XBRL, HL7 and the rise of domain data models

Been reading several items relating to the new proposal to require the use of XBRL for financial reporting. Indeed, Kurt Cagle has an extensive post, saying "this should be interesting." He suggests that this development should have a number of effects, including an increased need for Xml skills. Even Alexander Falk of XmlSpy (actually the company name is Altova but their flagship app is xmlspy) has commented on his company's product native support for both XBRL and HL7.

While I haven't worked intimately with XBRL, I have looked at their library from a design / best practice perspective as it relates to the other Xml Consortia for whom I have consulted. Its ontological nature is interesting and I think has something to say about that kind of data model.
The reason I group HL7 in there is because of the new administration's effort to push for electronic records in health care. This doesn't name HL7 by name, but one can't help but connect the two. Now having worked with a number of Xml Consortia, from human resources to supply chain management to media to research administration, I have always been amazed at the contrast between how technologically advanced the product is (medical care) and how *under*-automated the infrastructure is.

So I'll end the post by saying that I hope the trend is for the better. There is so much really good work being done in these domain Consortia and I'd love to see them have a broader impact. Yes, they each have their quirks (and not all of them are worth implementing), but the promise of domain data models has always been good. And there are many of us out there who are working to make these Consortia adopt common design patterns. Now we need to roll up our shirt sleeves and make them more of a reality.

Schema Lightener 2.0 released

Announcing a new release of the “Xml Schema Lightener” utility. It has been completely updated and is now version 2.0.

What it does
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It takes an Xml Schema and creates a subset based on user input. Some refer to this with terms such as a “subset Schema view”, “pruned Schema”, “LiteBOD”, or “profiled Schema”.

Why it does this
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Consider these use cases:

1. You have an Xml Schema and want to implement a subset (a selected portion) of the data points. Or you want to communicate the selected data points to an audience.
2. You have an internal data model in Schema and want to communicate to a trading partner only the data points necessary for a particular integration.
3. You are implementing an Xml Schema acquired from somewhere else (i.e. from a trading partner, or from a standards consortium such as OAGi, HR-XML, etc.) and want to implement only the data points relevant to your business context.
   

In all these cases, it would be useful to create a Schema that shows these points and can be used for validation. The Xml Schema Lightener allows you to create the contextual Schema that each of these require. It does it using simple XSLT and Xml. And a GUI is included to make it easy to use.

It has been heavily tested, includes a free flattener, and also has a simple GUI too.

Cost effective
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This utility is presented with its full functionality in a very inexpensive package. The $29 (USD) price does not cover the full cost of development and is simply a way to offset a portion of its creation and keep it going.

For more information
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See http://www.xmlhelpline.com/tools/ for more information and FAQ.

the joys of air travel

Cost of checked bag: $25

Cost of "emergency" exit seat: $30

In flight meal: $5

Bottle of water: $2

Airline customer service: priceless