Message Development Process

How does the message development process begin?

The message development process begins with a hand-off from the papiNet Executive Committee (PEC) to the Main Working Group ( MWG ). The MWG forms a Task Group of interested parties with a Group Leader for the message.

What are the steps in the development process?

• After the hand-off the Task Group begins the development process by documenting the purpose of the message. Using this purpose as a framework use cases are developed to determine the desired functionality.

• The next step is to identify the business rules that relate to the processing of this message. In some cases the business rules can be codified into the XML schema rules. In other cases the business rules will have to exist as processing instructions for the message.
• Quite often a given message can have multiple variants. As an example, there may be multiple types of purchase orders that contain similar information but have very different purposes (blanket purchase order, trial purchase order, or consignment order). Identify the message types and determine if there are any special business rules applicable at this level.
• papiNet messages represent business documents and since business documents can have a certain lifecycle it may be appropriate to identify the lifecycle steps as message statuses.
• While schema development can start at any point during the preceding process it is most efficient to begin it after all the analysis has been completed. This way you can be assured that you are designing the message to meet the business requirements instead of the other way around.
• The above steps are an iterative process and should be cycled through until the Task Group and MWG are satisfied. At this point in the development process the documentation can be finalized and glossary definitions developed for new elements, attributes, and constraints.