Informix, through the recently acquired Ardent, has announced the industry`s first XML document type definition (DTD) for extraction, transformation, and transport (ETT) meta data. Ardent`s XML DTD will enable more complete meta data sharing, easing business-to-business collaboration and facilitating the integration of disparate tools inside organisations.
This announcement builds on Ardent`s open meta data strategy, and addresses the need for a published XML standard for ETT meta data.
"XML has become the preferred medium for exchanging data and meta data in Web environments," says Simon Jeggo, GM of Ardent at Informix South Africa. "Yet little attention has been paid to meta data standards. "As companies begin operating as e-businesses, the need for an XML-based meta data integration strategy will intensify."
XML transactions rely on DTDs, the schemata that define the structure of XML documents. When DTDs do not match, messages cannot always be shared.
Ardent`s XML DTD for ETT meta data will allow users to read and write XML meta data based on the DTD, maximising XML`s potential as a universal language for meta data transfer.
"Ardent`s goal is to eliminate the problem of disconnected meta data environments. By supporting XML as a standard meta data schema, we are giving our customers the ability to combine leading tools across the enterprise."
Ardent`s DataStage Suite supports reading and writing ETT meta data through this DTD, enabling industry standards-based meta data exchange with any other product that supports XML meta data interchange.
Ardent DataStage provides complete data warehouse meta data management and integration that offers broad support for sharing meta data between third-party data warehouse products. Using DataStage Suite for meta data management enables users to achieve a more accurate understanding of data.
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