The iSURF eDoCreator 1.0 beta: Electronic Document Design and Customization Tool allows creation and customization of UN/CEFACT Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS) based document schemas. With its Web accessible user interface, the user are allowed to work collaboratively.

Customizing or creating electronic business documents is tedious, labour intensive and time-consuming process, which requires (1) analyzing of available component interfaces (2) designing spreadsheet model of the document (3) creating XSD files and finally (4) creating necessary files for each coded attributes. eDoCreator 1.0 beta, with its Web user interface facilitates these processes to a great extent. eDoCreator 1.0 beta generates the spreadsheet model of the document schema and XSD files along with the code list files.

In the current publicly accessible version of eDoCreator 1.0 beta, the UBL 2.0 artifacts such as the documents, common aggregate components, common basic components, qualified and unqualified data types are loaded to the common repository, initially.

The modeling environment supports UBL Conformant Customization and Compatible Customization. It allows (1) subsetting source document model, (2) extending source document model, (3) constraining document artifacts and (4) creation of new document artifacts from scratch. In cases when an action invalidating the Conformance Design Rules is taken, the tool warns the user that the design will not be conformant if the action is realized and let the user withdraw the action.

Furthermore, the designed conceptual model of the document is converted to a physical model, which provides technical interoperability according to UBL Naming and Design Rules. The XML schema generator automatically detects dependencies in BIEs and generates XSD files for both document schema and common artifacts. Furthermore, the tool generates some informative supporting materials in UBL directory format such as spreadsheet models and genericode files.

The slides briefly describing eDoCrator 1.0 beta is available at http://www.srdc.com.tr/eDoCreator/eDoCreator.ppt. Furthermore, a number of viewlets demonstrating features of the tool are available online:

• Overview of the tool:
  • http://www.srdc.com.tr/eDoCreator/DocumentDesignerToolViewlets/main.htm
• Creating a new document artifact:
  • http://www.srdc.com.tr/eDoCreator/DocumentDesignerToolViewlets/createMessage.htm
• Qualifying a data type:
  • http://www.srdc.com.tr/eDoCreator/DocumentDesignerToolViewlets/datatype.htm
• Conformant Customization:
  • http://www.srdc.com.tr/eDoCreator/DocumentDesignerToolViewlets/conformantCustomization.htm
• Compatible Customization:
  • http://www.srdc.com.tr/eDoCreator/DocumentDesignerToolViewlets/compatibleCustomization.htm
• Documentation of Document Model:
  • http://www.srdc.com.tr/eDoCreator/DocumentDesignerToolViewlets/exportXSD.htm