Calico Commerce Supports XML Schema Specification as Emerging Standard for e-Business

Business Wire, Oct 24, 2000

Business Editors and High Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)

Oct. 24, 2000

Calico to Incorporate W3C's XML Schema into its Suite of eBusiness

Applications for Faster Integration and Easier Collaboration

Calico Commerce, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLIC), a leading provider of software that enables corporations to sell over the Web, today announced its support of the newly released Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema specification published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Calico, an active member of W3C, is incorporating the newly released specification into its eBusiness application suite in order to make its software even easier to integrate and even more compatible with other leading software packages.

"The promise of the Internet is very much tied to interoperability. And the value proposition of eBusiness depends on the ability to truly collaborate with partners and customers in a meaningful and efficient way," said Dave Cardinal, chief technology officer, Calico Commerce. "This emerging XML Schema is a key enabler in turning these visions into reality. By establishing standards for managing XML data, W3C is meeting its mission of maximizing the potential of the Web."

The XML Schema facilitates the process of associating datatypes with XML element types and attributes, enabling XML software to do a better job of managing dates, numbers and other special forms of information. The Schema also provides a method for describing the structure and constraining the contents of XML documents. The newly released specification is the first step in the development of a powerful, vendor-neutral format for defining the rules that govern particular kinds of XML data.

"Calico is dedicated to this mission of maximizing the real potential of the Web," said Cardinal. "We're committed to working with other industry leaders to make software more robust and systems more able to change and adapt to evolving situations. In this day when multi-vendor IT environments are the norm in most enterprises, it is critical that we continually find ways to speed application integration and improve data exchange between disparate platforms."

Under these new guidelines, when XML is used to exchange technical information in a multi-vendor environment, schemas will allow software to distinguish data governed by industry-standard and vendor-specific schemas. Applications will then know when it is safe to ignore information they do not understand and when they must not do so. Any existing XML processor can read an XML Schema, and interchange will be easy. Schemas, such as the new XML specification, help make software more robust and systems more able to change and adapt to evolving situations. XML, in accordance with its origin, provides methods of expressing syntactic validity constraints on document content, without attempting any formal specification of the meaning of markup.

Calico joins other W3C members in its support of the XML Schema, including companies such as Academia Sinica; ArborText, Inc; Bootstrap Alliance and LSU; Calico Commerce Inc.; Commerce One; Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA); DevelopMentor; Distributed Systems Technology Centre (DSTC Pty Ltd); Graphic Communications Association; Health Level Seven; Hewlett Packard Company; IBM; Informix; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Lotus Development Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; Microstar; MITRE; NCR; Oracle Corp.; Progress Software; SAP AG; Software AG; Sun Microsystems; TIBCO Software; University of Edinburgh; webMethods, Inc; Xerox; and XMLSolutions.

About the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly run by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT LCS) in the USA, the National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA) in France and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by the Consortium include: a repository of information about the World Wide Web for developers and users, reference code implementations to embody and promote standards, and various prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new technology. To date, more than 460 organizations are members of the Consortium. For more information about the World Wide Web Consortium, see http://www.w3.org/.> About Calico Commerce, Inc.

Calico Commerce, Inc. provides software that enables corporations to sell in Net markets, direct over the Web or through existing channels. Calico's 100% Java, application server-based eBusiness application suite meets the performance, reliability and scalability needs of any business while allowing customers to handle complex products, pricing and relationships via the Web through the entire customer life cycle. As a result, organizations are able to drive revenue growth, increase customer satisfaction and achieve competitive advantage. Calico customers include leaders in high-technology hardware, manufacturing, telecommunications services, financial services, home furnishings, chemicals, agriculture and retail. Calico Commerce, Inc., headquartered in San Jose, Calif., can be found on the World Wide Web at www.calico.com.