GS1 XML publication strategy

Return to Table of Contents

The EAN.UCC XML standards have to undergo a strict formal approval process in order to ensure their accuracy and integrity within the XML messages themselves, as well as with the other EAN.UCC standards.

Once the XML messages are developed as a part of the Global Standard Management Process (GSMP), they are reviewed by the Information Technical Requirements Group (ITRG). After verifying that they meet business requirements and are technically correct, the ITRG formally approves them in a voting process. At that time, the standards receive a DRAFT status and are published on the GSMP website. The draft messages are published in order to allow users to analyse their content, test and plan pilot implementations. The overall content of those messages is not likely to be changed, but there may be the need to amend them before their final release, so they should not be considered as being a base for real implementation.

The standards become final when they are ratified by the GS1 Management Board. This typically happens once or twice a year, depending on the number of messages being developed and any major architectural changes requiring new release of all the XML messages. Upon this ratification, the messages are published as a final standard on the GSMP website. The ratified messages can be used for the final implementation.

The standards from all the previous releases (from 1.0 to 1.3.1) can be downloaded from here and the new ones (2.0 and higher versions) from the GSMP website.

NOTE: Beginning from the Release 2.0, all the minor versions of XML schemas will be published as a part of a given major version of the standards. The next major release will always contain only the latest minor versions schemas of the previous release.

Return to Table of Contents