FMCSA use of XML and Web Services

Jeff N. Hall

Traffic Records Forum

July 14, 2003

Quote

“… XML and Web Services are becoming the language of business and that deciding not to invest and go in that direction would be similar to deciding not to invest in having a telephone number or even a web site for your business.”

Neil CharneyDirector, Platform Strategy Group, MicrosoftJune, 2003

Agenda

What are XML & web services? XML examples Web services examples SAFER/CVISN Issues & lessons learned Summary

What is XML?

W3C specification (International standard) Tagged document (like HTML) Uses dynamic tags (unlike HTML) Is human readable & flexible Is interoperable between any two

systems/environments FMCSA standard data exchange format

<?xml version="1.0" ?>

- <T0032 xmlns="http://www.safersys.org/namespaces/T0032V1" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.safersys.org/namespaces/T0032V1 T0032V1.xsd">

- <INTERFACE>

<NAME>SAFER</NAME>

<VERSION>04.02</VERSION>

</INTERFACE>

- <TRANSACTION>

<VERSION>01.00</VERSION>

<OPERATION>REPLACE</OPERATION>

<DATE_TIME>2002-02-11T15:05:00</DATE_TIME>

<TZ>ED</TZ>

</TRANSACTION>

- <LICENSING_INSURANCE>

<CARRIER_ID_NUMBER>6789</CARRIER_ID_NUMBER>

<DOCKET_NUMBER>90807</DOCKET_NUMBER>

<BOND_TRUST_FUND_REQD>1</BOND_TRUST_FUND_REQD>

<BOND_TRUST_FUND_STATUS>1</BOND_TRUST_FUND_STATUS>

<BOND_TRUST_FUND_SUMMARY>VALID</BOND_TRUST_FUND_SUMMARY>

<BROKER_AUTH_DATE_INACTIVE>2002-08-02</BROKER_AUTH_DATE_INACTIVE>

<BROKER_AUTH_REASON_INACTIVE>567</BROKER_AUTH_REASON_INACTIVE>

<BROKER_AUTH_STATUS>1</BROKER_AUTH_STATUS>

<CANADIAN_ID>2090407</CANADIAN_ID>

<CARGO_INSURANCE_REQD>1</CARGO_INSURANCE_REQD>

What is a Web Service?

Self-contained business functions that operate over a network (e.g. Internet)

Emerging technology for exchanging information Standards based and interoperable between any two

systems/platforms Enable application-to-application interaction

without human intervention Two-way communication FMCSA standard data exchange method

Query Central (QC)

Secure information retrieval via the Internet Single input retrieves data from multiple

sources (replaces stovepipe systems) Data from authoritative source in real time Provides data analysis & summarization External data retrieved in XML format Data specific to inspections & investigations

MXLIFIS

MXSCT

TML

Query CentralApplication

FMCSAInternal

Databases

StateCDLIS

Query CentralData Flow

InternetInternet

Security

CVIEW

& ITDS

XML

WebService

HTTPXML

This slide contained CDLIS driver text which was removed for security and privacy reasons. The point of the text was to show how cumbersome it was for enforcement personnel to read through the text to find important data.

This slide contained a screen shot from Query Central which displayed driver information. It was removed for security and privacy reasons.

The point of this screenshot was to show how the use of XML allows QC to summarize the data and alert the user to possible problems, in this case a driver without a valid CDL.

Motor Carrier Profile

Originally an ASCII text report Replaced in 2002 with two documents

Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) document for reading XML document for analysis

XML document provides ability to analyze profile data (ProVu)

FMCSA Web Services

Inspection Selection System database refresh Automatically detect status & perform refresh

CAPRI review upload to MCMIS Move data up, integrate into central Oracle DB, and

return confirmation or error report

FMCSA (QC) / Customs (ITDS/ACE) interface for southern border pre-clearance and clearance Driver, vehicle, & carrier data sent to QC, checked

against multiple data sources, return pass/fail

SAFER/CVISN

SAFER 4.2 supports XML data format FTP data transfer method

Volpe CVIEW XML Certification available Reference - SAFER 4.2 ICD XML documentation

http://www.jhuapl.edu/cvisn/downdocs/safer.html

Lessons Learned

XML and web services are relatively new and require training on both sides of any transaction

Party generating XML should also use it Coordination is key to success We need standardized XML vocabularies Important to include an XML schema and data

dictionary XML/web services are cheap and flexible relative

to EDI

Summary

XML is a valuable data format for exchanging data between disparate systems

Web Services are the best method for automating the movement of data between applications over the Internet

FMCSA has standardized on both