ISO/TS 15000-5:2005

TECHNICAL ISO/TS
SPECIFICATION 15000-5
First edition
2005-09-15
Electronic Business Extensible Markup
Language (ebXML) —
Part 5:
ebXML Core Components Technical
Specification, Version 2.01(ebCCTS)
Commerce électronique en langage de balisage extensible (ebXML) —
Partie 5: Spécification technique des composants principaux (ebXML),
Version 2.01(ebCCTS)
Reference number
©
ISO 2005
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ii © ISO 2005 – All rights reserved

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
In other circumstances, particularly when there is an urgent market requirement for such documents, a
technical committee may decide to publish other types of normative document:
 an ISO Publicly Available Specification (ISO/PAS) represents an agreement between technical experts in
an ISO working group and is accepted for publication if it is approved by more than 50 % of the members
of the parent committee casting a vote;
 an ISO Technical Specification (ISO/TS) represents an agreement between the members of a technical
committee and is accepted for publication if it is approved by 2/3 of the members of the committee
casting a vote.
An ISO/PAS or ISO/TS is reviewed after three years in order to decide whether it will be confirmed for a
further three years, revised to become an International Standard, or withdrawn. If the ISO/PAS or ISO/TS is
confirmed, it is reviewed again after a further three years, at which time it must either be transformed into an
International Standard or be withdrawn.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/TS 15000-5 was prepared jointly by Technical Committee ISO/TC 154, Processes, data elements and
documents in commerce, industry and administration in collaboration with UN/CEFACT.
ISO/TS 15000 consists of the following parts, under the general title Electronic business eXtensible mark-up
language (ebXML):
 Part 1: Collaboration-protocol profile and agreement specification (ebCPP)
 Part 2: Message service specification (ebMS)
 Part 3: Registry information model specification (ebRIM)
 Part 4: Registry services specification (ebRS)
 Part 5: ebXML Core Components Technical Specification, Version 2.01(ebCCTS)

UN/CEFACT
United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business

Core Components Technical Specification –
Part 8 of the ebXML Framework
15 November 2003
Version 2.01
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UN/CEFACT
United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business

1 Status of This Document
This UN/CEFACT Technical Specification has been developed in accordance with the
UN/CEFACT/TRADE/22 Open Development Process (ODP) for Technical Specifications. It has
been approved by the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business
(UN/CEFACT) Techniques and Methodologies Group (TMG) for promulgation as a UN/CEFACT
Technical Specification in accordance with Step 7 of the ODP.
This document contains information to guide in the interpretation or implementation of ebXML
concepts.
Distribution of this document is unlimited.
The document formatting is based on the Internet Society’s Standard RFC format.
This version: Core Components Technical Specification – Part 8 of the ebXML Framework, Version
2.01 of 15 November 2003
Previous version: UN/CEFACT – Core Components Technical Specification, Version 2.0 of 11
August 2003
This edition is an updated version of Core Components Technical Specification Version 2.0 (first
published 11 August 2003); it merely incorporates a title correction and minor first-edition errata
related to ebXML references as a convenience to readers.

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2 Core Components Technical Specification Administration
The leaders and editors express gratitude to the significant number of participants who
contributed to the successful completion of this document.
We would like to recognise the following for their significant participation to the development
of this Technical Specification.
Project Team Leader: Alan Sitzer  Marsh USA, Inc
Lead Editor: Mark Crawford LMI
Editing Team Mike Adcock  APACS
Mary Kay Blantz AIAG (Past Project Team Lead)
Arofan Gregory AEON Consulting
Alan Stitzer  Marsh, Inc.
Frank Vandamme SWIFT
James Whittle  e Centre
Contributors:
Hartmut Hermes Siemens (Past Project Team Lead)
Bernd Boesler  DIN
Todd Boyle  NetAccount
Kerstien Celis  Seagha c.v.
Jean-Luc Champion Enterprise Integration Partners
Marianne Cockle APACS
Scott Colthurst State Farm
Alain Dechamps CEN/ISSS
Eduardo Gutentag Sun Microsystems
Paula Heilig  Worldspan
Stig Korsgaard Danish Bankers Association
Melanie McCarthy General Motors
Sue Probert  Commerce One
Andreas Schultz DKV
Lisa Seaburg  AEON Consulting
Gunther Stuhec SAP AG
Hisanao Sugamata ECOM-Japan
Herbert Thomas AustriaPro
Fred Van Blommestein Berenschot
Nigel Wooden            ACORD

This technical specification is dedicated to our friend and collegue Mike Adcock without
whose tireless efforts and significant contribution this specification would not be possible.

