**Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST)**

**Frequently Asked Questions**

**Appointment Service Questions 1 - 16**

**Technical Questions 17 - 23**

##  Appointment Service Questions:

1.  **The TM spec allows for return code & return code description. Will
    FAST provide specific description of error (not just return code
    definition defined in spec)? Here is a specific example: return code
    1009: description: will it include specific information: \"12 slots
    not available at 10:00 AM for Flats, only 6 slots available at
    requested time,\" or will the return description be the spec
    description, \"No slots available for that time/type dock limit\"
    without specifics on limits?"**

FAST will return exactly what is outlined in the *PostalOne!* -- FAST
IDEAlliance Appendix. For example with return code 1009 we will return
the generic message of "No slots available for that time / type -- dock
limit."

2.  **Need explanation of logic on error codes 1011 & 1012. If FAST does
    not allow appointments within eight hours, then why would those
    slots be available? If they are present and available, why couldn\'t
    they be booked? If we can\'t use them, then that slot should be
    pulled and no availability should show. The same should apply for
    more than 14 days out.**

Appointments cannot be scheduled within eight hours of the appointment
date/time. The reason is that there must be some cutoff in order to
guarantee that FAST can provide the facilities with the appropriate
amount of data for planning. If there is any availability left for that
hour when the eight hour cutoff occurs, that availability will go
unused.

 

3.  **Error code 1016: Customer and Consignee appointment ID do not
    correspond. Should this read Corp ID & Consignee appointment ID do
    not correspond?**

Although error code 1016 was noted, it is likely the 1017. 1017 is
passed back in the instance that an Appointment ID provided by the
customer doesn't match the FAST Appointment ID. This is simply a check
that is performed to validate that the two Appointment IDs match with
what is currently stored in FAST.

4.  **The business flows show using the \"Delivery Appointment Request\"
    message for close-out information. We prefer to use the \"All
    Delivery Sched/Unscheduled Appointment Request\" message. We
    envision sending this message at 30 minute intervals, and would
    therefore not use the \"Delivery Appointment Request\" message. I
    want to make sure that FAST is supporting this message and that we
    can use the \"All\" message to recover delivery information.**

Although the section in the Business Flows refers to \"All Delivery
Schedu/Unscheduled Appointment Request\" section, the actual content in
the section refers to the message named \"All Delivery Appointment
Close-out Request.\" As defined in the FAST appendix, the \'All Delivery
Appointment Close-out Request\' is supported by the *PostalOne!* system
during Phase 1. This message will allow mailers to retrieve/query all
scheduled and unscheduled good receipts based on the mailers
SchedulerCorpID or by the combination of SchedulerCorpID and
SchedulerID.

5.  **For delivery information: if we fail to receive the goods receipt
    message back, will FAST/*PostalOne!* then go back to last successful
    receipt and send all goods receipts since that request? In addition,
    do we query again with the same message request?**

To clarify, if certain errors occur on the USPS side, the messages will
be persisted and be available for query once the system is up and
running. The closeout information is also available online via the FAST
website.

6.  **We are still seeking clarification on \"update\" messages. What is
    the definition of \"updates content,\" in other words, what is the
    content that can be updated?**

All content data may be updated via Web Services.

7.  **Currently, only the return codes in the IDEAlliance specification
    are supported in the FAST Appendix. This gives no value to return
    codes. For example, if our update message is refused, then we get
    return code \"1015.\" The description states \"update/cancel
    refused\" with no reason why it was refused, therefore, we cannot
    use return code to logic a system response or action. Similarly, if
    an appointment request is refused, the generic description with
    return code \"1010\" does not allow us to flow the return code into
    an alternate message. We do not have specifics as to why our
    appointment request was rejected. We had envisioned richer return
    code descriptions with detail that would allow our system to
    respond. These return codes, as they stand, are of little value. The
    generic description adds no value.**

FAST error messaging aligns with the specified messages in the
IDEAlliance specification. As noted in the IDEAlliance specification,
multiple errors may be sent back through the specification.
Theoretically, 1015 could be followed with 1010. 1010 will provide the
information in the error message to say that \"No slots available for
that time/type - production limit flats.\" Note, flats is provided in
the description. 1010 error message specifics are located in the
description field as noted in the FAST Appendix.

8.  **Page 5 of the FAST Appendix document states that the
    DeliveryAppointmentQueryResponse is only populated with a SINGLE
    date/time. This differs from the IDEAlliance specification allowing
    for multiple blocks. What is the reason for the difference?**

Originally the message was intended to a Boolean yes or no response. As
things progressed the preferred time as well as the time range was
added, but it was intended to provide in FAST only one option. The
enhancement to multiple ranges will be considered for National
Deployment.

9.  **How many days of data is retained when a message is re-requested
    in event of failure?**

Four days of data is retained.

