Abstract: The present invention includes a method and device for updating a self-describing, structured document. A further aspect of the present invention is enabling client-based modification of the document. Additional aspects of the present invention are described in the claims, specification and drawings.

Abstract: A method and computer system are described for conducting commercial transactions by the exchange of electronic documents. The computer system includes a transaction services network, which comprises a plurality of transaction servers for providing services to support commercial transactions. Trading partners operate servers which communicate with the transaction services network via the Internet. The electronic documents are exchanged between trading partners engaged in a transaction. The documents are written in a markup language such as XML. The tags used in the document instances are defined in schemas. Each schema defines a document type, which corresponds to a type of transaction. An enhanced type of XML schema may be used which supports integrity constraints and polymorphism. Schemas are identified by the use of Uniform Resource Names.