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3 Table of Contents
1 Status of This Document.2
2 Core Components Technical Specification Administration.3
3 Table of Contents .4
4 Introduction .7
4.1 Scope and Focus.7
4.2 Structure of this Specification.8
4.2.1 Notation.8
4.3 Conformance.9
4.4 Related Documents.9
4.5 Overview.10
4.6 Key Concepts.11
4.6.1 Key Core Component Concepts.11
4.6.2 Key Business Information Entity Concepts .15
4.7 Relationship between UN/CEFACT Modelling Methodology
and Core Components .19
5 Working Process and Methodology .20
5.1 Overview.20
5.1.1 Discovery.20
5.1.2 How to use UN/CEFACT Core Components .21
5.1.2.1 Core Components and Semantic Interoperability .21
5.1.2.2 Overall Discovery and Document Design.22
5.2 Core Components Discovery .25
5.2.1 Core Component Discovery – Preparation Steps.25
5.2.2 Core Component Discovery – Search Registry/Repository.26
5.2.3 Core Component Discovery – Basic and Association Business
Information Entities .28
5.2.4 Data Types, Property, and Identifying Similarities.28
5.3 Preparation for Submission.29
5.3.1 Applying the Naming Convention to a New Item.29
5.3.2 Preparation for Submitting New Items.32
5.3.2.1 New Aggregate Core Components.32
5.3.2.2 New Basic Core Components .34
5.3.2.3 New Aggregate Business Information Entities which re-use
Existing Aggregate Core Components.34
5.4 Harmonization.35
5.5 Technical Assessment and Approval .36
5.6 Context in the Discovery Process.37
5.6.1 Context Categories.37
5.6.2 Guidelines for Analysing Business Information Entities in Context .38
6 Technical Details.41
6.1 Core Components, Data Types and Business Information Entities .41
6.1.1 Core Components.41
6.1.2 Data Types.44
6.1.3 Business Information Entities .44
6.1.4 Naming Convention.46
6.1.4.1 Core Component Naming Rules .47
6.1.4.1.1 Core Component Dictionary Information .47
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6.1.4.1.2 Core Component General Rules.48
6.1.4.1.3 Core Component Rules for Definitions.48
6.1.4.1.4 Core Component Rules for Dictionary Entry Names.49
6.1.4.1.5 Rules for Core Component Business Terms .51
6.1.4.2 Rules for Business Information Entities.51
6.1.4.2.1 Business Information Entity Dictionary Information.51
6.1.4.2.2 Business Information Entity General Rules .52
6.1.4.2.3 Business Information Entity Rules for Definitions .52
6.1.4.2.4 Rules for Business Information Entity Dictionary Entry Names.53
6.1.4.2.5 Rules for Business Information Entity Business Terms.54
6.1.4.3 Rules for Data Types.54
6.1.4.3.1 Data Type Dictionary Information.54
6.1.4.3.2 Data Type General Rules .55
6.1.4.3.3 Data Type Rules for Definitions .55
6.1.4.3.4 Rules for Data Type Dictionary Entry Names .55
6.1.4.3.5 List of Permissible Representation Terms .56
6.1.5 Catalogue of Core Components .57
6.1.6 Catalogue of Business Information Entities.58
6.2 Context.58
6.2.1 Overview of Context Specification .58
6.2.1.1 Context Categories.59
6.2.1.2 Constraint Language.59
6.2.1.3 Syntax Binding.60
6.2.2 Approved Context Categories .60
6.2.2.1 Business Process Context.61
6.2.2.2 Product Classification Context.62
6.2.2.3 Industry Classification Context.62
6.2.2.4 Geopolitical Context.63
6.2.2.5 Official Constraints Context.64
6.2.2.6 Business Process Role Context .65
6.2.2.7 Supporting Role Context.65
6.2.2.8 System Capabilities Context.65
6.2.3 Context Values.66
6.2.4 Core Components Context Constraints Language .66
6.2.4.1 Assembly Construct.73
6.2.4.2 ContextRules Construct.73
6.2.4.3 Output Constraints.74
6.2.4.4 Ordering and Application.74
7 Technical Details - Core Component Registry/Repository Storage.75
7.1 Storing Core Components.75
7.1.1 Stored Core Components .76
7.1.2 Stored Aggregate Core Components.77
7.1.3 Stored Core Component Properties.77
7.1.4 Stored Basic Core Component Properties.78
7.1.5 Stored Association Core Component Properties.78
7.1.6 Stored Basic Core Components.78
7.1.7 Stored Association Core Components.78
7.1.8 Stored Core Component Types .78
7.1.9 Stored Supplementary Components.79
7.1.10 Stored Content Components.80
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7.2 Storing Data Types.80
7.2.1 Stored Data Types .80
7.2.2 Stored Content Component Restrictions.81
7.2.3 Stored Supplementary Component Restrictions .83
7.3 Stored Context.84
7.3.1 Stored Business Contexts.84
7.3.2 Stored Classification Schemes .84
7.3.3 Stored Context Values.85
7.4 Stored Business Information Entities.85
7.4.1 Stored Aggregate Business Information Entities .86
7.4.2 Stored Aggregate Business Information Entities .87
7.4.3 Stored Business Information Entity Properties .88
7.4.4 Stored Basic Business Information Entity Properties .88
7.4.5 Stored Association Core Component Properties.89
7.4.6 Stored Basic Business Information Entities .89
7.4.7 Stored Association Business Information Entities.89
7.5 Core Component Storage Metadata .89
7.5.1 General Metadata Storage Rules .91
7.5.2 Management Information.91
7.5.2.1 Administrative Information.91
7.5.2.2 Status Information.92
7.5.2.3 Change History.92
7.5.2.4 Replacement Information.92
7.5.3 Content Information.93
7.5.3.1 Descriptive Information.93
7.5.3.2 Representation Information.93
7.5.3.3 Association Information.94
8 Approved Core Component Type, Content, and Supplementary
Components; and Permissible Representation Terms.95
8.1 Approved Core Component Types.95
8.2 Approved Core Component Type Content and Supplementary
Components.97
8.3 Permissible Representation Terms.100
9 Definition of Terms.103
10 References.109
11 Disclaimer.111
12 Contact Information.112
Copyright Statement .113

