Use of XML in LDR's Integrated Tax System

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Use of XML in LDR's Integrated Tax System
Louisiana Department of Revenue
Technology Conference San Antonio, TX August 13 -
16, 2000
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Background
LDR is currently engaged in a cooperative
endeavor with IBM for a complete redesign and
redevelopment of the software systems that
support the administration of taxes. The system
is being designed, developed and implemented
using the following

• Thin pc clients (Windows NT) with applications
  and data residing on a mainframe server
• Object-oriented analysis and design using
  Rational Rose design tools
• Java development using Visual Age for Java
• MQSeries for message handling
• MQSeries WorkFlow as the workflow manager
• DB2 (6.X, most current version at time of
  implementation) as the database on an OS/390

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Challenge

• The department exchanges and processes data from
  multiple sources in a variety of formats.
• For today and in the future, the goal is to
  develop a system with a standardized approach for
  processing data created and processed in multiple
  formats.

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Solution XML

• XML is the the most logical solution to the
  challenge of developing a system with a
  standardized approach for processing data that is
  created and processed in multiple formats.

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Reasons for choosing XML

• XML is simple, straightforward and human readable
• XML is platform independent
• XML is programming language independent
• XML is extensible and easy to maintain
• Standardized interfaces (APIs) for processing XML
  data
• Many tools exist for parsing and transforming XML
  data
• Standardized (W3C)

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Key Definitions

• XML - extensible markup language is an open
  standard (W3C) that provides a data format and a
  data modeling language for defining data.
• DTD - document type definition is the modeling
  mechanism for XML. It provides the rules for how
  XML data is defined and logically related.
• Well-formed XML - an XML document in proper XML
  format, but with no structural conformance to a
  DTD (flat XML).
• Valid XML - an XML document in proper XML format
  with a structural conformance to a DTD
  (structured XML).
• XSLT - extensible stylesheet language for
  transforming XML documents into other XML
  documents.

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Uses of XML at LDR

• Data exchange format for forms processed by the
  system
• External sources
• Internal sources
• Data exchange format for data between sub-systems
  
• Data exchange format for legacy system data being
  converted into the new system
• Data exchange format for data exchanged to other
  LDR systems

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External Sources of Forms

• Data entry of original forms
• Scanned original forms
• Others, as defined and implemented
• Electronic filings
• EDI
• EFT
• Internet
• Flat files of various types of data (tape and
  diskette)

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Original Documents from Data Entry or Scanners

• All original forms (remitted by the taxpayer) are
  converted into an internally developed format
  called Universal Data Format.
• The data is validated for syntactical and
  contextual correctness.
• Data passing validation is routed further into
  the system for conversion into flat XML.
• Data failing validation will not be processed any
  further within the system.

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Reasons for Using UDF

• Validating data in UDF format is a relatively new
  process that works well.
• This step provides assurance that data which the
  system played no part in creating, is valid to
  the extent that it can be processed within the
  system.
• Cost and timing factors weighed into the decision
  to retain this method of validation.
• Future plans are to develop validation routines
  against data in XML format to eliminate this
  step.

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Example of UDF Record
000001INIT0101BATHDR1234567890123451998-12-31-00.
00.00.00000000560013001000010001300200003000130030
000400016004072894263 1 2 3 4
5 6
7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20
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Example of UDF Record (cont.)
Where, 1.) 000001 is the record identifier
attribute value of the header 2.) INIT is the
record type attribute value of the batch
header 3.) 01 is the segment number attribute
value of the header 4.) 01 is the total number
of the segments attribute value of the

header 5). BATHDR is the document type
attribute value of the header 6.)
123456789012345 is the batch identifier
attribute value of the header, for
illustration purposes only. 7.)
1998-12-31-00.00.00.000000 is the processing
date attribute value of the header 8.) 0056
is the length of the variable portion of the
record. 9.) 0013 is the parameter length
(parameter included in the total) of the Number
of Returns in the Batch parameter 10.) 0010
is the code identifier of the Number of Returns
in the Batch parameter 11.) 00030 is the
value of the Number of Returns in the Batch
parameter . . .
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UDF Validation Diagram
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Conversion of UDF to XML

• UDF format records are converted to flat
  (well-formed) XML. The flat form of the record
  is simply a mapping out of the UDF data in XML
  format.
• The flat XML records are transformed using XSLT
  into structured (valid) XML. XSLT expects, at
  least, a well-formed document for transforming.

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Reasons for Two Phased Conversion

• Allows a very simple format of flat XML data to
  be created by external systems for conversion, as
  required, to structured XML.
• Flat XML is a better format to receive data from
  external sources into the system for conversion
  because that single format of data is simple and
  can be transformed into many different structured
  versions of the record by transforming the data
  with multiple DTDs using XSLT.

