The ISO/TS 15000-5 ebXML Core Component Technical Specification, Version 2.01 (ebCCTS), has been published as an ISO standard in September 2006. (ebXML is the Electronic Business Extensible Markup Language.)

Core components are the building blocks from which you develop semantically correct, meaningful packages for transporting business information.

UN/CEFACT aims at establishing core components as the standard for the future development of electronic messages. The CCTS approach is intended to enhance interoperability between e-business applications, thus improving the flow of information between companies. Unlike previous interchange standards, which have been mainly based on static message definitions, UN/CEFACT's CCTS now emphasizes a method for developing a set of general-purpose semantic building blocks -- the Core Components. Various working groups are currently cooperating under the umbrella of UN/CEFACT to model general types of business data in use today, to develop new business vocabularies, and to revise existing ones. See also "Core Components Technical Specification - Part 8 of the ebXML Framework, Version 2.01" of November 15, 2003 (PDF format)

GEFEG.FX 6.0 is the world's first software to implement the Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS). This means you can use GEFEG.FX to develop CCTS-based data models. Furthermore, the results of CEFACT working group TBG17 are available for downloading in a special reader version of the software. (Download TBG17 Reader)

For more information and practical experience with CCTS, we recommend the "Core Components" training course.

The Benefits of GEFEG.FX

A holistic approach that integrates UML, CCTS, EDI and XML standards UML-based solution for modeling e-business standards, including ebXML Core Components modeling and schema development (Odette, OASIS UBL, CEFACT ATG) Models and schemas: comments on inherited objects, restrictions on inherited facets, enumerations/code lists Schema Editor with focus on content rather than XML syntax Model Editor with focus on content rather than UML syntax Derive schema profiles and sample instances Generate standard-conforming guidelines Industry and user-specific documentation templates XMI and Excel import/export for data models Export W3C-conforming XML schemas from data models; export CCTS data models to OASIS UBL or CEFACT ATG2 Naming and Design Rules (NDR)