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4 Introduction
This Core Components Technical Specification describes and specifies a new approach to the
well-understood problem of the lack of information interoperability between applications in
the e-business arena. Traditionally, standards for the exchange of business data have been
focused on static message definitions that have not enabled a sufficient degree of
interoperability or flexibility. A more flexible and interoperable way of standardising
Business Semantics is required. The UN/CEFACT (United Nations Centre for Trade
Facilitation and Electronic Business) Core Component solution described in this specification
presents a methodology for developing a common set of semantic building blocks that
represent the general types of business data in use today and provides for the creation of new
business vocabularies and restructuring of existing business vocabularies.
The keywords MUST, MUST NOT, REQUIRED, SHALL, SHALL NOT, SHOULD,
SHOULD NOT, RECOMMENDED, MAY, and OPTIONAL, when they appear in this
document, are to be interpreted as described in Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Request For Comments (RFC) 2119.1
4.1 Scope and Focus
This Core Components Technical Specification can be employed wherever business
information is being shared or exchanged amongst and between enterprises, governmental
agencies, and/or other organisations in an open and worldwide environment. The Core
Components User Community consists of business people, business document modellers and
business data modellers, Business Process modellers, and application developers of different
organisations that require interoperability of business information. This interoperability
covers both interactive and batch exchanges of business data between applications through
the use of Internet and Web based information exchanges as well as traditional Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) systems.
This specification will form the basis for standards development work of business analysts,
business users and information technology specialists supplying the content of and
implementing applications that will employ the UN/CEFACT Core Component Library
(CCL). The Core Component Library will be stored in a UN/CEFACT repository and
identified in an ebXML compliant registry.
Due to the evolving nature of the UN/CEFACT Core Component Library, the specification
includes material that focuses on the business community doing further discovery and
analysis work. Some of the contents of this specification are not typical of this type of
technical document. However, they are critical for successful adoption and standardization in
this area to move forward.
Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels - Internet Engineering
Task Force, Request For Comments 2119, March 1997,
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt?number=2119
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4.2 Structure of this Specification
Due to the diversity of the intended audience, this document has been divided into five main
Sections.
• Section 5: Working Process and Methodology for Business UsersDiscovery,
Harmonization, Assessment and How to Use [informative]
• Section 6: Technical DetailsCore Components and Context [normative]
• Section 7: Technical DetailsStorage and Metadata [normative]
• Section 8: Technical Details Permissible Representation Terms and Approved
Core Component Type, Content, and Supplementary Components [normative]
• Section 9: Definition of Terms [normative]
Sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 are complementary, but may also be used independently of each other.
Section 5 is informative. A business audience may choose to read through the working
process and methodology section (Section 5) and only reference the Technical Details
(Sections 6, 7 and 8) as needed. Sections 6, 7 and 8 are normative. A technical audience may
choose to focus on the technical details (Sections 6, 7, and 8), referring to the methodology
(Section 5) and example (published as a supplemental document) sections as appropriate,
using the current permissible Representation Terms and approved Core Component Type,
Content, and Supplementary Components (Section 8) and the glossary (Section 9).
In addition, the UN/CEFACT Forum will prepare supplemental documents that may be used
in conjunction with this Core Components Technical Specification. These supplemental
documents will include:
• Message Assembly – expands on the Assembly principles and Constraints
Language contained in the Core Components Technical Specification and
provides specific methodology for assembling higher level Business Information
Entities for electronic messages.
• Core Components Primer – details how the contents of Sections 5, 6, and 7 would
be used in practice to create a library of Core Components and Business
Information Entities.
• Catalogue of Core Components – represents the work of various organizations
working in a joint endeavour to develop and publish semantically correct and
meaningful information exchange parcels.
4.2.1 Notation
[Definition] – A formal definition of a term. Definitions are normative.
[Example] – A representation of a definition or a rule. Examples are informative.
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[Note] – Explanatory information. Notes are informative.
[Rn] – Identification of a rule that requires conformance to ensure discovered Core
Components are properly discovered, named and stored. The value R is a prefix to categorise
the type of rule where R=A for Conformance rule, R=B for Business Information Entity rule,
R=C for Core Component rule, R=D for Data Type rule, or R=S for Storage rule; and n (1.n)
indicates the sequential number of the rule]. Rules are normative. In order to ensure
continuity across versions of the specification, rule numbers that are deleted will not be re-