10. **Why is the return code optional for an \"Update Request\" and
    required for a \"Cancel Request?\" We do not have return code values
    to use to populate for a cancel - this cannot be required.**

This is a correct observation of the IDEAlliance specification. For the
time being, the error code 5000 will be used to populate this value. In
the future, the specification will be updated to make it optional.

11. **In what scenario will we receive error code \"1005\" invalid
    Multi-stop ID? If we assign the multi-stop ID to a load, could we
    only get that return code on an update if the multi-stop ID was
    added to a new stop or load that was not the original?**

Yes, creating a new appointment for an existing multi-stop if the
multi-stop is not found, then the error is thrown.

12. **Why do I receive the error "Error-100" with my Appointment service
    requests?**

There may be a problem with your profile, for example, you are not set
up as a FAST participant or there is problem with retrieving your
location information. Please contact your account administrator.

13. **I forgot my password. How can I have my password reset or sent to
    me?**

FAST leverages the existing *PostalOne!* facility to authenticate its
Web Services clients. Please follow the same process as in the
*PostalOne!* system to deal with all User ID/password problems. The
current process is to call the *PostalOne!* Customer Care Center at
(800) 522 9085.

14. **How does the customer registration process work?**

**New Customers:**

a.  If you are new customer and do not have your company and users
    registered with the *PostalOne!* system, you can fill out an online
    application by going to <http://www.usps.com/postalone/>, or

b.  Call the *PostalOne!* Customer Care Center at (800) 522-9085

**Existing Customers:**

a.  To gain access to FAST, call the *PostalOne!* Customer Care Center
    to have your profile modified and to have Web Services functionality
    added.

b.  If you **Do Not** have a user agreement on file, you will need to
    request for and sign the *Postal One!* Data Exchange Agreement.
    Contact the Customer Care Center regarding user agreements.

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15. **When I sent an Appointment Response Retrieval request, I received
    a service fault with the maildatTM:ComeBackLater attribute set to
    "No." What does this mean?**

The ComeBackLater is set to "No" to indicate that there is a problem
with the way your response retrieval request is being requested and that
the request will fail no matter how many times you retry. This happens
when you specify an incorrect/invalid Tracking ID or if the response has
already been retrieved once by you. You can only retrieve a message
[once.]{.underline}

16. **If an appointment is a 'no show' and is then reopened and then
    closed out, are there two messages sent via the closeout batch?**\
    \
    In the scenario where an appointment is no showed, reopened and
    closed out, two messages may be sent via the closeout batch,
    depending on the timing of these updates since the appointment
    closeout batch runs hourly.

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## Technical Questions:

17. **Which version of SOAP is the FAST system expecting? I have not
    been able to find any reference to this within the documentation I
    have. This makes a difference in how the envelope is constructed
    when sending to USPS.**

Officially, the *PostalOne!* system supports SOAP version 1.1. The
latest *PostalOne!* -- FAST Technical Guide will illustrate that
information.

18. **Are there any sample documents (inbound and outbound) that can be
    used as reference (not for every message we will send/receive, just
    as a verification of the layout)? Akin to the above, this will help
    in correctly defining the envelope for the messages being sent to
    FAST.**\
    \
    Please refer to the *PostalOne!* -- FAST Technical Guide for sample
    XML.

19. **The WSDL file refers to a schema contained in the file
    UserAuthenticationInfo.xsd. Where can I find this file and where
    should I place it locally?**

The UserAuthenticationInfo.xsd file can be downloaded from
<http://cat.uspspostalone.com/fastxml/UserAuthenticationInfo.xsd> and it
should be placed in the same directory as the WSDL file.

20. **My appointment request timed-out. How often should I send the
    Appointment Response Retrieval request "poll" for the response?**

Upon receiving the "timed-out" response to your appointment service
request, wait 60 seconds before sending the first response retrieval
request. If a response is still not available, please wait an hour
between retrieval requests.

21. **If I send out two appointment update requests in succession, will
    they be processed in the order I sent them out?**

No, because of clustering and workload management, message affinity is
not supported and you cannot assume that your requests will be processed
in the same order you sent them out. You must wait for the response to
the first update request before sending out the second update request.

22. **What tools are available to test my Web Services client
    software?**

There are multiple tools available:

Generic Soap Client <http://www.soapclient.com/soaptest.html>

Apache Axis <http://ws.apache.org/axis>

IBM WSAD <http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/studioappdev>

**Note:** The current version of OmniPortlet v9.0.4.1 bundled with
Oracle Application Server 9.x and 10.x have failed to successfully
invoke the Web Services client in our test, and for one of our mailer
customers. We recommended to that specific customer to use one of the
above mentioned testing tools.

23. **Can I configure the namespace for the XML input message however I
    want?**

While there many ways to represent a name-space aware XML document, the
*PostalOne!* system does require that the needed namespaces be specified
as the prefix of the types they define. As an example, if you assign
"maildatTM" as the default namespace and do not qualify all XML types,
you might receive an XML-malformed error, even though it was
successfully validated at your end. This is a necessary restriction we
had to impose to simplify the parsing process.