Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) provides the definition of a set of services supporting the description and discovery of (1) businesses, organizations, and other Web Services providers, (2) the Web Services they make available, and (3) the technical interfaces which may be used to access those services. The idea is to "discover" organizations and the services that organizations offer, much like using a phone book or dialing information.
UDDI was first developed by UDDI.org and then transferred to OASIS. UDDI.org was comprised of more than 300 business and technology leaders working together to enable companies and applications to quickly, easily, and dynamically find, and use Web Services.
UDDI is based on a common set of industry standards, including HTTP, XML, XML Schema, and SOAP. It provides an infrastructure for a Web Services-based software environment for both publicly available services and services only exposed internally within an organization. The UDDI Business Registry system consists of three directories:
- UDDI white pages: basic information such as a company name, address, and phone numbers, as well as other standard business identifiers like Dun & Bradstreet and tax numbers.
- UDDI yellow pages: detailed business data, organized by relevant business classifications. The UDDI version of the yellow pages classifies businesses according to the newer NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) codes, as opposed to the SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes.
- UDDI green pages: information about a company's key business processes, such as operating platform, supported programs, purchasing methods, shipping and billing requirements, and other higher-level business protocols.
Organization: OASIS
More information: UDDI page on the OASIS website (new window)
More on the general topic: Repository