issued, and any new rules will be assigned the next higher number - regardless of location in
the text.
Italics – All words appearing in italics, when not titles or used for emphasis, are special terms
defined in Section 9.
Courier – All words appearing in bolded courier font are values or objects.
4.3 Conformance
Applications will be considered to be in full conformance with this technical specification if
they comply with the content of normative sections, rules and definitions.
[A1] Conformance shall be determined through adherence to the content of normative
sections, rules and definitions.
4.4 Related Documents
The following documents provided significant levels of influence in the development of this
document:
 ebXML Technical Architecture Specification v1.04
 ebXML Business Process Specification Schema v1.01
 OASIS/ebXML Registry Information Model v2.0
 OASIS/ebXML Registry Services Specification v2.0
 ebXML Requirements Specification v1.06
 OASIS/ebXML Collaboration-Protocol Profile and Agreement Specification v2.0
 OASIS/ebXML Message Service Specification v2.0
 ebXML Technical Report, Business Process and Business Information Analysis
Overview v1.0
 ebXML Business Process Analysis Worksheets & Guidelines v1.0
 ebXML Technical Report, E-Commerce Patterns v1.0
 ebXML Technical Report, Catalog of Common Business Processes v1.0
 ebXML Technical Report, Core Component Overview v1.05
 ebXML Technical Report, Core Component Discovery and Analysis v1.04
 ebXML Technical Report, Context and Re-Usability of Core Components v1.04
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 ebXML Technical Report, Guide to the Core Components Dictionary v1.04
 ebXML Technical Report, Naming Convention for Core Components v1.04
 ebXML Technical Report, Document Assembly and Context Rules v1.04
 ebXML Technical Report, Catalogue of Context Categories v1.04
 ebXML Technical Report, Core Component Dictionary v1.04
 ebXML Technical Report, Core Component Structure v1.04
 Information Technology - Metadata registries: Framework for the Specification and
Standardization of Data Elements, International Standardization Organization, ISO
11179-1
 Information Technology - Metadata registries: Classification of Concepts for the
Identification of Domains, International Standardization Organization,
ISO 11179-2
 Information Technology - Metadata registries: Registry Metamodel, International
Standardization Organization, ISO 11179-3
 Information Technology - Metadata registries: Rules and Guidelines for the
Formulation of Data Definitions, International Standardization Organization, ISO
11179-4
 Information Technology - Metadata registries: Naming and Identification Principles
for Data Elements, International Standardization Organization, ISO 11179-5
 Information Technology - Metadata registries: Framework for the Specification and
Standardization of Data Elements, International Standardization Organization, ISO
11179-6
4.5 Overview
This Core Components Technical Specification provides a way to identify, capture and
maximize the re-use of business information to support and enhance information
interoperability across multiple business situations. The specification focuses both on human-
readable and machine-processable representations of this information.
The Core Components approach described in this document is more flexible than current
standards in this area because the semantic standardisation is done in a syntax-neutral
fashion. Using Core Components as part of the ebXML framework will help to ensure that
two trading partners using different syntaxes [e.g. Extensible Markup Language (XML) and
United Nations/EDI for Administration, Commerce, and Transport (UN/EDIFACT)] are
using Business Semantics in the same way on condition that both syntaxes have been based
on the same Core Components. This enables clean mapping between disparate message
definitions across syntaxes, industry and regional boundaries.
UN/CEFACT Business Process and Core Component solutions capture a wealth of
information about the business reasons for variation in message semantics and structure. In
the past, such variations have introduced incompatibilities. The Core Components
mechanism uses this rich information to allow identification of exact similarities and
differences between semantic models. Incompatibility becomes incremental rather than
wholesale, i.e. the detailed points of difference are noted, rather than a whole model being
dismissed as incompatible.
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4.6 Key Concepts
The Core Components Technical Specification key concepts cover two focus areas—Core
Components and Business Information Entities. Each of these focus areas is discussed in the
following subsections. In each subsection concepts are introduced, followed by a normative
definition and, where appropriate, an example for each.
4.6.1 Key Core Component Concepts
The central concept of this specification is the Core Component. The Core Component is a
semantic building block, which is used as a basis to construct all electronic business
messages.
[Definition] Core Component (CC)
A building block for the creation of a semantically correct and meaningful information
exchange package. It contains only the information pieces necessary to describe a
specific concept.
There are four different categories of Core Components: Basic Core Component, Association
Core Component, Core Component Type and Aggregate Core Component. The following
definitions explain each of these:
[Definition] Basic Core Component (BCC)
A Core Component which constitutes a singular business characteristic of a specific
Aggregate Core Component that represents an Object Class. It has a unique Business
Semantic definition. A Basic Core Component represents a Basic Core Component
Property and is therefore of a Data Type, which defines its set of values. Basic Core
Components function as the Properties of Aggregate Core Components.

