XML-based advanced UDDI search mechanism for B2B integration

Exploring an appropriate business application published as a Web Service in the UDDI registry is a critical issue. Search for such an application should be effective in terms of time and uniformed in terms of interfaces. In this paper, an XML-based UDDI exploring engine that provides developers with standard interfaces for efficiently searching business and service information in single or multiple UDDI registries is proposed. We refer this engine as “Business Explorer for Web Services” (BE4WS). It is based on the proposed UDDI Search Markup Language (USML) for carrying a search request including multiple queries, key words, UDDI sources, and aggregation operators. The Advanced UDDI Search Engine (AUSE), a core component of BE4WS, processes the USMLr equest and performs advanced exploring. The basic idea of an AUSE is to aggregate search results from different UDDI registries based on the USMLreq uest and its supporting intelligent search facilities. Examples of these facilities are Instant Notification Broker, UDDI Source Dispatching Broker, and Information Aggregation Broker, all of which have both priori knowledge of the meanings of specific categories and the ability to crossreference across multiple categories. An aggregation example using BE4WS is presented to create a shipping agent for B2B integration. The conclusions are provided.