Proposal for directory specification heads to standards groups

DSML would plug directories into XML framework.

By John Fontana
Network World Fusion, 12/07/99

A who's who of directory vendors today submitted to three standards bodies a draft specification of a standard intended to position directories as a key element of corporate e-commerce.

The Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) is a proposed standard that would let directories describe their contents to each other using XML.

The upshot is that corporate directories will be able to talk to each other and to applications regardless of the syntax they use to describe the data they house. The intent is to create a standard data exchange format as directories begin to play a critical role in e-commerce, systems management and intranet-based applications.

E-commerce vendor Bowstreet first introduced the DSML 1.0 specification in July. IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and Sun/Netscape support the DSML 1.0 specification.

"This specification is the first step in integrating the directory with e-commerce and XML," says Jack Serfass, president and CEO of Bowstreet. Experts also agree that the specification is key to the evolution of the directory in corporate computing.

Bowstreet submitted the specification to the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, an international consortium focused on standardized data exchange formats. Bowstreet also submitted the standard to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which controls the base XML standard and BizTalk, a Microsoft-led initiative to develop XML formats, in hopes of garnering broad support.

DSML 1.0 could be important because each directory has a specific proprietary schema, a way to define the objects and the attributes that they house. With DSML, those directories would be able to describe that schema in a standard way using XML. Any application that incorporates XML could use DSML to talk to any directory without having to know the interfaces into the directory schema. That means developers won't have to build directory-specific applications. Also, any DSML-enabled directories would be able to share information.

DSML would obviate the need to develop a standard schema for directories, which is viewed as a near impossibility by most experts.

"Schema standardization is as likely as all the countries of the world getting together and agreeing to use just one language," says Jamie Lewis, president of The Burton Group, a Midvale, Utah consultancy. Lewis says DSML is by no means a silver bullet for directory interoperability. But it is one important step towards building an e-commerce infrastructure that can be used within companies and between business partners.

"If you are writing an XML-aware application that means you will be able to consume directory information and that is a good thing" Lewis says.

Bowstreet officials expect it will take up to a year before the DSML 1.0 specification becomes a recognized standard. With the support of the key directory players, however, the specification could become a de facto standard much sooner.

A blessing of the specification from the W3C would be important to general acceptance of the specification, but Oasis will do the majority of the work on standardizing DSML. "Oasis is the appropriate body to manage feedback on the specification because they are focused on different XML vocabularies," Serfass says. The company's Web Automation Factory, a platform for creating, managing and linking customized Web sites for business-to-business commerce, is the first product to support DSML. Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and Sun/Netscape say their respective directories will support the specification. Twenty other companies, including Lotus, Nortel, Red Hat, Netegrity and Oblix, also signed on to support the specification.