[Definition] Association Core Component (ASCC)
A Core Component which constitutes a complex business characteristic of a specific
Aggregate Core Component that represents an Object Class. It has a unique Business
Semantic definition. An Association Core Component represents an Association Core
Component Property and is associated to an Aggregate Core Component, which
describes its structure.
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[Example] Association Core Component

Person. Details
• Name (Text)
•Bi rth Date (Date)
Official Address
Residence
Address. Details
•Street (Text)
• (Text)
Post Code
•Town (Text)
•Country (Identifier)
The example shows two Aggregate Core Components, Person. Details and
Address. Details. Each Aggregate Core Component has a number of Properties (i.e.
business characteristics). The Aggregate Core Component Person. Details has four
Properties, namely Name, Birth Date, Residence and Official Address. The
Aggregate Core Component Address. Details also has four Properties, namely
Street, Post Code, Town and Country.
Most of these Properties are Basic Core Components. These Properties represent a
singular business characteristic and their set of allowed values is defined by a Data Type.
The Data Types Name, Street, Post Code and Town are of the Data Type Text,
Birth Date is of the Data Type Date and Country is of the Data Type Identifier.
The other Properties are Association Core Components. They represent complex
business characteristics and their structure is therefore defined by another Aggregate
Core Component. Residence and Official Address are both Association Core
Components and their structure is described by Address. Details.
This example will therefore result in following set of Core Components:
• Person. Details (Aggregate Core Component)
• Person. Name. Text (Basic Core Component)
• Person. Birth. Date (Basic Core Component)
• Person. Residence. Address (Association Core Component)
• Person. Official. Address (Association Core Component)
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[Example] Association Core Component (Continued)
• Address. Details (Aggregate Core Component)
• Address. Street. Text (Basic Core Component)
• Address. Post Code. Text (Basic Core Component)
• Address. Town. Text (Basic Core Component)
• Address. Country. Identifier (Basic Core Component)
[Definition] Core Component Type (CCT)
A Core Component, which consists of one and only one Content Component, that carries
the actual content plus one or more Supplementary Components giving an essential extra
definition to the Content Component. Core Component Types do not have Business
Semantics.
[Example] Core Component Types
For a Core Component Type of Amount. Type, the Content Component carries the
value of 12. This value has no semantic meaning on its own. But 12 Euro, where Euro
is the Supplementary Component that gives essential extra definition to the Content
Component, does have meaning.
[Definition] Aggregate Core Component
A collection of related pieces of business information that together convey a distinct
business meaning, independent of any specific Business Context. Expressed in modelling
terms, it is the representation of an Object Class, independent of any specific Business
Context.
[Example] – Aggregate Core Component
Aggregate: Financial Account. Details
Definition: A service through a bank or other organization through which funds are held
on behalf of a client.
Basic Core Components:
• Financial Account. Identifier
• Financial Account. Name
See section 6.1.4 for detailed rules for developing Core Component names.
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[Example] – Aggregate Core Component (Continued)
• Financial Account. Country. Identifier
• Financial Account. Product Type. Identifier
• Financial Account. Nickname. Name
Core Components (and Business Information Entities) have Properties that are defined by
Data Types.
A Data Type represents the full range of values that shall be used for the representation of a
particular Core Component Property. A Data Type must be based on one of the Core
Component Types, but may include restrictions of the set of values of that Core Component
Type’s Content Component and/or Supplementary Component(s).
[Definition] – Data Type
Defines the set of valid values that can be used for a particular Basic Core Component
Property or Basic Business Information Entity Property. It is defined by specifying
restrictions on the Core Component Type that forms the basis of the Data Type.
The diagram in Figure 4-1 shows the relationships between the various Core Component
elements.
Figure 4-1. Core Component Overview
W ithout business
Content
sem antics
Com ponent
C onsists of
1-n
Supplem entary
Co m p o n en t
C onsists of
C o r e C o m ponent Type ( C C T)
Specif ies
restrictions on
W ith known business
sem antics
Da t a T yp e
Def ines set
of v alues of
B a s ic C o r e C o m ponent
A s s o ci at i on C o r e
Com ponent
Prov ides a sim ple
characteristic of and is
aggregated in
Prov ides a com plex
characteristic of and is
aggregated in
A ggr egate C o r e C o m pon en t

