1.1 <IvesMessage>

The <IvesMessage> is the top level tag in a given IVES document and acts as a container for the elements that are being transmitted in the IVES document.

The ordering of the types of elements that it can contain is defined by the schema as <ContactDefinition>, <VenueDefinition>, <PersonDefinition>, <GroupDefinition>, <DescriptionDefinition>, <LinkDefinition>, <SupplierSpecificProperty>, <Event> but the order of the individual tags is arbitrary and doesn't mean anything. ie the fact that one <Event> occurs before or after another <Event> in an <IvesMessage> doesn't imply anything and no meaning should be attributed to it by either Consumers or Suppliers.

Attributes

supplierId

compulsory. the email address of the party that is responsible for the generation of this <IvesMessage>. Any queries that are raised about the contents of the <IvesMessage> should be directed to this email address.

supplierSpecificId

(see )

generationTime

Optional, datetime. The time at which the IvesMessage was generated. If an IvesMessage is passed on from party to party without change then this attribute can be preserved, but if any changes are made then the generationTime should be updated to the time when the changes were applied.

Contained Within

The <IvesMessage> is the top-level element in the IVES structure and as such it is never contained within anything.

May Contain

Shared data: The following elements all define data that may be used in more than one location rather than repeating the same data over and over again.

<ContactDefinition>

, optional and repeatable

<VenueDefinition>

, optional and repeatable

<PersonDefinition>

, optional and repeatable

<GroupDefinition>

, optional and repeatable

<LinkDefinition>

, optional and repeatable

<DescriptionDefinition>

, optional and repeatable

<SupplierSpecificProperty>

, optional and repeatable

Event information: While it is not essential for an <IvesMessage> to contain any <Event> elements (it could consist entirely of shared data), it would be unusual to not any events which is where the bulk of the data will normally lie.

<Event>

, optional and repeatable

Information about the IvesMessage: The following elements are designed to be able to classify the <IvesMessage> itself as opposed to classifying the data that it contains.

<Description>

, optional and repeatable.

<Link>

, optional and repeatable

<Property>

, optional and repeatable