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How DataDirect XQuery Helps the Insurance Industry Deal with ACORD Standards

ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development, http://www.acord.org) is a global, nonprofit insurance association whose mission is to facilitate the development and use of standards for the insurance, reinsurance, and related financial services industries. ACORD standards are used by hundreds of insurance and reinsurance companies, and by thousands of agents and brokers, related financial services organizations, software providers, and industry organizations worldwide. The examples presented in this section of XQuery.com were designed to show you how you can take advantage of XQuery in your efforts to adhere to and comply with ACORD standards.

About the ACORD Messages Used in Our Examples

The ACORD XML standards for Life and Annuity are defined through a set of fairly extensive XML Schema, and companies dealing with ACORD often need to create and interpret messages defined according to those XML Schema. In particular, in the example introduced here and described in the following pages in this section, we focus on TXLife (Life Business Message Specification) and XMLife (Life Data Model Specification). Concepts similar to those used in this example can be adapted for different ACORD standards, or even for different industry sectors.

    <TXLife>
        <UserAuthRequest>…</UserAuthRequest>
        <TXLifeRequest>…</TXLifeRequest>
    </TXLife>

… or …

    <TXLife>
        <UserAuthResponse>…</UserAuthResponse>
        <TXLifeResponse>…</TXLifeResponse>
        <TXLifeNotify>…</TXLifeNotify>
    </TXLife>

As long as the request message is involved, the core information is contained in the <TXLifeRequest> element, where the following values are specified:

• TransRefGUID — transaction request identifier
• TransType — transaction code that determines action (Phone Change Request tc=182, for example)
• OLifE — object(s) required to process the transaction

More details are available on the ACORD website (http://www.acord.org); you can also download documentation and related XML Schemas from the same location.

Topics Covered in the ACORD Examples

The topics presented in this section are listed here. Consider reading them in order, before optionally downloading and running the examples on your own machine.

• Relational Insurance Model Using ACORD Standards

  This topic introduces the relational model that serves as the data repository for the XQuery examples. Take a look at it before proceeding to the examples to gain some insight into the different tables and their relationships.

• XQuery Operation Examples for an ACORD Insurance Application

  Each example in this section is devoted to a particular aspect of the ACORD insurance application we built using Data Direct XQuery. You can find a .zip file of all of the sample Java, XQuery, and XML files referenced in this example here.

• Using DataDirect XQuery™ to Bind External Variables to Dynamic Values

  DataDirect XQuery™ implements the XQJ (XQuery for Java) interface. Learn how easy it is to use DataDirect XQuery™ to bind external XQuery variables to dynamic values.

• Comparing Solutions Using DataDirect XQuery™ versus SQL and XML DOM

  You can implement the same tasks described in these pages writing traditional Java code that executes SQL queries over JDBC and that fetches/create XML documents through XML DOM interfaces. But once you read this page, you probably won't want to bother — we think you'll agree that DataDirect XQuery™ presents a pretty compelling solution for all types of operations for relational, EDI, and other legacy data formats, one that is more scalable and offers easier development and maintenance than more "traditional" approaches.

• Installing and Running DataDirect XQuery™ ACORD Examples

  We have made it easy for you to download, install, and run the examples presented in these pages. Both DataDirect XQuery™ documents and relational database scripts are available in a single .zip file, and the instructions on this page will have you up and running in no time.

What's Next

Go to Relational Insurance Model Using ACORD Standards to see how we designed the relational database used in the ACORD application example described in these pages.