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Transaction Authority Markup Language

Webopedia Staff
Last Updated May 24, 2021 7:57 am

Shortened as XAML. XAML is a vendor-neutral standard developed jointly by Bowstreet, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle and Sun that is used to coordinate and process online business transactions. Based on XML, XAML uses a set of XML message formats and interaction models that Web services can use to provide business-level transactions that span multiple parties across the Internet.

XAML distinguishes traditional online transaction processing (OLTP), such as making banking transactions online or purchasing a product from a consumer Web site, from business Web transaction processing(BWTP), which involves Web services from multiple organizations on the Internet and must coordinate the low-level operations of commit, cancel, retry, and compensate (undo or reverse) in order to ensure business-level transaction integrity.

The following example illustrates a business-level transaction involving a set of Web services that would utilize XAML: Consider a lumber company that needs to purchase a large quantity of a chemical it uses to treat its lumber before it is sold. In order for the buyer to purchase the chemical, the company requires additional value-added services provided by third parties, such as shipping with specific delivery terms, government compliance for safe transport, payment financing and casualty insurance. The purchase cannot take place until all these services are coordinated and the buyer is satisfied. XAML will allow the different parties involved to process the transactions over the Web.