The third version of a specification for web services directories has officially passed to the Organization for Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS).

OASIS yesterday confirmed a Computerwire report it will steward technical work for Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI). The specification was conceived by IBM, Microsoft Corp and Ariba Inc and earlier versions were developed by UDDI.org

UDDI.org said the transition happened at a time when new features and enhancements were appearing that better meet requirements of implementers and end users.

Grass-roots reports suggest early versions of UDDI may have failed to meet some needs. Adopters are actually hard-wiring some web services together or using Light Weight Directory Access (LDAP)-based directories instead of UDDI directories to hold web services data.

OASIS called UDDI version 3.0, revealed last week by Computerwire, a "strong foundation" for building Web services architectures.

Version three improves replication between UDDI directories. Features include improved support for Web Services Description Language (WSDL) and changes to the UDDI schema, the ability to receive proactive notifications on services and changes to UDDI registries, and the ability to take web services registrations from a local registry and build them to a private or public registry. Security is enhanced, with support for XML-based digital signatures.

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