Web services open the door to FMCSA safety data Jeff Hall – FMCSA IT Project Manager Traffic Records Forum July 28, 2004

FMCSA web services2 Agenda  FMCSA Goal  Web service description  FMCSA web services  XML standardization  Lessons learned  Summary

FMCSA web services3 FMCSA Data Exchange Goal  Provide data to customers In standardized format Using standardized method Without human intervention Assuring privacy of personal data

FMCSA web services4 What is a Web Service?  Self-contained business functions that operate over a network (e.g. Internet)  Standards-based & interoperable between any two systems/platforms  Two-way communication  Application-to-application interaction without human intervention  Cheap & flexible implementation  FMCSA standard data exchange method

FMCSA web services5 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  Cheap & flexible implementation  FMCSA standard data exchange format

FMCSA web services6 FMCSA Web Service Standards  SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol Encodes an HTTP header and an XML file so they can be passed between two programs on different computers and know how to respond  WSDL Web Services Definition Language XML-based language used to describe services offered & provide a way to access those services electronically

FMCSA web services7 Analogy – Sending a Document  Web service = Federal Express  WSDL = Next day delivery and FedEx contact information  SOAP = Box and shipping label  XML = Contents/Document

FMCSA web services8 FMCSA Web Services  Inspection Selection System database refresh Automatically detect status & perform refresh  Compliance Review upload Move data up, integrate into central Oracle DB, & return confirmation or error report  Query Central data retrieval (pending)  SAFER input & output

QC MX Carrier Registration Carrier Details US CDL Violation Details Carrier Summary Past Inspections L&I Carrier Registration MX CDL Carrier OOSO

MX LIFIS MX SCT TML Query Central Application FMCSA Internal Databases State CDLIS Query Central Data Flow Internet Security CVIEW & ITDS XML Web Service HTTP XML

FMCSA Web services Public & Industry State ID & Registration License & Insurance Inspection Crash VPN Encryption Privacy Restricted Data Unrestricted Data

FMCSA web services12 SAFER  Safety And Fitness Electronic Records  Communication nexus for State CVIEW (Commercial Vehicle Information Exchange Window) systems  Includes FMCSA & State past inspection database FMCSA carrier snapshot database

FMCSA web services13 Purpose for SAFER Web Services  Provide data not found in the local CVIEW system in real time  Upload data in real time from local CVIEW system

FMCSA web services14 SAFER Web Services  Inspection input (beta)  Inspection summary output (soon)  IFTA input / output (planned)  IRP input / output (planned)  IRP registration input / output (beta)  Fleet input / output (planned)  Carrier e-screening input (planned)  Vehicle transponder input / output (planned)  MCMIS safety & census update (beta)  License & insurance output (soon)

FMCSA web services15 SAFER Web Service Contacts  Jingfei Wu (617)  Andrew Wilson (617)

FMCSA web services16 XML Standardization Project  Standardize FMCSA XML Vocabulary Schemas  Includes review of existing industry & government standards  All data types included in project Crash Inspection ID Licensing & insurance

FMCSA web services17 Lessons Learned  XML & web services are relatively new & may require training  Party generating XML should also use it  We need standardized XML vocabularies XML schemas & Data dictionaries  XML/web services are cheap & flexible relative to EDI  Need standard location where FMCSA Web Services information could be accessed, including downloadable WSDL files & documentation, & a UDDI directory of Web Services

FMCSA web services18 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

FMCSA web services19 References  XML. The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Version 1.0 (Second Edition) W3C Recommendation is published by the World Wide Web Consortium at  SOAP. The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) 1.2 W3C Recommendation is published by the World Wide Web Consortium at  WSDL. The Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) 1.1 W3C Recommendation is published by the World Wide Web Consortium at  Web Services. The Web Services Architecture is published by the World Wide Web Consortium at ws-arch /.

FMCSA web services20 Questions? “… 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 Charney Director, Platform Strategy Group, Microsoft June, 2003