Basic Elements. cXML cXML 1.2.021

Below you will find brief information for cXML 1.2.021. This document serves as a comprehensive guide to the commerce eXtensible Markup Language (cXML), an open standard designed to facilitate electronic commerce. It details cXML's capabilities, including the exchange of catalog content, the execution of interactive PunchOut sessions for real-time product selection, and the communication of purchase orders. The guide explains how cXML is an XML implementation, its protocol specifications, basic elements, and its use across various e-commerce applications like procurement systems, commerce network hubs, and order-receiving systems, enabling seamless B2B transactions.

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Basic Elements Chapter 2 cXML Basics

Basic Elements

The following entities and elements are used throughout the cXML specification.

Most of the definitions listed here are basic vocabulary with which the higher-order business documents are described. The common type entities and the common elements representing low-level objects are defined here.

Type Entities

Most of these definitions are from the XML-Data note submission to the World Wide

Web Consortium (W3C). A few higher-level type entities that are also defined here are not from XML-Data. These types are also discussed in

“cXML Envelope” on page 38.

isoLangCode

An ISO Language Code from the ISO 639 standard.

isoCountryCode

An ISO Country Code from the ISO 3166 standard.

xmlLangCode

A language code as defined by the XML 1.0 Specification (at

www.w3.org/TR/1998/

REC-xml-19980210.html

). In the most common case, this includes an ISO 639

Language Code and (optionally) an ISO 3166 Country Code separated by a hyphen.

Unlike the full XML recommendation, IANA or private language codes should not be used in cXML. IANA and private subcodes are allowed, though they should come after a valid ISO 3166 Country Code.

The recommended cXML language code format is xx[-YY[-zzz]*]? where xx is an

ISO 639 Language code, YY is an ISO 3166 Country Code and zzz is an IANA or private subcode for the language in question. Again, use of the Country Code is always recommended. By convention, the language code is lowercase and the country code is uppercase. This is not required for correct matching of the codes.

UnitOfMeasure

UnitOfMeasure

describes how the product is packaged or shipped. It must conform to

UN/CEFACT Unit of Measure Common Codes. For a list of UN/CEFACT codes, see www.unetrades.net

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Chapter 2 cXML Basics Basic Elements

URL

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) as defined by the HTTP/1.1 standard.

Base Elements

These elements, used throughout the specification, range from generic ones such as

Name

and

Extrinsic

to specific ones such as

Money

. For information about the base

TermReference

element, see page 155.

Money

The

Money

element has three possible attributes: currency

, alternateAmount

, alternateCurrency.

The attributes currency and

alternateCurrecy must be a three-letter ISO

4217 currency code. The content of the

Money

element and of the aternateAmount attribute should be a numeric value. For example:

The optional alternateCurrency

and alternateAmount

attributes are used together to specify an amount in an alternate currency. These can be used to support dual-currency requirements such as the euro. For example:

<Money currency="USD" alternateCurrency=”EUR” alternateAmount=”14.28”>12.34

</Money>

Note:

You can optionally use commas as thousands separators. Do not use commas as decimal separators.

Country

Contains the name of the country in a location. Contained by the

PostalAddress element.

CountryCode

Contains the International ITU dial code for the country code. It can be entered onto a telephone keypad after the escape code to reach the country. Used by the

Phone

and

Fax

elements.

cXML User’s Guide 59

Basic Elements Chapter 2 cXML Basics

Contact

The Contact element contains information about any contact important to the current transaction. For example:

<Name xml:lang="en-US">Mr. Smart E. Pants</Name>

<Email>[email protected]</Email>

…

</Phone>

</Contact>

60 cXML User’s Guide 1.2.021 November 2009

Key features

Open standard for electronic commerce transactions
Supports B2B e-commerce communication
Facilitates catalog content exchange (products, services, prices)
Enables interactive PunchOut sessions for real-time browsing and ordering
Standardized communication of purchase orders
Built upon XML Document Type Definitions (DTDs)
Supports various e-commerce applications (procurement, networks, suppliers)
Flexible and robust messaging protocol

Frequently asked questions

cXML (commerce eXtensible Markup Language) is an XML-based meta-markup language designed as an open standard for facilitating electronic commerce. It acts as a protocol for passing data between applications, particularly for business-to-business (B2B) transactions over the Internet.

cXML supports key e-commerce functions including catalogs for conveying product and service content, PunchOut for interactive web sessions between applications, and the communication of purchase orders. It provides a standard, flexible, and robust language for these transactions.

PunchOut enables interactive sessions between a procurement application and a supplier's website. Users initiate a PunchOut request, browse and select products on the supplier's site, and then return the selected order information to the procurement application seamlessly, often including configured products and prices.

Each cXML document is constructed based on XML Document Type Definitions (DTDs). DTDs act as templates, defining the content model of a cXML document, including the valid order and nesting of elements, and the data types of attributes. They ensure the proper structure of cXML messages.

cXML is used by various e-commerce applications including procurement applications (like Ariba Buyer), commerce network hubs, PunchOut catalogs, and order-receiving systems. It allows these diverse systems to communicate using a single, standard language for B2B transactions.