Logistics Agency. The system is a registry for DLA data elements. In addition to allowing these data element schemas to be registered, the system also supplies tools for creating and managing the metadata. Some features:
- Core data element administration
- Metadata management support
- SOAP inteface to core data element metadata
- JDBC interface to data source metadata
- Web browser interface
The motivation behind the registry is fairly simple: DLA had created lots of XML documents and schemas. They were using these internally and with external customers. As the number of XML documents and schemas grew, it became difficult to know what the current version of the document was, where it was located, etc. This system allows applications on both sides of the transaction to ensure they have the latest copy of the XML.