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UDF to XML Conversion Diagram
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Example of Flat XML Document
lt?xml version"1.0"?gt ltformgt ltfield
id"1000"gt2003lt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1010"gt1234567891lt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1015"gt333333333lt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1017"gt233300lt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1040"gt19991231lt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1050"gtCITMlt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1055"gt20000522lt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1060"gt20000526lt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1105"gtMAILlt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1125"gtNlt/fieldgt ltfield id"1130"gtNlt/fieldgt
ltfield id"1135"gtNlt/fieldgt ltfield
id"1140"gtNlt/fieldgt . . . lt/formgt
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Example of DTD
lt?xml encoding'UTF-8' ?gt lt!-- edited with XML
Spy v3.0 NT (http//www.xmlspy.com) --gt lt!--
STARTER FILE CONTAINING ALL TAX FORM XML
Includes Global Definitions LDR
Form CFT4 LDR Form CIFT620 LDR Form
IT620ES Revision DRAFT Date May 30,
2000 TBD refine definitions for entities
with strict formats? --gt lt!-- ENTITIES --gt lt!--
TBD promote appropriate constructs to entities
as needed --gt lt!-- ELEMENTS --gt lt!--
--gt lt!-- Generics --gt lt!-- --gt
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Example of DTD (cont.)
lt!-- Identification Numbers --gt lt!ELEMENT LRAN
(PCDATA )gt lt!-- Louisiana Revenue Account
Number --gt lt!ELEMENT FEIN (PCDATA )gt lt!--
Federal Employer Identification Number
--gt lt!ELEMENT BusinessCodeNumber (PCDATA
)gt lt!-- Dates --gt lt!ELEMENT YearMonthDay
(PCDATA )gt lt!ELEMENT YearMonth (PCDATA
)gt lt!ELEMENT Year (PCDATA )gt lt!ELEMENT
DateIssued (PCDATA )gt lt!-- Periods
--gt lt!ELEMENT Period (PeriodStart? , PeriodEnd
)gt lt!ELEMENT PeriodStart (PCDATA )gt lt!ELEMENT
PeriodEnd (PCDATA )gt lt!-- Names --gt lt!ELEMENT
BusinessName (PCDATA )gt lt!ELEMENT PersonName
(PCDATA )gt
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Example of DTD (cont.)
lt!-- Addresses --gt lt!ELEMENT MailingAddress
(Street , StateOrProvince , Country? ,
ZipOrPostalCode )gt lt!ELEMENT Street (PCDATA
)gt lt!ELEMENT StateOrProvinceOfIncorporation
(PCDATA )gt lt!ELEMENT StateOrProvince (PCDATA
)gt lt!ELEMENT ZipOrPostalCode (PCDATA
)gt lt!ELEMENT Country (PCDATA )gt lt!--
Telephone Numbers --gt lt!ELEMENT Telephone
(PCDATA )gt . . .
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Example of a Structured XML Document
lt?xml version"1.0" encoding"UTF-8" ?gt
lt!DOCTYPE TaxFormLDRCIFT620 (View Source for full
doctype...)gt ltTaxFormLDRCIFT620gt ltFormHeader
formName"CIFT620" /gt ltBasicBusinessInfogt
ltLRANgt1234567891lt/LRANgt ltFEINgt333333333lt/FEINgt
ltBusinessCodeNumbergt233300lt/BusinessCodeNumbergt
lt/BasicBusinessInfogt ltPeriodgt
ltPeriodEndgt19991231lt/PeriodEndgt lt/Periodgt
. . . lt/TaxFormLDRCIFT620gt
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Document Renderer

• Developed for the specific purpose of converting
  form data from other formats into XML and XML to
  other data formats for processing within the
  system.
• Enables transforming between XML and Java objects
  for processing and efficient storage of data.
• Data is rendered using a SAX (simple api for XML)
  compliant parser. SAX is a simple API for
  parsing XML documents and almost all parsers
  support it.

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Processing of Form Data using the Document
Renderer

• A file of structured XML forms that are ready to
  be validated are read by a form validation
  application.
• The application will rely on the document
  renderer to convert the structured XML version of
  the form to the corresponding domain objects
  required for validation.
• The validation rule engine will validate the form
  for correctness within the context of the
  taxpayers registration and accounting profile.
• The validated data in the domain objects is
  persisted in the underlying database.

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Internal Sources of Forms

• Internal forms originating from a GUI
• Internal forms generated from system processes

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Internal Forms Originating from a GUI

• Users key data utilizing a GUI. The resulting
  raw data is passed on for transformation.
• The raw data is converted to an XML version of a
  form and passed on for rendering.
• The XML version of the form is rendered into the
  domain objects for validation.
• Once validation is complete, the data is either
  persisted in the database or routed back to the
  presentation layer for correction.

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Internal Forms Generated from System Processes

• Processes within the system may independently
  determine that there is a need for adjustments to
  the taxpayers account.
• All accounting data emanates from a form.
• A request for the creation of a form to initiate
  the creation of the adjusting accounting data
  must be made.

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Legacy Data Conversion

• Taxpayer registration data must be migrated from
  the legacy system into the new system to populate
  the database.
• A COBOL program was written to extract legacy
  registration data and create a file of structured
  XML records.
• The structured XML records are parsed into domain
  objects and the data contained in the domain
  objects is persisted in the underlying database.

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Data Exchanged to Other LDR Systems

• A data warehouse application will require input
  data from the main system database.
• The data needs to be reformatted to assume a
  meaningful context in the warehouse applications.
  

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Lessons Learned

• Keep things simple
• Carefully plan, design and develop the DTD using
  clear and descriptive comments in its definition
• Many XML manipulation tools are available and
  many more are on the way!
• Keep abreast of advancement in technology
• XML Schema
• XML Binding
• Others

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Sites of Interest

• www.alphaworks.ibm.com
• www.apache.org
• xml.com
• xml.org
• www.ebxml.org
• www.oasis-open.org
• www.w3c.org
• Java.sun.com/xml

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Conclusion

• Whats the big deal? Theres nothing magic going
  on here.
• XML simply serves as a means of exchanging and
  transforming data.
• With a standardized format for data exchange and
  open source initiatives for software to transform
  this data, the bulk of the design and development
  effort can be targeted toward the logic of
  business processing.

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Contact Information
Barry Aucoin Louisiana Department of Revenue LDR
Information Services Division email
baucoin_at_rev.state.la.us phone (225)
925-4220 fax [phone]