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14 © ISO 2005 – All rights reserved

UN/CEFACT Technical Specification 2003-11-15

4.6.2 Key Business Information Entity Concepts
The key differentiator between Core Components and Business Information Entities is the
concept of Business Context. Business Context is a mechanism for qualifying and refining
Core Components according to their use under particular business circumstances. Once
Business Contexts are identified, Core Components can be differentiated to take into account
any necessary qualification and refinement needed to support the use of the Core Component
in the given Business Context. The Business Process definition provides a high level
description of the use of a message and its contents.
[Definition] Business Context
The formal description of a specific business circumstance as identified by the values of a
set of Context Categories, allowing different business circumstances to be uniquely
distinguished.
When a Core Component is used in a real business circumstance it serves as the basis of a
Business Information Entity. The Business Information Entity is the result of using a Core
Component within a specific Business Context.
[Definition] Business Information Entity (BIE)
A piece of business data or a group of pieces of business data with a unique Business
Semantic definition. A Business Information Entity can be a Basic Business Information
Entity (BBIE), an Association Business Information Entity (ASBIE), or an Aggregate
Business Information Entity (ABIE).
A specific relationship exists between Core Components and Business Information Entities.
Core Components and Business Information Entities are complementary in many respects.
Core Components are intended to be the linchpin for creating interoperable Business Process
models and business documents using a Controlled Vocabulary.
There are three different categories of Business Information Entities: Basic Business
Information Entity, Association Business Information Entity, and Aggregate Business
Information Entity. The most primitive of these is the Basic Business Information Entity. A
Basic Business Information Entity is a Basic Core Component used in a specific Business
Context.
[Definition] Basic Business Information Entity (BBIE)
A Business Information Entity that represents a singular business characteristic of a
specific Object Class in a specific Business Context. It has a unique Business Semantic
definition. A Basic Business Information Entity represents a Basic Business Information
Entity Property and is therefore linked to a Data Type, which describes it values. A Basic
Business Information Entity is derived from a Basic Core Component.

The Core Components’ Context mechanism provides the more detailed linkage between specific business data
and the exact circumstances of its business use.
Core Components Technical Specification V2.01
Part 8 of the ebXML Framework Page 15 of 113

UN/CEFACT Technical Specification 2003-11-15
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